Early reviews of Blizzard's upcoming epic RPG Diablo 4 are starting to hit the web, and it's looking like a fantastic start for the team's fourth mainline entry in the series.
Here at Pure Xbox, we thought the game was excellent; granting it a 9/10 in our full written review. You can check out our thoughts down below, along with a selection of other review summaries from various outlets.
Pure Xbox (9/10)
"You can see why it’s taken Blizzard over six years to get this one out the gate when you look at the end product. Diablo 4 is a natural evolution of the series with its new open-world design and gameplay, enhanced social and multiplayer experience, and a live service that promises to keep players returning to the world of Sanctuary for years to come.
These strong foundations and scale of the whole experience, combined with the five unique classes and seemingly limitless customisation options for builds, should keep even the most diehard demon slayers busy for a very long time."
VGC (5/5)
"After playing Diablo 4 for dozens of hours, it makes it so clear why fans of the franchise were so bitterly disappointed with Diablo Immortal. Diablo 4 nails the core tenant of the series for what is an incredible action RPG, and a game that will challenge players’ skill level, as well as the strength of their marriages."
PCGamesN (10/10)
"Diablo 4 embodies the essence of what makes Diablo so great, taking the best elements of its predecessors and sewing them together to create an ever-changing, ever-evolving chimera that we can't wait to play for years to come."
Dexerto (5/5)
"Diablo 4 is a mighty sequel, but it can feel more like a grand buffet of tasty demon-slaying treats. It offers something for everyone but misses out on that acquired yet curated taste of the older entries.
This doesn't take away from Diablo 4 representing the next evolution in the series. It is a stellar sequel – and one that works hard to appeal to every fan of this beloved franchise."
Windows Central (5/5)
"Simply put, Diablo 4 may be Blizzard's best-ever game, and that's a really tough legacy to live up to. Immaculate storytelling meets stunning art, polished, bug-free gameplay, atop endlessly customizable combat with the promise of dozens, maybe hundreds of hours of content — Diablo 4 might be Blizzard's most important, pivotal game since World of Warcraft."
TechRaptor (9.5/10)
"Diablo IV might just go down as one of Blizzard's best games. It delivers exciting and accessible ARPG gameplay, a stunning world and engaging narrative to experience, and so many activities to keep you hooked for hours on end."
Push Square (9/10)
"Diablo 4 is the true successor to the bad old days of action RPGs and oozes quality in its frenetic combat and deep, engaging character development. It tells a complex, gritty narrative set in the darkly beautiful world of Sanctuary. Even better, it provides a solid foundation for years of Diablo content to come."
IGN (9/10)
"Diablo 4 is a stunning sequel with near perfect endgame and progression design that makes it absolutely excruciating to put down. The story is a pretty big disappointment despite still being a noticeable improvement over Diablo 3 and there are some annoying bugs that need squashing, but the combat, the loot game, and both the sights and sounds of this world are impressive enough to smooth over those rough edges."
Wccftech (8.5/10)
"Diablo IV is a return to form at a much needed time for Blizzard. It delivers incredibly fun hack and slash action combat, a greatly improved skill system, and a ton of things to do, not to mention the best story told in the franchise yet. It also looks awesome, sounds great, and runs well (except for rare instances of traversal stuttering)."
GameSpot (8/10)
"Diablo IV, at this time, cannot escape comparison to the past of the franchise it belongs to, but it's thankfully a game that has been crafted with a strong awareness of what made each one either revered or reviled.
It represents a measured approach to combining the many elements from previous entries that worked into a system that feels like the new standard-bearer for action role-playing. Coupled with a new benchmark for storytelling in the franchise, and a solid narrative foundation for any potential new adventures, it's easy to see Diablo IV as something I'll regularly check-in on for a long time to come."
Siliconera (8/10)
"Diablo IV features a compelling antagonist in Lilith, and while it tries to present more interesting ideas into the series by the way of story, it ends up retreading old ground in more ways than one."
VG247 (4/5)
"Diablo 4 is good, but it could have been more. It's a damn good entry to the series as a whole, and will give the vast majority of its players a bloody good time. Bugs and live service concerns aside, it's a good package (even for players that find themselves more fond of the old ways of doing things)."
Diablo 4 looks like a huge hit with the critics then; Blizzard's new action RPG is currently landing with a 91 on Metacritic and 89 on Open Critic at the time of writing. If the dev team can nail the post-launch support for Diablo 4, it looks like something that fans will be playing for years and years to come.
Is this on your June to-buy list for Xbox? Let us know if you're planning on playing Diablo 4 next month!
Comments 19
Nice scores! Can’t wait to play it!
Great scores so far. But a little worrying that Blizzard are hiding the monetisation until after launch ESPECIALLY after Diable 3's post launch auction house and Diablo: Immortal. So far only Eurogamer seem to have denied reviewing the game until AFTER the monetisation is clear as far as I can see, but perhaps others will too.
A few others are holding off as Blizzard deleted their saves before they were done (ACG etc); and Skill Up is withholding his review as Blizzard won't allow more than 20 minutes of even non-spoilery footage.
Yeah, been a huge fan of Diablo series in early days (D1 was an addiction among my friends in 90-s), but for some reason I ain't feeling it for D4. Maybe Blizzard has finally depleted my good will well with all the shenanigans lately. Anyway, I'll wait to see player reactions 6 months down the line to evaluate if I should jump in.
BLIZZARD”S BACK!!!!
@themightyant I was going to preorder but i cant really find a clear answer to their monetization shenanigans how much is this stuff going to cost? I shouldn't have to be an internet sleuth to discover this. Also why cant they just release the battle pass tract and let us see whats in it?
@VisitingComet1 because they want the high review scores.
It’s becoming a common tactic among more releases to release the game then add MTX after the review period.
The review got me amped - just got to play 2 and 3 first….
@themightyant @PsBoxSwitchOwner So I decided I would do some research I went to the games website and they do not mention the mtx stuff at all. If you look in the forums you can find info but you shouldn't have to do that. Look I have no problem with them saying were doing this to support the games future but come out and tell us all the costs. I have thought for a long time that we need a section on video games rating that says estimated cost going forward like you have when you buy a car from a dealership. This makes me sound really cheap but I am not I just do not want to buy something and then feel hornswagled if you want to sell cosmetics fine just have a store for that don't make me do some dumb pass.
@VisitingComet1 it has both a store, and a battle pass on top of it being £70.
Don’t get me wrong the game looks great, but after Diablo immortals I’m a waiting to see what happens regarding MTX. Will probably pick it up after I do FF16
I believe they said Micro-transactions are just cosmetics. I mean it sucks and I don’t think it should be in there (2023 🙄) but you can just ignore it.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner Yup, such shady practices are why critic reviews are so worthless when it comes to any live services game. I mean just take a look at the polarizing response to GT7, critics overwhelmingly praised it while the audience was extremely critical of it's always-online nature and micro-transactions.
Basically it seems like far too often the critics are willing to completely overlook issues with these games that would bother most people. That and with a lot of big new releases, critics are just trying to promote them most of the time anyways.
I'll definitely wait for the user feedback on this one.
@themightyant It has a day one cash shop.
@PsBoxSwitchOwner Exactly. It is goofy they're charging $70 for a game with a battlepass and microtrans. Will be waiting for sure
@BBB Thanks for the info here is a link that talks about all the costs their shoehorning into a 70 dollar game https://news.blizzard.com/en-us/diablo4/23952500/what-you-can-expect-from-diablo-iv-s-post-launch-experiences Now that I know what is going to cost I will have to think on it for a while. I did try the server slam and really enjoyed the druid. I stopped playing at about lvl 10 just so I wouldn't spoil anything. Like I said before I do not begrudge them for wanting to make money to support the game and co0ntinue development I do understand they are a company that is in it for the cash and things cost money.
@VisitingComet1 thanks for the blog post.
@BBB That seems to suggest that the seasonal battle pass isn’t just cosmetics, there are XP, gold and Obol boosts that can be activated too. It all sounds needlessly complex to me, and I can’t think of a game that has an XP boost that wasn’t made more grindy because of it, but only time will tell
I don’t see why a £70 games needs a store AND a battle pass AND expansions. Just sounds like pure greed and whale hunting.
Ugh, idk how but I wasn't aware of mtx and pass controversy..... Maybe not a must play after all. I should have known better from the markers of WoW.
@NEStalgia Ya man I just wonder if the game is getting 9/10's everywhere how much better could it have been if they didn't spend so much time and resources thinking of crazy ways to milk the ip? I understand immortal almost all mobile games are cash grabs but this is one of your core flagship games how greedy you got to be? Make it good and you will sell through the roof want some m ore cash after that do an expansion with a new class or more story. Enough ranting from me I am just very skeptical but they own the ip it is up to them to be good stewards. On a side note does this discussion make anyone else feel like they are really old and just whishing for the days of expansion pass preorders? lol!
It’s not a game of the year contender if it locks content behind paywalls.
But the Xbox version won't win, it'll be the PS5 version considering all the media love Sony and dispise Micro
@BBB My point was the blog post doesn't make it clear if ALL the smouldering ashes and boosts are available from the free tier, only that SOME are. Hence I said only time will tell. This should all be clear BEFORE a game is reviewed and released imho.
I don't begrudge companies making money, in fact I encourage it as I want them to keep making games, but only WITHIN REASON.
You can make plenty of money, as Blizzard has done in the past, by making a great game and selling worthwhile expansions. You don't need to ALSO sell a needlessly complicated Battlepass AND have an in game currency and store. This seems deliberately and cynically designed to go whale hunting for the people who want, or can't control, having everything and will spend hundreds or thousands to get it. That is too far in my opinion.
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