5 Things Diablo IV Didn't Need

Dec 19, 2023

Nick Shively Posted: Jun 6, 2023 12:00 PM ET Category: Editorials The List 0

With each iteration of the Diablo franchise, certain things are added, removed and improved upon. Not everyone is happy with the changes from each title to the next, the games have typically gotten better or at least more accessible. While the reception of Diablo IV already seems quite positive, there are a number of things the game would have been better without.

Side-quests and world events were an integral part of Diablo II and Diablo III, respectively, whether you were clearing the Den of Evil for Akara or unleashing the Jar of Souls in the Cemetery of the Forsaken. In Diablo II, the side quests often provided useful benefits upon completion such as additional skill points or high-quality gems while the random events in Diablo III granted additional experience and/or loot drops.

While both of these games handled optional content differently, it never felt superfluous. The Diablo II side quests often felt meaningful for what was going on in the Act and the events in Diablo III gave tiny tidbits into what else was going on in the world without requiring a lot of additional commitment.

On the other hand, Diablo IV has decided to include both world events and side quests. The problem is that they pop up all over the place and are often trivial and feel like MMORPG fetch-quests such as delivering items to NPCs or taking out a random band of thugs. These quests are all over the place and often don't add meaningful context to the game but instead feel like filler content.

Most gamers have learned to tolerate cash shops over the last decade simply because there hasn't been much of a choice. Nearly all free-to-play games and most MMOs have some form of cash shop where you can buy a range of items including cosmetics, experience boosts, and sometimes even powerful gear. Although Diablo IV is on the less egregious end of the spectrum, selling only cosmetic items so far, the fact that a game with a base price ranging from $70 to $100 still includes a cash shop is a little insulting.

Currently, ‘microtransactions’ in Diablo IV can go up to $100 for the largest pack of platinum while a full set of character armor is around $25 and a mount with armor is closer to $15. There's nothing in the shop that players necessarily need to buy, but adding content to a shop instead of allowing it to be earned in-game doesn't have a place in a full-priced AAA game.

Once upon a time, video games were simply released and you went to the store to buy them. There was only one version of the game and almost no reason to ever buy them before the official launch date unless you were one of the adventurous few who wanted to pick up your game at midnight. The multiple versions of the same game with different pre-order bonuses (sometimes different depending on who you pre-order with and for what system) is a plague upon the gaming community.

Even Diablo III only released two different versions: Standard and Collector's. Special ‘collector's editions’ have been a part of Blizzard's arsenal for a while, but they usually offer something substantial such as art books, figurines and/or soundtracks. With Diablo IV, you have the option to pay an additional $20-30 for unlocked microtransactions and early access to the game.

At the moment, the battle pass system hasn't been unlocked for Diablo IV but it's definitely coming. During each new season, with an anticipated quarterly release, Diablo IV will release a new battle pass with three separate tiers: Free, Premium (1,000 Platinum), and Accelerated (2,800 Platinum). The Free and Premium battle passes will have separate tracks while the Accelerated unlocks the first 20 levels the Premium tier and contains a unique cosmetic item.

From what we know so far, the Premium battle pass will only include additional cosmetic items while the Free pass will include cosmetics and a plethora of other items and currency including emblems, emotes, gold, titles, and Smoldering Ashes, which can be used to purchases seasonal bonuses. These passes encourage players to spend as much time in the game grinding due to FOMO while also attempting to extra another $25 every season. Of course these can be completely avoided, but it is definitely on the greedy side for a full-priced game. I would personally rather pay for story/content-driven DLC than time-gated cosmetics.

Despite the prevalence of Internet access these days, there are still some people who don't have access to fast and/or stable connections or simply don't want to play with other people. This has never been a problem until Diablo IV. While the PC version of Diablo III did not include an offline only mode, it was still possible to play the game without interacting with other players. The PlayStation and Switch versions of the game could be played without an Internet connection. Furthermore, Diablo and Diablo II had their own offline, single-player modes.

Key changes to gameplay in Diablo IV now force every player online regardless of the system they’re playing on. With the shared world MMO-style setup in Diablo IV, there's no way to avoid or hide other players regardless of whether you’re in town or out battling monsters. While this has benefits such as making world bosses and events easier to complete, it doesn't cater to players who would prefer to game in solitude. Furthermore, Diablo IV requires a stable Internet connection and those playing on console will have to subscribe to their respective online service, which costs an additional monthly fee.