To Hell and Back.

Before jumping in to one of 2023’s most anticipated titles, Diablo IV, I didn’t know what to expect. Having never actually played a top down RPG game before, besides 2006’s Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (yes I am counting that) this is a genre that I am mostly unfamiliar with. Whether it be from the intimidating years upon years of established lore, or the obtuse mechanics that are prevalent in these types of titles, I just never thought it would be something that interests me. However, I was wrong. The beauty of Diablo IV is that it can be just as challenging as it is rewarding, and does an adequate job of introducing an entire fleshed out mythology, that many new players (like myself) have little to no knowledge of. While there are some flaws with it’s progression system, particularly for players that have never played this category of game before, Diablo IV makes up for it with it’s beautiful world and satisfying bone crunching combat. Let’s take a look into this venture into Hell, on Gaber’s Two Cents.

We rarely start with criticism first, but let’s mix things up. Before diving in to the chaos to be had, one must make there own character within the game’s own character creator menu. The biggest issue with this is there simply are not enough options. The game gives you a decent amount of skin colors, hair types, and hair styles, but all of this feels slightly redundant when you only have four facial structures to choose from for your character. I would have more issues with this if you could actually see your character close up more, but with the top down camera, the only reason to really care what your character looks like is when showing off to your friends, or relishing in the games many cutscenes.

A plus side to this, is that the visuals in the tiny details within your characters appearance are acceptable enough to the point where it’s just more of an annoyance, rather than being something detrimental to the title as a whole. After all, not everyone can be breathtakingly beautiful if you’re slaying demons for the entirety of the games runtime.

Before moving onto the games story and gameplay, it must be said just how breathtaking the games opening cutscene is. With a mood that immediately lets you know what you are in store for, you are introduced to two of the games main antagonists, Elias and Lilith, the latter being the main big bad. Since I have no experience whatsoever with this series, it was a nice touch to witness what I was getting into right off the bat, and make it crystal clear what the stakes are within this world if Lilith is proven victorious. It needs to be seen to be believed. Seriously, check out the video above and tell me you don’t want to pull your wallet out and start downloading the game.

As is typical in these types of games, you begin the story as an aimless wonderer. After being caught in a blizzard you are taken in by a group of villagers that seem to want to help. All is well until you realize the villagers have become followers of the main demon antagonist Lilith, and they poison your drink and attempt to use you as a sacrifice of sorts. It’s a good starter for what you should expect for the rest of the game, and builds itself up quite nicely, allowing you to see firsthand how brutal these corrupted souls are under Lilith’s influence. Society in this world is quite similar to ours, besides of course the corrupted gods, walking tree creatures, rampant hell dogs, etc. but everyone is genuinely at the mercy of those more powerful than them. This creates an interesting dynamic that allows players to witness that there is simply no black and white in this world, only a gray moral area that everyone must navigate through, including your own character.

One last thing before getting into gameplay, it must be said just how superb the voice acting performances are within this game. Particularly with the character Lorath, who is voiced by English actor Ralph Ineson. Ineson’s gruff and coarse voice fit the character like a perfectly sized glove. It’s actually surprising just how good he is, especially when taking into consideration that seventy percent of the time you can’t even see the character up close, just him from the top down perspective. it’s almost as if Ineson was born to play this character, and it certainly brings the games production values up a notch with every monologue his character Lorath delivers.

Okay here we go, gameplay time. The most important detail to get out of the way first is combat. If the combat was rudimentary or not up to standards with the tone and aesthetic set up beforehand when starting the games story, this would be a ticking time bomb of a game, since ninety percent of your entire time spent with Diablo IV is combat. However, thankfully combat is one of the best, if not the best aspect of the game. With six active skills you can assign to your character, each mapped to a particular button or trigger, versatility and adjusting what works with your playstyle is the key to success in Diablo IV. There are a dizzying amount of options to choose from, and they are all mapped out in a orderly fashion, with certain skill trees opening up the more you progress your character.

With this run we chose the Druid class, which has the ability to transform into a wear-bear (yes that is a real thing), a werewolf, or use crushing earth magic to smash your enemies to pieces. The flexibility to choose one of these paths, or fuse them all together is a nice addition, and gives the player much needed freedom to find a unique playstyle that fits perfectly for what they are attempting to create. While we haven’t tried out any of the other classes just yet (that will change) others here at Gaber’s Two Cents found the Necromancer and Barbarian classes to be equally as thrilling.

With what seems like endless creativity to make the perfect build for your character, with this freedom comes some caveats. Occasionally, the amount of paths that you can take your character in can become overwhelming. Particularly when you have already chosen a set path, and you realize that there were other skills that would have fit better with the original vision you had for your character. When this realization hits you have two options, continue building what you have already become, or use a gold payment to strip you of all of your abilities and receive all of the skill points you have already earned and start from scratch. Veteran Diablo players reading this might scoff at this criticism, but it can be quite confusing when attempting to rebuild your character’s powerset and not no which direction to go. This is especially frustrating when it seems that you have started on the right path, only to level up further and realize your current build isn’t up to par with the enemies that continuously scale with your level. However, this criticism can become an afterthought if you rebuild your character just right. The difference is light and day, and when you have just the right build, you will essentially be unstoppable against the many risen evils of Hell.

All in all, Diablo IV is a game that I never thought I would enjoy. I took a leap of faith and tested the waters in a genre that I have never touched, and the results were more than rewarding. With excellent moody visuals, entrancing voice acting, and combat that is satisfyingly ruthless, Diablo IV is a captivating beast that leaves you craving more. With all of that in mind, this is why Diablo IV received this particular Cent Score.

Cent Score: 4 Cents

Not a masterpiece, but as close as one can get.

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