I was reading a lore recap of Diablo 3 the other day, and the story details blew my mind. Not because the plot is particularly cꦰomplex or interesting - it’s not - but bec👍ause despite playing Diablo 3 dozens of times over, I had no idea what actually happens in that game. I can run through that campaign blindfolded, and I’ve killed the act bosses hundreds, if not thousands of times, but I still had no clue what actually happened in that game, and I assume most other Diablo players don’t either.
I mean no disrespect to Diablo players, but I’m not here for the story. In fact, engaging with it is counter to my goals. Back in Diablo 2, before 3 introduced greater rifts and adventure mode, the campaign was just a necessary burden that had tওo be completed before you could get to the real game: the grind.🌠 Rushing through the story as fast as possible is a mark of a skilled Diablo 2 player, and you’ll find countless guides and tutorials online that will help you speed through it and avoid as much of the campaign as possible. This has always been the correct way to play Diablo, until Diablo 3 offered alternative ways to level up, meaning you never had to play the campaign at all.
In the past, I would never recommend Diablo to anyone that isn’t interested in the grind. The joy of Diablo is in the gear hunt, the slow accumulation of incrementally better pieces that you collect over a long period of time until you have your full build of best-in-slot items, then start over the next season or with another character. If someone just wanted to play through the story and stop, I’d tell them they’d be missing out on everything that makes Diabꩲlo Diablo. That’s like quitting The Witcher 3 after you’ve finished White Orchard. You ain’t seen nothing yet.
To some extent that remains true of Diablo 4 as well. Once you finish the campaign and reach level 50 you’ll unlock World Tier 3, which truly begins D4’s endgame. It’s here that you’ll get your first taste of Nightmare Dungeo🏅ns and Helltide events, and your first opportunity to find Sacred and Unique gear. If you stop playing Diablo 4 when the credits🌊 roll, you’ll never really have the Diablo experience. You’ll never truly know the grind.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play Diablo 4 if you’re not going to coജmmit to it though. Unlike previous entries, D4’s campaign is a full RPG experience unto itself, with a complete narrative arc and sense of character progression that’s plenty satisfying, even if you choose not to continue on after. Where in the past I would shake my head at those that ‘give up’ on Diablo too soon, I think you’d be missing out if you didn’t give Diablo 4 a chance - even if you’re not prepared to make it your main game.
The narrative and mission structure of Diablo 4 isn’t anything revolutionary, but it should be familiar and comfortable to fans of games like Dragon Age, The Witcher, and Skyrim, enough so that you’ll feel pulled to explore the world and complete many of its optional quests. This is the first open-world diablo, and as such it borrows a lot of typical open-world RPG conventions to make the maps feel full and worth investigating. Yo🍬u’ll find side quests that lead to surprising situations in strange places, events out in the world you can intervene in for rewards, and plenty of hidden 🅠treasure to discover if you venture off the beaten path. Diablo 4 does a great job of creating micro stories and personal experiences that are momentarily satisfying and compel you to keep playing.
D4 also has the most dynamic and engaging combat of any game in the sꦓeries, and you’ll get a lot out of it even if you only level your character up halfway (most people will finish the campaign somewhere around level 45-50). While past Diablos were more passive gaming experiences that allowed you to mindlessly click your way through dungeons while you watched Netflix on your second screen, Diablo 4’s combat is slower and more demanding. Almost every class relies on skill shot abilities that require aim and positioning, and the new dodge ability is both a defensive and offensive tool, since it allows you to avoid damage and reposition yourself for targeted attacks. Some of the boss fights will require a level of focus and preparation that I’ve never experienced in a Diablo game before, and I even found myself respeccing my character to better deal with the conditions of certain fights. Completing Diablo 4’s campaign, at least on World Tier 2, is an achievement unto itself, and I think you can get a lot out of the experience even if that’s all you do.
Of course, a lot of Diablo 4 dabblers will find themselves sucked into the endgame eventually, and I’m willing to reveal that that’s part of my secret agenda for you. But even if you don’t see yourself ever becoming a little loot goblin like me, you can still have a great time with Diablo 4’s campaign, and feel like you got your money’s worth when it's over. I won’t be taking my time to fill out the map and turn in all the side quests, but if that’s how you like to play your RPGs, Diablo 4 can easily adapt to that casual way of playing.