Season of Blood for Diablo 4 began on shaky grounds. A technical error momentarily delayed its seasonal launch, causing an initial uproar in the community. Yet, within hours, the storm subsided, and players were finally able to experience the new vampire themed season. After playing through the Season of Blood for a few hours, I felt compelled to reflect on Diablo 4's evolution and the question on my mind - is diving into Diablo 4 now going to be a rewarding experience?
Season of Blood - A New Perspective:
This season, I opted to experience the world through the eyes of a Druid, a deviation from my previous Diablo 4 class choices, I usually play the Necromancer, or the Barbarian. While each player's journey might differ based on their chosen class, here's how I felt playing Diablo 4's Season of Blood as a Druid.
New Narrative Themes:
I've always been fond of how Diablo 4 cleverly intertwines fresh narratives with every season, introducing new stories and enhancing the depth of its universe. As a sucker for vampire-themed lore, Season of Blood's vampiric elements felt like a thrilling invitation I couldn't resist, especially when Halloween is right around the corner.
Enhancements and Gameplay Dynamics:
Now immersed in the Season of Blood, the slew of updates from the developers stands out. I am most pleased with the new horse mechanics. Once a tad cumbersome, riding now evokes the exhilaration promised in the initial trailers, especially when dismounting to plunge into a horde of skeletons in the open world of Sanctuary. Additionally, the added stashes that were strategically positioned in all the waypoints and the optimized mob densities have successfully eliminated uneventful, prolonged treks, ensuring persistent excitement and gameplay, the when I want it.
Vampiric Abilities & User Experience:
The new vampire skills are also quite interesting and I have been having fun mixing and matching them to create the Vampire Druid that I envisioned. The new skills, especially "Metamorphosis", which changes the evade ability into an "unstoppable" movement skill, opens up a realm of possibilities, giving me the freedom to swap out my Trample skill, which is crucial for surviving getting crowd controlled by enemies. One thing I must say though, is that while the new Vampiric mechanics are really fun to play, the User Interface and Experience (UI/UX) aspects appear to still be a little undercooked.
However, given that the developers are progressively finetuning the game, I have a lot of faith the game will improve and it's just a matter of how fast they can work. This naturally brings us back to the pressing question: In its current state, is Diablo 4 worth the commitment?
Diablo 4 - Is It Worth It Now?:
Diablo 4 has always been a worth it game, and most players will enjoy the game until they reach the end game. The end game is where Diablo 4 struggles to keep its players engaged as there was simply not enough to do and most players will feel like they have experienced everything the game has to offer by around level 70.
The Season Blood came with a huge update that has brought in a lot of quality of life improvements as well as a lot of focus on end game content, specifically. In my opinion, the game already feels very different from the launch, as well as the previous season. For those oscillating on the fence, here's my take: Diablo 4, especially after the Season of Blood enhancements, will give you at least a solid 60 hours of immersive gameplay. Moreover, its live-service model signifies perpetual enhancements. So even if this season doesn’t resonate with you, the forthcoming ones will become even better. After all, you would want to play through the campaign first (which in my opinion is really, really interesting), and then finish the renown so that you are ready for seasonal content.
Check out what Season of Blood's update brought us:
Details on Season of Blood's campfire chat:
Comments