(Review/Opinion) How I felt after playing through D4 for the first time

PC General Discussion
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This was something I made on Reddit just to see what reaction I would get from them. It was funny the type of arguments I got or lack of. I figured I would post it on a forum to see how different of a reaction it would get and see if the arguments and opinions would be more mature or even more objective instead of being toxic and left sided. Here is hoping to a decent experience and my first time on the Blizzard forums. Cheers.

I started playing this game a week ago and have made two characters. My Rogue got up to level 52 and my Sorcerer got up to level 77. I skipped the campaign as I didnā€™t care at all about the story. Iā€™m here for the gameplay experience and the loot rpg aspect, as well as the fun aspect of the classes. Iā€™ve played D2 and D3 before and I will be using those games in comparison to D4. I will be excluding time factors due to this game being a sequel to those ones.

~ Visuals and Graphics: The first thing I noticed was how great the character animations, skill visual effects, and world environment were. The skills were all pretty flashy and visually pleasing to look at when casting which made the experience pretty satisfying. The world graphics were more grim yet defined with color at locations to give definition and individuality. There are better aspects of the world graphics and design where you will see depth in the game. Sometimes it will be in a dungeon where you are going through a higher level of the dungeon and you see the beginning of the dungeon below the bridge you are on or you will see a town in the distance of the background when you are on a mountain/cliff. I feel this visual design is great. All in all, I was highly satisfied with the graphics of the game.

~ World/Level Design: The world design of the open world map is beautiful. The regions all feel like they have enough visual difference to distinguish from one another and they all arenā€™t meshing together in style. There are some regions that feel the same in nature but I felt like they were different enough to feel worth exploring. The one thing I would say about the part about exploring is that there is no incentive for exploring past the factor of gaining renown. Sure the strongholds are worth doing but there isnā€™t much outside of this. One thing I can suggest to fix this is to add minibosses across the world map that drop exclusive gear. Example: At the end of a shoreline is a ship that is wrecked and on that ship is a pirate captain miniboss that drops a pirate themed set of gear for each class with unique Aspects. All in all, I think the world design is good but can be better when it comes to gameplay aspects.

~ Characters and Gear: This is where I felt the game heavily fell off. The characters skill sets, abilities, and gear felt very uninspired and weakly done. I started as a Rogue with the intention of playing a bow/crossbow class as I did in D3 and D2. Itā€™s cool that this time around the bow class now has melee attached to it but it sadly lacks a second mana pool which it desperately needed. There are Marksman skills which are ranged skills and Cutthroat skills which are close combat skills and they highly lack Energy regen/regain passives to maintain Energy. The only options you have is to use the Inner Sight specialization for bosses or Shadow Imbuement for multi, which means that you are locked to only one playstyle. Now moving onto gear, they barely have much in the way of Aspects that are unique and barely any mutate the class skills and how they functions. This makes higher pieces of gear just feel like a stat upgrade and nothing more which kills the satisfaction portion of the looter aspect. I have a lot of fun in looter rpgs when a piece of gear turns my class that shoots arrows into a class that shoots beams of light that pierce enemies. This game has some of that, but not a lot. Also gear sets are missing which is a shame. All in all, the classes and gear feel bland and boring. The most fun Iā€™ve had was Ice Shard Sorcerer.

~ Difficulty: Just gonna say this straight, this is by far the easiest Diablo game I have ever played. I was so under leveled when I did my Capstone Dungeons and I still had no problems. You may say, oh you had a powerful build/loadout but no I did not. I was using my Ice Shard Sorcerer when it still had issues with mana management. I didnā€™t use gems yet, tempering, imprinting, or enchanting yet. I wanted to wait until Tier 4 until I did all that. I took on the Tier 3 Capstone Dungeon at level 59 and beat the final boss within 10 tries. The final boss is fun with his set of attacks and all he has. One attack from a single fireball from him at my level and gear set was 95% of my health. His summons orbs and his poison orbs that land on the ground were one shots. To me, this fight was pretty easy. Same goes for all content in the game. I completed Tier 46 Nightmare dungeon at level 68, I completed the first tier of the pit at level 70, and I did every single piece of content in this game alone without any help.

~ EndGame: I know this is Diablo but the endgame is boring. All that there is to endgame is World Bosses that seem to spawn ages apart from each other, higher tiered Nightmare Dungeons, The Pit which is just Greater Rifts from D3, and Uber Bosses which I havenā€™t bothered doing. World Bosses takes apparently 6-8 hours to spawn which is a horrible concept alone. On Tier 1-2, world bosses will take about 10 or so minutes to kill with other people but in Tiers 3-4 the boss will literally die within a minute. So this means that this end game content is not really content but an event that you attend just to participate in by existing. Say hello to the boss and collect your payment. Itā€™s great that you donā€™t get punished for not doing enough damage and get no loot because of it, but these bosses should have checks in place to prevent this type of damage from being done. As for what is missing from endgame is group focused content that puts more an emphasis on working together, which may be coming in the DLC which if so is sad that it will be locked behind a paywall. Now I know that you canā€™t do as much in said regard with Diabloā€™s top down perspective view and engaging content with a lack of mic support but perhaps there is a way where you have to split up to obtain two orbs that are on a time limit that you have to take to a locked door, or perhaps a pressure plate puzzle where you have to stand on 4 plates while fending off mobs. Something that makes having a group feel like a needed thing. Other than that, I just feel like the whole ā€œGrind the same content in different difficulty tiers against the same old enemiesā€ is just boring at this point when it comes to end game content. It should still be there for that type of content, but there should be alternative options. Where are Diablo 3ā€™s The Vault where you go through a killing spree of goblins and an end boss with a bunch of good loot. Where is the cow level? I feel like D4 really has potential but is missing quite a bit of ā€œfunā€.

~ PvP: Doesnā€™t exist. Iā€™ve searched for PvP to try out on Tiers 2, 3, and 4 for hours upon hours but couldnā€™t find even a single player existing in either PvP zone. I donā€™t know if itā€™s because everyone already farmed their Red Dust already or if it is because of an instance issue. Maybe the problem is incentive for these zones. I canā€™t say for sure.

~ Online Portion of the Game: If they wanted to make this an online game then cool but it fell completely flat. I hardly find people in this game, keep in mind that I have crossplay on and Iā€™m on non-seasoned, and yeah sure if you saw hundreds of people in a game world like this then it would completely ruin the experience but I can barely find 3 people in total. Something about the instancing system doesnā€™t work right or something. With 18,000 players online, you would think that it wouldnā€™t be hard to find at least 10 players in a popular town or something. Instead the world feels like a wasteland void of life and you feel like you are in a single player game. Not even the trade chat is remotely active. Now here in lies the problem. Everything, including the global chat, is separated across different instances. You have Tier 1, 2, 3, 4 of non-seasoned and Tier 1, 2, 3, 4 of seasoned, and ontop of that you have multiple instances within those instances. Thatā€™s a lot of instances that players are separated across which makes the in game chat and system almost worthless. This is the reason that people resort to using third party apps for D4 trading and group finding. Seasonal tiers shouldnā€™t exist at all. You can put seasonal and non-seasonal in the same instances and just disable trading for seasonal characters. There is no reason to separate the game like this. Personally I do not think Seasoned characters should exist at all in game anymore. It was great in D3, but here for an online game I feel like Seasoned characters should go and the battle pass should be a normal battle pass.

~ Cosmetics: The cosmetics given to all the characters in game are minimal and basic as hell. Think of D3 and the tiers of gear you get, commons and blues had this basic look to them and werenā€™t flashy at all, then you had rares that were better lookings, and then you had legendaries and sets which were pretty cool looking. In D4 with the base gear transmogs, the best look I can achieve is making my character look like something from D2. This is clearly done as a scumbag way to get people to buy the horribly overpriced $23 sets in the shop.

All in all, does my experience in the game make me hate it? No. Do I regret playing the game? A bit to some degree. Will I continue to play it? Not until many issues are fixed or at least some of the core issues are fixed to where the game feels somewhat satisfactory. The next update for the upcoming season seems like a complete flop that does nothing but make the grind a little less tedious but it doesnā€™t really address core issues. We will have to see what the DLC holds and if it is worth claiming to any degree or if its just more ā€œmap contentā€.

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unfortunately nonsenseā€¦there are enough really good looking sets that look far better than d2

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Itā€™s unfortunate you had no interest in the story and skipped the campaign, it was their best work. Playing the campaign alone was enough to make me satisfied with my purchase of D4 despite its other shortcomings.

I agree the game is too easy now. It was much more difficult at launch. I guess most players didnā€™t like it that way.

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Welcome to the Blizzard forums. The most toxic environment on the Internet.
On some points it is impossible to disagree with you.
If you look at it, Diablo 3 was the dawn of the franchiseā€™s skills, after which they reduced the number of skills to the level of part 2, and then limited the ability to use some.
Regarding cosmetics, if they made it possible to copy the available costumes from part 3, the variety of appearances would be hugeā€¦ True, they will earn less money but will delight fans of the franchise. All you need to do is convert the costumes and maybe do a little modification (the game engines are almost identical).
Well, there is a lot to discuss here, join us. Donā€™t forget to prepare a sedative, but itā€™s more interesting here than in the game at the moment.

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I may of been unlucky on drops but I felt on both Rogue and Sorcerer that the sets were bland. Perhaps Iā€™m wrong. I tried looking online to see if there were better looking sets but I couldnā€™t find any info. D2 was the best feeling comparison that I could make in regards to this.

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Difficulty, Endgame, PvPā€¦ ??? Iā€™m surprised you talk about something you know nothing about as you literally didnā€™t meet the criteria to get some clue about it :slight_smile: But in general very interresting and ā€œnail hittingā€ post :wink:

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Difficulty, Endgame, PvPā€¦ ??? Iā€™m surprised you talk about something you know nothing about as you literally didnā€™t meet the criteria to get some clue about it :slight_smile: But in general very interresting and ā€œnail hittingā€ post :wink:

What content am I missing out on though? Iā€™ve done normal bosses, greater rifts, nightmare dungeons, and world bosses. What other content is there? A tier 10 greater rift is going to be the exact same content as a tier 100 just with different criteria to meet in order to do it. Same for bosses to uber bosses, and same for nightmare dungeons. Itā€™s the same stuff as D3. There is no magical gameplay change in content for higher tiers, so why does my level have any relevance to my knowledge of what itā€™s going to be like? Iā€™ve done the entire grind in D3 and I donā€™t wanna do it in D4 because the classes feel like sā€” to me. What more do I need to understand?

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The only content you didnā€™t mention, I think, are Helltides, Legion Events, and Uber/Tormented Bosses. Unless by ā€˜normal bossesā€™ you meant the Uber Bosses. Although thatā€™s just another grind for mats. It does offer target farming for Uniques though, and a better chance to get Mythic Uniques.

If you donā€™t like the game in its current state I donā€™t blame you. For us who have been here since launch itā€™s a huge improvement but it still needs work. Iā€™d suggest checking back a year from now.

No that isnā€™t a joke either. The expansion will hit in October, itā€™ll have its own set of issues at launch, balance changes will need to be made, various features will probably still not be in the game. So give it a year from now, maybe a bit more and see how the game is doing then.

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You are right. I forgot to mention helltides as a positive aspect of my review. Iā€™m sure there are many things I forgot to mention. Helltides are actually the biggest new feature in game that makes the map feel alive. I very much found it enjoyable and fun to a degree. I however did not notice good loot coming from it as opposed to other things like nightmare dungeons and greater rifts. I could be wrong on that front but thatā€™s what I experienced. Legion events were very much dead when I went to them so I didnā€™t do those a whole lot but they were some decent group content. Sucks I couldnā€™t find others to do it with, lol.
There are normal versions of the uber bosses which have different requirements. I forgot their levels but I know the uber versions are much too high level for what I am at. They have well done mechanics however and I thought good effort was put into them all. The whole rng grind needs to be done away with however with the bricking aspect. Iā€™ve had two good pieces of gear I needed get bricked due to bad rng. It sucks so hardā€¦

I agree that it is a huge improvement yes. Iā€™ve been watching all the videos hating on the game from day 1 and the reasons as to why. I was going to buy this game on day 1 because I was hyped for it but after the masses called it bad then I just didnā€™t. I started last month due to finding it on gamepass and I figured why not try it out. I remember that D3 launched in a poor state somewhat in same regards and it became a really good game later on. I hope the same for D4 as the game feels to have really great potential and a good framework. But yeah I will be seeing what happens with the next DLC drop and Iā€™m not holding my breath. Iā€™m fully expecting to wait a year or so to see if this game becomes a lot better.

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Not even close. This is casual in every way, even its toxicity. :hamster: :popcorn:

OP the campaign is the best part, your feedback for the rest is pretty much what most people agree on.

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I donĀ“t want to be mean. And you may be right in lots of your points (TLDR) but your feedback can be hardly relevant if you didnĀ“t even touch endgame.

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Fair, opinion piece.

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Iā€™ve played through Diablo 3ā€™s grind and as stated in a reply above, I have experienced all the content just without going to the higher tiers, So I believe that my feedback is relevant. Itā€™s the reason I stopped playing and the reason behind why I felt that I should stop playing. Itā€™s feedback that can help the game.

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Hereā€™s the issue with it, the enemies need to be level 95+ to drop the highest ilvl loot (925). Which means you need to be 85 with a Mindcage elixir (only on Seasonal) or 92 as Helltides are always 3 levels above the player. Aside from when you first start a new World Tier as they do have a minimum cap. Currently Helltides are the best place to farm gear via the Blood Maiden event. It literally rains legendaries.

The issue of course is the fact you are on Eternal, which the majority of the player base doesnā€™t play on, and this late into the Season I doubt youā€™d see too many people because after all what do you when youā€™ve already maxed out your character several months before and now youā€™re just min-maxing in a very grindy world?

Yea we just call the normal versions, ā€˜Uber Bossesā€™ and then you have ā€˜Tormentedā€™ versions. Depending on the bosses they range from level 75 to 100. Tormented versions are always level 200. Thereā€™s been suggestions by myself and others to have a middle tier of bosses, letā€™s say ranging from levels 135 to 150, so they drop higher level loot, but who knows if theyā€™ll ever add it.

Regardless, you made a good post coming from an outside perspective and a person new to the game (not new to the franchise) after all the changes have been made. I think the devs need to hear hear everyoneā€™s opinion, newer and older players alike. General consensus between all players though has been that the game still needs changes. To what degree is varied amongst the player base, but itā€™s obvious the game isnā€™t out of the woods yet.

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Oh yes, thatā€™s exactly what I mean my friend. Here you can learn the basics of trolling in a week. And you will show us a master class.

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Well, for starters, difficulty, endgame, and actual pvp, which youā€™re not really going to see if your highest character is 77. Yeah, true, itā€™s the same content, but itā€™s far more interesting content when itā€™s not steamroll.

Also, at level 77, you didnā€™t do the Gauntlet, and I donā€™t think youā€™d have the Pit open.

PS - You really did yourself a disservice by not doing the campaign.

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Hereā€™s the issue with it, the enemies need to be level 95+ to drop the highest ilvl loot (925). Which means you need to be 85 with a Mindcage elixir (only on Seasonal) or 92 as Helltides are always 3 levels above the player. Aside from when you first start a new World Tier as they do have a minimum cap. Currently Helltides are the best place to farm gear via the Blood Maiden event. It literally rains legendaries.

I get that and yes I have been grinding 925s to the point that I ran out of room for all of the legendary pieces Iā€™ve been collecting in both of my chest slots. Iā€™ve mainly been grinding Nightmare dungeons for them and people donā€™t get that farming level 100 content in this game is not hard to do while severely under leveled which is my whole point on the game being easy. I got one staff I wanted that had decent rolls and I started tempering it and got screwed on rng. I was pretty defeated after that. I really hate the limited tempering rolls and I think they really need to go.

Yea we just call the normal versions, ā€˜Uber Bossesā€™ and then you have ā€˜Tormentedā€™ versions. Depending on the bosses they range from level 75 to 100. Tormented versions are always level 200. Thereā€™s been suggestions by myself and others to have a middle tier of bosses, letā€™s say ranging from levels 135 to 150, so they drop higher level loot, but who knows if theyā€™ll ever add it.

Oh my bad. I didnā€™t know that. I thought the harder and higher level version were uber, lol. Yeah, I would see why it would be good to have an inbetween level of the bosses but it would have to go off of the previous materials or a mix of both in order to not over saturate the item pool which may cause inventory issues.

I appreciate your feedback and respectful replies. I definitely would love to see this game really go up and become a much more enjoyable experience. If they balanced classes more to make all classes feel enjoyable to play to the point that you can feel like mixing and matching skills to come up with unique and different playstyles, then I would definitely come back to the game even if the tempering issues and whatnot were still in the game.

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And I appreciate some one who can look at the game more objectively and not immediately reach for a pitch fork to storm the gates. :stuck_out_tongue: All of the issues youā€™ve mentioned I agree with. Now I donā€™t care for PvP myself, but Iā€™m not against having it in the game, or having changes being made to it so others can enjoy it more.

I am curious about the expansion, but Iā€™m still holding off on buying it myself. Weā€™ll get more information about the new class on July 18th, and more information about the expansion itself in August at Gamescon they said. Iā€™m a patient man though, I can wait, and more then likely Iā€™ll be waiting for a sale before I even purchase the expansion. I donā€™t think the expansion will fix all the issues players have, Iā€™m just hoping it will fix a few.

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There are times to reach for a pitchfork like Diablo Immoral and there are times where you donā€™t. Itā€™s clear that effort went into this game, unlike Immoral, and going bashing their door down is uncalled for. This is just a matter of ā€œGame is unenjoyable and we want you to do better/fix itā€. Diablo Immoral is a case of ā€œYou done fā€”ed up and now you will burn on the cross, witch.ā€ lol.

Good to know about the dates. I probably wouldnā€™t of seen it in my Youtube feed. Thanks for the info. I will be keeping an eye out on those dates. I hope the expansion at least gives some fun content for groups. I love group content in online games.

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Itā€™s a funny thing, but you are now discussing the game with people who, for the most part, are satisfied with the state of the game at the moment.
The problem is that with a sorcerer the difference isnā€™t really noticeable until you meet mobs and bosses 20-30 levels higher than you, and thatā€™s when the whole imbalance comes out.
There are also very interesting methods for calculating damage when the increase from strengthening a skill is greater than from strengthening an element.
The game has a lot of problems, but there are people who are satisfied with their presence.
You donā€™t have to believe me, just look at their posts.

And by the way, it was not for nothing that you missed the company, it is too boring.