Jeremy Gallen's Game Reviews

Hell hath no fury...

The Blizzard Entertainment franchise Diablo is renowned for its hack-and-slash roleplaying gameplay, beginning with the release of the first game on personal computers in 1996, its first sequel seeing release in 2000. The first two games would receive expansion packs sometime after their releases, with the development of the third entry commencing in 2001, the tertiary title officially announced in 2008. Diablo III would not see its initial release until 2012, with the PlayStation 4 release coming two years later, and eventually a collection of the original game and its expansions entitled Diablo III Eternal Collection, which, like its predecessors, provides solid action RPG gameplay.

Upon starting a new game, the player can create a character from several classes. The player can outfit them with different weapons and armor, each able to hack away at the enemy with their and use skills that require recharging before the player can use them again (the same goes for HP-restoring potions). Some skills use points with different terminology (Wrath for the Crusader and Spirit for the Monk), which recovers as the player attacks. Players can also have an AI-controlled ally with their own weapons, armor, and skills. The only issue is that the player cannot easily break out of enemies that crowd around them, death costing the player ten percent durability for their current equipment, a fair penalty.

The third entry sports many improvements over its predecessor in terms of control, chiefly more generous inventory space, organized as a list rather than a grid, that negate the necessity to return to town constantly to sell excess gear, in which case the player can teleport there for free to do so. Automaps form as the player progresses across fields and through dungeons, with clear direction on the next story objective that prevents players from becoming lost. However, no equipment optimization option exists for the player and their companion, and they cannot see how weapons and armor increase or decrease ally stats while shopping. Regardless, Diablo III interacts well with players.

Most Western RPGs tend to sport blank-slate protagonists, but fortunately, whichever class the player chooses to play does have sundry interaction during story scenes that differ depending upon vocation, the narrative itself continuing from the second game, with journals scattered on fields and within dungeons revealing various backstories. Furthermore, the transition between the fourth and fifth Acts feels fluid in the expanded version of the third Diablo. There are some minor tried tropes, such as amnesia, but the narrative is a significant draw to the game overall.

The soundtrack of Diablo III, as seems to be the case with most non-Japanese RPGs, lacks a sense of memorability, perhaps more so due to the sounds of combat drowning it out during gameplay, but is no deterrent, and the voice work is top-notch.

The visuals border on perfection, with a 2.5-dimensional view of the game environs, largely devoid of things such as jaggies and pixilated texturing. The character models also look nice and have realistic anatomy, with the only real issue being the poor collision detection among characters, enemies, and their environments.

Finally, finishing the game can take around twenty hours, with the variety of classes and in-game challenges that sync with PlayStation Trophies nicely enhancing replay value.

Ultimately, the PlayStation 4 version of Diablo III combined with its expansion is, for the most part, solid, what with its enjoyable hack-and-slash gameplay, tight control, lore-heavy narrative, superb voice acting, beautiful visuals that look good even today, and plentiful lasting appeal. However, as with most Western RPGs, the soundtrack feels unmemorable, but I enjoyed the third game just as much as, probably more than, its predecessors. Even so, those that enjoyed prior installments will most likely enjoy the third game’s enhanced edition.

This review is based on playthroughs as a Crusader and Monk on the easiest difficulty.