Gameplay and Story
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, the Diablo teams at Blizzard have taken what was once almost a decade of relative silence and unleashed several waves of bombastic releases from Diablo Immortal to Diablo IV and now, it’s first official expansion, Vessel of Hatred. I have met several of these teams and had the amazing opportunity to spend time with them at Blizzard HQ and I will say, I haven’t seen such dedication and passion from Blizzard in many, many years. That passion and love for series such as Diablo shines through in Vessel, especially through its cinematics and storytelling elements which are some of the best in the industry. Vessel of Hatred is a stunning entry in the Diablo series and a showcase of what the Blizzard cinematics and art teams are capable of.
Vessel continues the tragic yet epic tale of Neyrelle, Mephisto, and a whole crew filled with lightness and dark. In fact, I would say that Vessel is even better than the base game when it comes to the stunning storytelling and elements that really hooks you from the get-go with an incredible cinematic that sucks you right in. The constant balance between the beauty of the new jungle areas and the darkness of the story is almost perfect. The same goes with the new Spiritborn class which is one of the best if not thee best class the Diablo team has created in recent years. Spitting poison and summoning my Centipede o’ Death was extremely satisfying. All these elements mold together along with new endgame activities that make Vessel the total ARPG package.
Graphics and Audio
I already mentioned how impressive this area is but I will say it again: Vessel of Hatred is absolutely gorgeous for both the eye and ear. The graphics and cinematics frequently switch between glorious and disgusting in the best of ways. The sound effects hit you with force and feel satisfying. The music is haunting, beautiful, and sweeping. It’s truly a feast of eye and ear candy. Bravo to all the teams involved in this work of art.
From the UI to the environments to the ambient sounds to the splashing of blood and guts, Vessel of Hatred is one of the most polished and impressive games I’ve played in years.
Feedback and Verdict
If you can’t tell by now, I have loved my review time with Vessel and can’t wait for the full launch. We played on a private press server which made it very nice to get a sneak peak but with all our progress being wiped at the end, I didn’t dive into the endgame activities as much as I had hoped but come launch time, I’m all in!
Vessel of Hatred isn’t the deepest or most complex ARPG on the market, Its microtransaction options are extremely overpriced, and I have a few frustrations with some of the loot design. You know what though? Aside from all that, it does almost everything right. With each season, its first expansion, and every patch, it just gets better and better and that makes this Diablo fanatic absolutely thrilled for the future. This is almost more of an experience than just another ARPG entry. With Vessel, the loot is better, the endgame is better, runes are back (!) and the new Spiritborn class along with the expansion as a whole is an absolute triumph. This is a must-buy for any Diablo fan. If you liked Diablo IV, you are going to adore Vessel of Hatred.
