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To put it bluntly, I fell out of love with Diablo 4. It’s not that it’s a bad game, it isn’t. It’s just that it didn’t do for me what previous games in the series did. I loved it initially, even reviewing it for other platforms. I loved the campaign, the bosses, the story, the gameplay, and once I reached the end, I felt like I had been on an epic journey.
Lilith was an incredible, multilayered, and even sympathetic villain. It was a chef’s kiss, bravo, Blizzard. So I looked forward to Season 1, took the opportunity to play through the game again, and then took part in the Malignant Hearts story. I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t do the Malignant Hearts story with my original character, but it was what it was.
But over time, as more seasonal stories came and went, this grated on me. You see, I don’t play Diablo games to make new characters every few months endlessly. I don’t have time for this. But I do like to do a main run with each class and do everything there is to do.
I’m an old-school Diablo fan who’s played since the very first game, and I get quite attached to my characters. This whole push to endgame and start again thing isn’t for me. I’d rather complete every side quest, explore every dungeon, and engage in the endgame content when I feel like it.
What I cannot stand is just doing the same endgame tasks over and over again every season, such as Helltides. Its story development and quests that keep me engaged with Diablo, it always has been. So it frustrates me that players like me are abandoned by Blizzard.
The endless grind
I want to play the new seasonal story quests, but I don’t want to start a new character, so we’re at an impasse, and that impasse leads to me uninstalling the game and playing something else. If Blizzard let me enjoy the new story content on the Eternal Realm with all my characters, I’d likely return every season. They experimented with this in Season 5, and I loved it, but then abandoned it again in Season 6.
This is why I love expansions. Sure, I understand they’re a lot more work and are few and far between, but the new quests, locations, and classes are often something that tempts me back. I adored Diablo 2’s The Lord of Destruction expansion, and again with Diablo 3’s Reaper of Souls.
Diablo 4’s own Vessel of Hatred expansion also tempted me back, and I played it through with every class and enjoyed the Spiritborn. But once I had completed every quest and done some of the new endgame content with my mains, my attention started to waver. I held out to enjoy the Baal content that made its way to the Eternal Realm during a subsequent season, but then it was back to uninstalling.
So I have high hopes for the next expansion, The Lord of Hatred. I’ll play the Paladin and Warlock classes to death, and even play through the new quests with my other mains, but I’ve seen this movie before. And while I’m excited for the next expansion, I feel like after playing it, I’ll be uninstalling Diablo 4 for another two years, unless Blizzard can meet players like me halfway and give me a reason to stick around after.
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