Hello! It’s that time again. You might’ve seen a few reviews going live right about now for the Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred expansion, but unfortunately not one from us (or from our friends at VG247 and Rock Paper Shotgun).
As ever, the usual caveats apply here: we mean it when we say with each of these cases that we are absolutely not entitled to review code; it’s a privilege, not a right. Ultimately which outlets get review code and when is entirely at the discrection of the publisher – it’s their game, and it’s totally their decision as to how they handle advanced access to it.
That said, we also have a duty to keep our readers in the loop. In this case, it’s that we actually did receive code earlier this week (unlike our sister sites). Only, we were told that code wouldn’t provide access until launch day, this coming 8th October. And then subsequently, and slightly oddly, that review actually code wouldn’t go out until Monday 7th.
It’s all a bit odd. But hey, that’s video games – and ultimately, no big deal. The good news is that we will of course get access to the game at some point, and when we do you can expect our in-depth thoughts as ever (just a bit later than we’d hoped).
Until then, you can check out or original Diablo 4 review from last summer, where we gave it four stars and I described it as “a designer’s game at heart, built on intricacy and depth,” only one where “a sense of fearful overcompensation holds it back.” Or, we’ve our many in-depth Diablo 4 guides, and also Alexis’ exceptional writing on her experiences with the first post-launch season, Season of the Malignant, and at the same time the wider system of service games as a whole. She described it like this:
“That I mindlessly power through my silly little video game chores against some of the most beautifully-lit landscapes in the series is a disservice to the environment artists who worked on this for years. Diablo 4 doesn’t have to be like this, but truth be told, I am weak and lazy, and the mindless hum of busywork has become a frighteningly easy form of procrastination from actual work.
“There’s a whole decade, at least, of Diablo 4 lined up and waiting for us. But I can’t see a future where the long-term player experience gets better without a fundamental change to the way we engage with live-service games, as well as the way live-service games act coy about the compulsive psychology embedded in their design. This may be the most beautiful rendering of Sanctuary yet, but in true human fashion, it’s become a hell of my own making.”
Since then, some substantial changes have been made to Diablo 4 – we’re looking forward to checking them out!