I’ve been dabbling in Diablo games for about 20 years. But I have to say Diablo 4 is still my favorite. It simply refined and deepened every mechanic and aspect of the entire franchise, and it continued to captivate me for months after my official review.
More than a year later, Diablo 4 has released its first official expansion, Vessel of Hatred. In many ways, this is an incredibly strong follow-up that enhances the overall experience, even if the core story is a little short. But thanks to the awesome new Spiritborn class, there’s no more to do or see in Diablo 4. If you haven’t released it yet, it’s well worth jumping in a year after its initial release.
the last piece
Please note that Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred takes place directly after the events of the main story, so spoilers for the main campaign will follow. If you don’t want to read it, please skip to the next paragraph. He defeats Lilith, also known as the Daughter of Hatred, and catches up with Neirel and Loras, who seem to have escaped. However, not everything went well. Nairel carries around the Soulstone, a powerful object that contains Mephisto’s essence. Since this contains Prime Evil’s soul, she is essentially relentlessly pursued and plagued by insane visions.
Your character is basically tasked with finding and accompanying Nairel on a journey to the Tomb of Akarat, located within the mythical Vault of Light, where the Soul Stone’s curse can be removed. Although it was short, I enjoyed this story. I’ve been hearing and reading comparisons to The Lord of the Rings over the past few days, and I have to admit. The story moves at a breakneck pace and you need to complete some basic missions to start this story, but its length is worth mentioning.
It took me about 6 hours to complete, but the fact that things end with a specific setting in mind left me wanting more. The credibility of this story can never be denied. Apart from the greater evil here, there are some cool supporting characters and villains like the scorching knight Ulivar, who appears relatively early in this story and sets a very menacing tone that makes for a great showdown later on. I’ll smell it.
But beyond these aspects, Vessels of Hatred leaves some loose ends, and if length isn’t an issue, we’ll definitely get more than this at some point. The facts may make the wait a little more difficult. It’s crazy to think we’ve been waiting over a year for this in the first place.
Spiritborn
Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred’s newest feature is definitely the new class, Spiritborn. I started a new Spiritborn class. It felt like a natural move for this review and quickly became my favorite class. Sure, I love existing Necromancer builds, but Spiritborn feels so fresh, with unique powers and an abundance of them that makes combat lively and incredibly satisfying. is obtained.
This new class basically allows you to summon animal companions in spirit form to aid you in battle, with Jaguar, Eagle, Gorilla, and Centipede helping you in unique ways, movements, and abilities. The jaguar can unleash swift attacks, the eagle can be summoned from the sky to damage hordes of enemies, the gorilla can charge toward a target and increase its resistance to attacks, and the centipede can Used to poison enemies.
The best part about this class is that you can mix and match and upgrade any of these four companions on the fly. This essentially gives you four sets of moves and abilities. This seems like the most versatile class, which is generally the case, but it’s not very powerful if you’re trying to balance all four ability sets. As with any class, it’s generally better to go with your favorite animals and movements. This is because you are much more likely to overcome more powerful enemies later in the experience.
This is probably the class I will continue to use for the foreseeable future, but if this is your first experience, I recommend jumping into Spiritborn just for the variety.
The journey continues
The main story isn’t very long, but there are some things to do in other parts. The new region of Nahantu is a lush jungle environment filled with new dungeons to tackle and new loot to find. Runes are back. This means that you can also imbue your weapons and equipment with specific enchantments.
The level cap has also been changed from 100 to 60. This means you’ll be able to reach the level cap faster and tackle endgame challenges sooner. You can actually level up to 300, but it fits nicely into reducing the overall length of the experience. However, if you prefer, you can actually start with the main campaign or skip straight to the Vessel of Hatred campaign. Please note that if you skip the main campaign with a particular character, you cannot go back.
There’s also a new mechanic that allows you to recruit local NPCs to accompany you on your quests. There are also some cool characters like Adkin who uses demonic powers and Subo who uses a bow. These add a layer to the combat that feels fresh without being too overwhelming. They can also unlock new abilities along the way. This was a real treat and something I wasn’t expecting.
bring a friend
Finally, there’s the Dark Citadel questline. This works like a brand new co-op experience that can be played with up to four players. It can only be reached if you reach the endgame content, which, as far as I know, is only possible through co-op play.
This experience technically forces co-op play to access the content, so we understand that this may be nerve-wracking for certain players. Some of the best rewards are waiting for you here. In that sense, it seems a shame that you can’t or don’t want to access it.
That being said, there are new bases to explore and even some new bosses to fight. It’s not as epic or cinematic as the main story, but it’s a real challenge and a real challenge for the action. But at the same time, it’s really nice to see a fair amount of additional content built into yet another corner of this experience.
final thoughts
The main story is relatively short, but well-organized and maintains momentum. It’s a shame that we’ll likely have to wait a little longer for what’s left.
That said, the new Spiritborn classes, leveling system, and Dark Citadael’s cooperative endgame content make it worth repeat play for die-hard fans looking for a new RPG to sink their teeth into. Now more than ever, it’s worth checking out. Teeth are inserted.
4 1/2 stars (out of 5 stars)
Highlight: Interesting story. New leveling system and dungeons. Explore new areas of Nahantu. Dark Citadel adds a significant amount of endgame content
Cons: The campaign feels a little short. Dark Citadel content forces co-op play
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment, Blizzard Albany, Team 3
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows PC
Available: Currently
Review was conducted on PlayStation 5 using a pre-release code provided by the publisher.
