I will have to admit now, I didn't plan on picking this for myself. Rather, I have a brother who is a huge fan of the series. Not that I objected to it, but I just got a vibe that, much like the main game, Blizzard's asking price was going to be way too much for me to be interested. So when it up on the Winter sale, I decided was time to pull the trigger and get started. And while I did enjoy myself, I really am glad I got it then and not at full price.
Story: If you played the main Diablo IV game, you will remember before the end credits your ally Neyrelle took it upon herself to capture Mephisto in the soulstone your party had repaired and prepared to use on Lilith, the big bad demon of that story. As a result, she now bares the stone in the quest to find a place where it can be protected and the Greater Evil now within it kept imprisoned for all time. Unfortunately for her, these entities have a way of leaching their influence on their guardians and through them the world despite captivity. To this end, Mephisto has been a very busy evil god, showing her visions of the hellscape and pain he can and will offer her while killing many who helped her get as far as she has.
And that brings us to you. After defeating Lilith in the end of base game, you find yourself chasing after Neyrelle in your own quest to help her deal with the monstrous force that is working tirelessly to corrupt and take her from within. It's easy enough to find where she went as unnatural corruption and destruction follow her every step: a thing both helpful and harmful to your quest as you are not alone hunting her down.
The Cathedral of Light, the local religious sect currently controlled by the an influential survivor of their raid of Hell during the main game, is also hunting your friend, though their intent is a lot less favorable then yours. Since she is physically the source of the infernal corruption infesting the lands, she has been deemed a heretic to be killed on sight. And before the intro is completed, you will face off with this leader, where you will damn near die protecting your friend from his fire and brimstone.
Downstream (literally) from the assault, a man named Eru saves you, introducing you to a new faction and allies (some human, some supernatural) as you continue your quest. Unfortunately outside that opening there are very few twists to the story this time around as it is a single add-on act continuing Diablo IV plodding trail. Still it leads up to a satisfying ending that wraps up most loose ends, even as it has to have one last stinger to open up a potential next DLC expansion. Solid if somewhat standard once it hooks you with an absolutely fantastic opening act.
6/10
Graphics: This being a DLC to the original game, you can expect everything I said in that review to be true here too. Blizzard has always been known for some amazing graphical work, and it will be just as apparent here as the opening video plays as it ever was. You will be greeted by a gorgeous video recapping the events of the main story which, while pre-rendered, will set your standards. In fact there will be times that you will swear are pre-rendered (both by detail and the drop to 30 FPS, sadly) where it is not possible, for the character you made in the amore you have no way to be pre-rendered. I have to praise this to the extreme.
When not watching "video cutscenes" the game will still remain absolutely gorgeous, however. As before you will play from a fixed perspective birds-eye view as you run around the world of Sactuary once again. And while the title wil control how far back you can zoom, it takes advantage of this to give you a damn near photo-realistic view of the world you will travel, but it won't be long before you will find yourself in a new section of the map released for this expansion: the jungles of Nahatu. This lush green world will look every bit as gorgeous as the main game's realms, containing both the foliage you would expect as well as relics of a civilization both ancient and still alive... and yet below the surface you will find altered versions as the corruption Nayrelle has been desperately trying to control and contain spews forth with her unfortunately soul as the focal point. It's revolting, fettid, and absolutely perfect to demonstrate the corrupting influence of a greater evil.
And that includes those you will encounter during your adventure as well: friend and foe. The detail work is just as exquisite as it's ever been... if at the same cost and something you will only see with pets of any other player you come across. With the zoomed in view compared to many of this gametype while still pulling as many enemies on the field, the screen can get quite chaotic in battle. To let you see something of what is going on if you happen to be playing with others of these classes, their minions take on a transparent form. It's not ideal for someone like me who would love to just throw more chaos on the screen (especially as the game keeps up with you splendidly), but it is a small price when all is said and done... especially for an open world title where other players NOT in your party can show up at random.
In the end, this expansion is gorgeous, just like the original. It is clear a lot of work went into making this an absolute knockout to behold.
9/10
Sound: This being an expansion, you already should have a good idea what the game itself sounds like. While it sounds great you are getting the same orchestrated background music over your battle with the forces of Hell is every bit as wonderful sounding as it was for the main game. In fact a lot of it should be the kind of things you heard during your time there along side the sound effects that have served so well along the way.
Really the new stuff you will get now is some extra voice acting that is just as good as the original, but written to support this newest chapter. Expect to enjoy what you hear every bit as much as you did the last.
9/10
Gameplay: As an expansion, Vessel of Hatred is going to carry the same gameplay as Diablo 4, but with some extra rebalancing. You will continue your adventure with your character you played back then, or start over from the very beginning, replaying the original game as well as this expansion if you wish to try a new class... including the new one added by this expansion called the Spiritborn. Unfortunately as I continued with my necromancer, I honestly can not tell you how they play, but it an option.
What I can tell you, however is that your maximum level has been raised and you will likely spend some time fiddling with your class's skill tree since in addition to this, the balance of points and skills has been changed up and open to experimentation. In addition there is a second level system now called Paragon, which you will get points to fill in a chart to up your stats as you desire once you max your main level, giving you a bit more control of just how you power up. The only limit is you have a starting point and you need to build paths through the graph if you have specific updates you want to add. Its easy to figure out and quick to understand when you upgrade.
But the game at it's core is still more action RPG hack and slashing like you did during the main campaign, with all the strengths and weaknesses you have played. In essence this is literally just more Diablo IV.
7/10
Bugs: While I didn't see much in the way of bugs while playing, I can not say the experience was flawless. There were a few nights where I witnessed some extreme rubber-banding. I suspect the issue comes between Discord's new game overlay recently added and the game's server traffic as the moment I turned off the overlay on this service, this basically went away. But it is worth noting.
Digital Rights Management: Depending on where you buy this game, you will have different DRM limitations. If you bought this on Battle.net or Microsoft Windows store, you will always need Battle.net running. In addition, the microsoft store itself will also need to be running if you got it there. However if like me you got this on Steam, that will be the software you need to run to play the game only.
However you should also be aware this is an always online game. As an MMO-adjacent title this should not surprise you, but it should be noted since if the game's own servers are down or you offline, you won't be playing till it's back online.
Source: PC Gaming Wiki
Score: I literally can not describe this DLC any better then more Diablo. The story progresses and if you love the lore of the world and what is going on, that will be worth a playthrough. But if you loved Diablo IV, this is more of it and you will have just as much fun with it. But as DLC, it is just one more act which can be completed within a handful of hours. For this reason I have to argue against the $40 asking price. It is just too steep for how much this package is offering. But if you picked this up for decently steep discount and enjoyed the game it's expanding, yeah it will be worth your time.
7/10
System Requirements:
- Diablo IV installed from the same store you buy this expansion from.
- Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-8350
- 8 GB RAM
- Nvidia Geforce GTX 660, or AMD Radeon R9 280, or Intel Arc A380
- Windows 10 version 1909 or later
- 90 GB Hard Drive space
- Broad Band internet connection
System Specs:
- Ryzen 7 (5700X) 3.4 Ghz
- 32 GB RAM
- AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT (8 GB VRAM)
- Windows 11 (64 Bit)
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