by Anthony O'Connor
Worth: $16.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Intro:
… a slick and confident expansion to a game that seems to have finally found its feet.
Diablo IV was released in June of 2023 and crikey, did it make a good first impression. Adopting darker art style not seen since Diablo 2, telling a surprisingly robust story with some of the best cutscenes in video game history, it was a hell of an experience. Action-packed, creepy and engaging, grand stuff. Problems began, however, when players began to reach the endgame. Because, basically, there wasn’t one. Not much of one, anyway. And since Diablo IV is an ARPG, a game designed to be played for hundreds of hours, this was indeed an issue. Over the next year or so, Blizzard spent time adding modes, changing the entire loot table and adjusting progression, until this year’s season of Loot Reborn essentially delivered the game that players had been waiting for since last year. Now, in October 2024, we have the first big expansion: Vessel of Hatred. And it’s pretty damn good, although with a few caveats.
Vessel of Hatred picks up the story where vanilla Diablo IV left off. Players are sent on a quest to the newly accessible land of Nahantu, to track down ol’ mate Neyrelle who was last seen buggering off with a soulstone containing the dark spirit of that wanker, Mephisto. Trouble is, Neyrelle isn’t nearly strong enough to keep that manipulative force of evil contained and bad juju has been leaking all over the place, infecting the jungle and creating all manner of new, slimy horrors. So, it’s time to dust off those weapons – and perhaps try out the brand spanking new Spiritborn class – to give evil a swift and emphatic booting to the goolies.
There’s a lot to like (even love) in Vessel of Hatred, but let’s start with something that doesn’t work as well as one might have hoped: the story. While it’s a perfectly serviceable MacGuffin hunt through gorgeously creepy new environments, and features a couple of cracking boss fights, it’s a bit of a whiff. Neyrelle isn’t nearly as interesting as Lorath (or indeed many other characters in the base game) and her struggles with Mephisto become repetitive super quickly. There are far fewer exciting set pieces and amazing cut scenes in the expansion as well, which is a bummer considering how high the bar was set. This whole narrative reminds your humble word janitor of those rather thin stories offered in Destiny, which pad out a slight beat sheet with fetch quests and other busywork. It’s not terminal, mind you, and it’s short enough that it won’t harsh your buzz completely, but after such a skillfully told campaign in the main game, this is a distinct and disappointing step down.
You know what works, though? Pretty much everything else. The new Spiritborn class is great, deep and hard to master in a very satisfying way. It can take a bit to fully wrap your head around, but when you do, hooly dooly, it’s a cracker and unlike any of the other existing classes. Difficulty and progression have also had an overhaul and, while it may take you a while to grasp the ins and outs of the new systems (you might not want to play on the hardest difficulty available right off the jump, just quietly), the overall experience feels much more intuitive and satisfying.
There are also a bunch of new enemy types, most of them very cool and creepy-looking, and oodles of endgame content, including the Kurast Undercity (a timed monster mash that can be tweaked for better rewards) and the Dark Citadel (Diablo’s raid equivalent that promises to be the apex in terms of difficulty and loot offered). There is also a new level cap of 60, new skills and powers for older classes, the excellent Mercenaries system for solo players (which is a huge boon to those who prefer to play alone) and all manner of open world activities that will have you gaping at your phone, wondering how the hell it’s 3am and what happened to the day.
Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred is a slick and confident expansion to a game that seems to have finally found its feet. While the story itself is a little weak and thinly sketched, the new content on offer will likely please almost everyone, with added depth, powers and game modes. So, sharpen your glaive, feed your big cat and get ready to step into the lush, dripping jungles of Nahantu. There are monsters to be slain, demons to be banished and loot to be chased.
