Reviews are dropping, not that this is a review dependent game.
The one review that actually does matter:
Yeah, I donāt imagine many people waited on reviews for D4, particularly with three separate stress tests to let you try it out beforehand.
I saw one review state that it has moderate replay value. Tell me you didnāt play the game without telling me. ;) As Diablo will change based on feedback the reviews are pretty pointless unless something is horrifically broken. Which it isnāt. I havenāt bought it yet, but Iām sure I wonāt be able to resist.
Why does that review matter? Who is Rhykker?
The most authoritative, for want of a better word, Diablo streamer. I mean, it doesnāt really matter, for the reasons given above, but if youāre going to pay attention to any of the reviews, that would probably be the one.
Yeah, I watched a bunch of his D3 content back in the day. He certainly knows his stuff, and can competently edit a video unlike the maxroll.gg guy with the hoodie.
As for replay, I donāt really care all that much. In D3 I got into a cycle where Iād jump back in every couple of months to mess around with new builds and such after each season, and I was fine with that. I donāt play ARPGs like MMOs. I donāt even play MMOs like MMOs these days.
I know these games are button mashers but slightly slower, slightly more tactical is more what I enjoy. I hate scaling in any game. Excited anyhow for a game I can pick up and play off and on for a few years. This and Zelda, really donāt need any more games this year!
Bluddshed and Raxxanterax might disagree
Raxxanterax, Wudjio and Rhykker are, I believe, the three best Diablo youtubers. All three produce good, informative guides that arenāt just clickbait.
Raxx is the guy in the hoodie I referred to earlier. He makes highly informational videos that are boring as hell to watch, because he just doodles in MS paint rather than showing gameplay to illustrate his points.
Speaking of reviews, if you want a non-video one (I always do), hereās one at Ars Technica. The takeaway:
But if you love ARPGs and enjoyed the combat of Diablo 3 and the atmosphere of Diablo 2, I think youāre going to love this game. Itās not as brain-meltingly complicated as a Path of Exile, but it doesnāt want to be. This is streamlined, big-budget loot hunting, and I absolutely love it. Ignore the monetization nonsense, vibe out on the demon slaying, and youāll have a great time.
Which seems right along where Iām sitting, and that sounds fine. Although, Iām pretty review-immune since Iāve already got the game and played 59 hours in betas alone.
Nice review. Iām pretty review-immune too, thanks to the two betas. I already know Iām going to enjoy what theyāre selling here. The only thing I actively dislike is that skill tree. I really find it off-putting the way itās laid out. That might keep me from sticking with the game long term, honestly, and go back to Diablo 2 Resurrected instead.
Iām not going to pre-order though. Theyāre going to give me some kind of cosmetic thing if I pre-order! Yuck!
So where is the Hardcore/Softcore split?
Download went live. 40GB on PS5 to go playable, 75GB total.
Took a few minutes to download. Love fast internet.
It has occurred to me that I have a four day weekend which coincides with the early access period. yay!
I usually play Hardcore, and on D3 only Hardcore, but for D4 Iām going normal mode at first. For one thing, I only had a few hours in the beta, and itās a lot different than D3. For another, early days of a game like this are likely to be rife with connection or performance issues, not to mention gameplay āgotchas.ā And Iām not going to watch twelve hours of videos or whatever to figure it all out up front. I think going through the story once in normal then switching to HC might be the plan.
All soft all the time. I played one season hardcore and didnāt enjoy it. More power to those who dig it, not for me.
Softcore at first until I get used to it, then hardcore.
Yes, same here. The Diablo 2 plan, basically. Pretend that like in D2, unlocking the ability to make a hardcore character means beating the game once first. With D2 we did it the weekend of release. And then it took us over a year to finally beat the game with a hardcore character, on the backs of dozens of dead characters.