As a long-time fan of the Diablo series and someone who’s spent countless hours slaying demons and battling the forces of darkness, I must say that Vessel of Hatred has left me feeling a bit conflicted. On one hand, it’s great to see new content added so quickly after the base game launch, and I appreciate the continued support from Blizzard. However, I can’t help but feel that the expansion was rushed out a tad too soon, leaving some storylines feeling underdeveloped and certain characters wasted.
Diablo 4’s first expansion is finally upon us, set to become fully unleashed on October 7, 2024.
In the sequel Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, we find Mephisto, whose evil schemes resulted in his imprisonment within a soul stone at the close of Diablo 4’s predecessor. A returning character from the original game is Neyrelle, a young scholar who takes it upon herself to vanquish the Prime Evil. However, this daunting task leaves her struggling under its immense burden.
2021 has been a fruitful year for Diablo 4, though it’s sparked some debate among dedicated fans and those within the genre. Certain seasonal content updates have been exhilarating and captivating, while others have been mediocre or underwhelming. The Vessel of Hatred introduces the Season of Rising Hatred, along with a fresh narrative, a new character class, additional endgame activities, and more. However, it doesn’t come free, costing $39.99 – a price point that edges towards a full-priced game.
Naturally, that price will also help keep the free live service afloat in the coming year, but so too does the expensive in-game store, as well as its seasonal battle passes. It was with that in mind that I dove into this review (in progress), knowing full well that the price of the thing has been a contentious point already. On paper, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred has a mountain of new content and features, but do they land as well as Diablo 3’s Reaper of Souls did back in the day? (For reference, the launch price was also $39.99 for Standard Edition of this expansion.)
DEAL: Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred | was $39.99 now $35.49 at CD Keys (XBOX)
Join us, as we head into the jungles of Nahantu.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review — Art direction
Without a shadow of a doubt, Blizzard Entertainment leads the video game industry in artistic direction, setting a standard that others aspire to match from all angles. Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred is yet another testament to this fact, continuing their tradition of excellence.
Diablo 4 is exceptionally well-suited to run smoothly across a range of devices, from less powerful ones such as the Xbox Series S and Steam Deck, where it performs flawlessly, to more advanced systems like the Xbox Series X and my RTX 4080 PC, which allow for an even more luxurious experience with ray-traced lighting and various graphical enhancements. The new region of Nahantu serves as a fantastic backdrop to highlight Blizzard’s progress in creating photorealistic environments without sacrificing performance through some mysterious Sancturian magic. The forests of Nahantu are teeming with life, filled with pockets of corruption and shrouded in the ominous darkness reminiscent of Diablo 2, while still preserving its signature atmosphere.
Surely, a significant portion of Vessel of Hatred unfolds within the realm of Nahantu, a location we encountered in Diablo II alongside other classic settlements such as Kurast and the remnants of Travincal. The narrative guides you through various locales that may resonate with old-school gamers, peppered with side quests that lead you into the heart of forbidden ascents within the dense jungle.
Playing Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred left me shocked at times due to its intense and visually stunning sequences. Despite the limitations of the isometric camera, the game’s direction and production quality are impressive enough to create an immersive experience. I won’t reveal specific moments, but you’ll recognize them when they come up – it’s not just mindless violence. Although I enjoy a bit of gore in my games, even Diablo 4 has its share of non-violent scenes that are equally engaging. The game world, Nahantu, initially gave me concerns about its similarity to the jungle swamps of Hawezar, but it quickly proved itself to be unique with a distinct naturalistic feel, while still maintaining the gothic atmosphere that runs throughout the game.
In Diablo 4, the music in the main game was already impressive, and the Vessel of Hatred doesn’t fall short in this regard either. A specific quest had a haunting feel reminiscent of “Heart of Darkness” as you navigated through dense vines and ventured deeper into a dark, monstrous jungle. As you advanced, the music intensified to match the atmosphere, reaching a climax with spine-tingling notes that beautifully captured the evil presence of the Lord of Hatred, who is central to the game’s narrative. These moments were simply fantastic, but I was somewhat disappointed by their scarcity compared to the main game.
Although Blizzard excels at creating breathtakingly magical scenes filled with eerie visuals, chilling music, top-notch digital performances, and voice acting, I found myself questioning if releasing episodes or installments annually might dilute and fragment the otherwise superb visual and auditory direction.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review — Story
When diving into the tale of Vessel of Hatred, it’s essential to be aware that its narrative unfolds in a series of connected episodes rather than one continuous storyline, to avoid any potential spoilers.
In Diablo 4, players pursue Lilith, Mephisto’s daughter, who aims to protect our home, Sanctuary, in her unique way by seizing the power of her father, the Prime Evil Mephisto. However, players thwart this plan at the game’s end, causing Mephisto, who was resting after his “death” in Diablo 2, to be released. A young scholar named Neyrelle, with the intention of finding a permanent death for Mephisto, keeps his disembodied spirit trapped within a soul stone and guides it across Sanctuary. It seems that demons can only be contained or sent back to the Hells to recover. Lilith’s goal was to end the cycle of conflict and peace in Sanctuary, but it might have resulted in a dystopian world where she became a tyrant queen. Both Lilith and Mephisto try to influence the game characters and players, claiming that their allegiance is crucial to preventing the next major war between Heaven and Hell, with Sanctuary as the battleground.
The crystalline prison that holds Mephisto is merely a temporary fix, as his corrupting influence is so powerful that even the soul stone, which contains him, taints the surrounding land and those close by, such as Neyrelle. In the stunning pre-rendered cinematic sequence at the start, we witness Neyrelle tormented by grotesque visions of her own demise, with Mephisto aiming to dominate her mind.
Neyrelle urged players not to accompany her, but, using our best discretion, we chose to ride to her rescue. During this journey, the player encounters fresh faces in Kejistan and Nahantu, among them Raheir, a mercenary, and Eru, an enigmatic follower of the Spiritborn, who acts as our guide within Nahantu.
In simpler terms, I’ve shared that discussing Diablo 4’s story in detail might ruin it for others, and I don’t want to do that. However, the story left me feeling let down, primarily due to its brevity. You can complete this $40 expansion within about 4-5 hours, but I think a more satisfying conclusion isn’t reached. The most exciting part of the story felt like a midpoint rather than the climax. It was even more disappointing when the characters explained Diablo 4’s new seasonal content as if it were a basic tutorial.
The action that followed dramatically reduced the seriousness and left me feeling less awestruck after witnessing and experiencing such a profound scene, which Blizzard’s writing and art team had skillfully created in a brief period.
As a tech-loving enthusiast, here’s how I might rephrase it: “Alright, you’ve reached the end of this captivating tale for now… Time to take on those Helltides if you’re ready! Just remember, new chapters often unfold in the gaming world with updates and expansions, so keep an eye out for more exciting stories to explore – though it may require a little extra investment next year, along with the usual battle passes and such.
I don’t begrudge games need to be profitable to serve their corporate overlords, and I wouldn’t prefer Diablo 4 to gun for a free-to-play model either. The quality of the production values speaks for itself. Every character class has fresh voiceovers for both male and female models, complete with photorealistic visuals and high-quality motion capture. I know that isn’t cheap. But it’s not about the price here to some degree. There’s potentially more than enough content in the story, but it was poorly paced.
In an intriguing yet confounding manner, Vessel of Hatred skillfully navigates the balance between providing ample content and leaving room for more. The introduction of fresh characters is swift, often leaving them underdeveloped, and the development of new storylines is hasty, lacking the depth needed to make a lasting impact. Rapidly appearing monsters, creatures, villains, and heroes create an exhilarating atmosphere, but their brief appearances may cause viewers to miss crucial details and struggle to recall events accurately.
In my opinion, the narrative in Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred could have benefited from a series of sequential events, perhaps set within distinct dungeons or fortresses, to give the story more depth and substance. When the tale unfolds successfully, it does so effectively. The Diablo 4 team has done an exceptional job of surprising us with unexpected plot twists, some of which I never anticipated. It’s a clear demonstration of the quality of Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred that left me yearning for more. I was rarely bored and found myself completely engrossed and eager to explore what was presented. However, at the end, I couldn’t help but think, “‘is that all?’“, which complicates the justification for its $40 price tag. Of course, there is much more to Vessel of Hatred than just its storyline, but we will delve deeper into its offerings as our review progresses further.
I found myself thinking back to the Reaper of Souls days from Diablo 3, which told a very much more contained story but also spent a much longer time in development. I don’t think you can really deliver a villain as worryingly charismatic as Mephisto in a single mini-expansion like this, so I was expecting at least some episodicity (yes, I made up a word). But I think more attention perhaps should’ve been paid to how the story would play out and align it more deeply with expectations. Is an annualized $40 expansion going to work for Diablo 4’s story? It may well end up doing so. It’s frustrating that we’ll have to wait even longer to answer that question.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review — Gameplay
In this part, we find ourselves discussing the “work in progress” aspect of the Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review. The meat of the game, much of which lies hidden within extensive end-game play sessions, is where most players will eventually delve into. Unfortunately, due to time constraints and the fact that the new Citadel “raid” dungeon is designed for four-player teams, I wasn’t able to reach that stage. Instead, this section focuses on some of the new features you’ll encounter as you progress through leveling up towards the endgame bracket. Fortunately, a good portion of these additions are genuinely enjoyable.
Here, the main event features the Spiritborn class, akin to Diablo 4’s adaptation of the traditional Monk class. Players wielding this class engage in combat using martial arts, conjuring the spirits of potent jungle beings to bolster their skills.
In my gameplay experience, I primarily utilized the centipede’s unique skills since they weren’t common in other games. The centipede’s final ability is quite spectacular, as it brings forth a writhing, insectoid terror from the ground, transforming into a poison-spewing volcano that unleashes an offensive laser beam reminiscent of Dragon Ball Z. Additionally, you can summon gorilla powers for tanking and strength, hawk powers for agility, and jaguar powers for quick, close-range attacks.
When engaging in melee combat, Spiritborn characters slightly move towards their enemies, demonstrating great agility and enabling quick evasive maneuvers when needed. The character’s adaptability is further enhanced by the ability to adopt various spirits, each granting multiple powers simultaneously. I opted for a centipede-focused build, but there’s potential for diverse strategies as players experiment with different combinations. For instance, activating the gorilla passive allows centipede abilities to function as gorilla abilities too. It will be intriguing to observe how competitive players optimize Spiritborn in the near future.
While progressing through the levels, you’ll encounter another significant aspect: the Mercenary system. This system resembles features found in earlier Diablo games, enabling you to recruit a group of mercenaries during side missions and the main quest in Vessel of Hatred. These mercenaries operate much like a necromancer’s minions, automatically attacking enemies on their own. However, they have their unique talent trees that can be customized to enhance their abilities, offering potential synergies for specific character builds and game modifiers (affixes).
My biggest issue with these mercenaries is that they generally lack personality beyond their initial unlock quest, although it’s more of a story issue than gameplay potential. Once you unlock them, there’s very little additional information about them. They rarely have anything unique to say and become far more mechanical than I would have expected. It’s essentially like giving every player a necromancer Golem who is just as chatty. Once you’ve set them up, you’ll forget they exist — you won’t see them in the scrum of enemies on screen. It’s a shame because I really wanted to know more about the strange, cursed kid Aldkin and the cannibal berserker Varyana, but alas, it was not to be. At the very least, they will offer some solid additional considerations for making custom builds, and there’s always potential that Blizzard could flesh them out a bit more later on.
One intriguing feature in Diablo 4 that promises enhanced gameplay flexibility is the newly designed rune system, which I personally find engaging and thought-provoking. Even without delving deeply into theorycrafting, I managed to create unique rune combinations that complemented my character build. For instance, to provide my beloved centipede companion with additional ultimate abilities, I constructed a rune setup that reduced the cooldown of ultimate skills each time I dodged. Clearly, this rune system has the potential to further amplify Diablo 4’s extensive customization options for those who prefer off-meta strategies.
It remains to be seen just how Diablo 4’s endgame will flow when it goes public, but there are plenty of new things to try out. One of them is the Kurast Undercity, which is a time-trial dungeon that offers increasingly powerful rewards based on your performance. As a World of Warcraft player, I admit it gave me some bad memories of Blizzard’s Torghast experiment, which was similar in functionality. However, I feel like it works infinitely better in Diablo 4, which has more rapid combat loops in general. Whether or not it’ll start feeling like a chore remains to be seen, but exploring the depths of the Undercity is just one way that players can earn loot and prestige in the new expansion.
In addition to the latest Citadel, there’s been some debate as this area is designed for groups of four players. Some Diablo enthusiasts aren’t too pleased with the game’s shift towards more multiplayer-oriented activities, favoring a solo experience instead. If I had to make an educated guess, it seems plausible that Blizzard might adjust the Citadel’s mandatory multiplayer rule or offer AI companions as alternatives, much like World of Warcraft has been doing with group content. During a question and answer session with Diablo 4’s lead designer Rex Dickson, he mentioned that creating a solo version would necessitate a “major redesign.” He also pointed out that developing competent AI partners for all the unique mechanics would require substantial investment in game components not currently utilized elsewhere. However, if more players voice their concerns, it’s possible that calls for solo-playable versions will become stronger. In fact, Blizzard has shown a tendency to accommodate player feedback in the past.
After the launch, there are many exciting new challenges, leaders, and seasonal events to anticipate in Diablo 4, as presented in the latest Season of Hatred Rising stream. Once we’ve had a chance to explore everything post-launch, I will come back and provide an updated assessment along with a final score for Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred.
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review — Is it worth it?
In this ongoing review of Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, we catch a sneak peek into Blizzard’s future plans for the game. The Vessel of Hatred expansion was released swiftly following the main game launch, an accomplishment noteworthy in itself. However, it leaves me questioning if the speed at which it was introduced might have been too hasty. The game’s narrative rhythm stumbles occasionally, causing certain characters to seem underutilized and some plot points to feel diminished. Yet, there are many players eagerly anticipating how Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred will evolve as we approach the endgame.
The experience didn’t exactly boost my trust when the main story task directed me back to repeating Helltides instead of introducing something fresh and exciting. One of the “novel” dungeons it led me to seemed awfully familiar with its Horadric vault design, including the recurring event featuring the Scottish lass who called out, “you there!”, once more needing help. I can’t help but wonder how much is genuinely new here. There are still appealing aspects such as the Citadel and the Spiritborn class in the endgame, along with the Season of Hatred Rising. New prizes await, but I’m curious to hear the general opinion about the expansion’s overall worth. While I admit I haven’t explored everything available yet, my initial impression is somewhat underwhelming.
You should buy Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred if:
- You love the base game already.
- You’ve been waiting a while for the return of the Monk-style class.
- The idea of group-oriented “raid” content is interesting to you.
You should skip Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred if:
- You’re not very invested in the story and don’t enjoy what the base endgame offers since there are no revolutionary changes here.
- You don’t like Diablo 4’s “seasonal” character progress structure.
- You find $40 to be a bit pricy for what amounts to 4-5 hours of story content and have no intentions to play in the endgame.
Diablo 4 is my “comfort food” game, which I play in between big releases. I suspect it’s like that for a lot of people, too. One thing I often hear from people who don’t want to play Diablo is that they don’t like the fact the characters can’t progress beyond a season. And indeed, there’s nothing in Vessel of Hatred that I would exactly describe as revolutionary for new players. It’s an expansion designed wholly for the existing player base, but I think even Diablo diehards may find the story delivery here a little anemic when it’s all said and done.
It appears that the acclaimed success of Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred is all but sealed. The game has already garnered significant accolades for Blizzard and Microsoft, with many sources reporting earnings in the tens of millions, despite a challenging launch for its live service. As I delve further into the endgame before finalizing our rating for Vessel of Hatred, I’m left with a mix of exhilaration from the story’s triumphant peaks and dismay over its brief duration. However, the underlying structure is robust. It’s clear that the team has constructed a solid foundation upon which to expand the Mephisto arc; all I can hope is that they continue to heed player feedback. To their credit, they have shown a knack for this thus far. Consequently, despite my initial reservations, I remain hopeful about what lies ahead for Diablo IV.
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2024-10-04 19:10