Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred review for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X

My relationship with Diablo has shifted dramatically over the years. From playing Diablo 2 as a young man with no responsibilities, to Diablo 3 as a recently married, young father, to finally reviewing Diablo IV here for Gaming-Age. My commitment to the grind has ebbed and flowed over time, but my love for the game has never diminished. I am one of those players who isn’t divided about what I love about this series, either. I love the storytelling and the endless loot grind after the fact with equal measure. I personally found Vessel of Hatred to be lacking in both areas, and had stepped away from the game shortly after that had launched.

Blizzard pulled me all the way back in when they announced and released (via Lord of Hatred pre-order) the new Paladin class a few months back. I roared back in with a vengeance and put probably 200 hours into my Aura-Paladin demon slaughtering machine. With the new Paladin class, the story trailer showcasing the unbridled return of Mephisto, and the recently announced new Warlock class, Lord of Hatred was shaping up to be the definitive expansion for Diablo IV. After a solid week of playtesting, I am thrilled to announce that Diablo IV has never been better. An exceptional new story, two brilliant new classes, and an entirely new endgame loop elevate Lord of Hatred over everything else that Diablo IV has had before.

First and foremost, the campaign. The Lord of Hatred campaign is probably my favorite bit of Diablo storytelling since Reaper of Souls released back in 2014. Mephisto is as powerful and terrible as the “Lord of Hatred” should be. New and old characters join together to flesh out the supporting cast, and the stakes feel real and meaningful. You aren’t just fighting to clear the next dungeon or to save one person, the very soul of Skovos is at stake. Speaking of Skovos, this new Mediterranean-esque region is as beautiful as the depths of hell are awful, and this juxtaposition helps set Lord of Hatred apart from the base game and subsequent expansion even further. The campaign itself is worth the price of admission, and it only manages to scratch the surface of what Lord of Hatred has to offer.

The new classes are both brilliant, although your mileage may vary. While the Paladin feels like a brand new class, the likes of which has not been seen since the Crusader in Diablo 3, Warlock feels like a fresh coat of paint on the Necromancer, with dashes of sorcery thrown in depending on how you choose to play. I say that not as criticism, but simply as information for returning players trying to choose who to start with. Since I had already run the Paladin into the ground during the previous seasons, I spent my entire review period with the Warlock, and I loved it. Taking the summoning-focused approach and bringing the armies of hell to bear against themselves was a delight, and I will most likely pick the Warlock back up when the expansion officially releases on the 28th.

Players who lamented the lack of proper gear sets in Diablo IV will be thrilled with the new sets and talisman system in place with Lord of Hatred. These are slots that can be utilized to further dial in your builds as you progress through the endgame, with varying levels of effectiveness as you go. Instead of feeling like “one more system” to learn, this feels like the proper gear and build system that should have been in place from the beginning. It is intuitive and easy to grasp, elevating Lord of Hatred even further above what came before it.

After all is said and done, the campaign finished, and your build set the way you want it, War Plans are there to streamline your endgame loop. This is a customizable new playlist where you can load up all of the endgame content that you would have previously had to teleport all over the map to access. The Pit, Infernal Hordes, Helltides, Nightmare Dungeons, Lair Bosses, and the Kurast Undercity can all be added to your War Plan, and completing them progresses you through the War Plans activity tree, which holds rewards separate from the individual activities themselves. This is basically a whole new game mode crafted from the old modes, and it makes tackling the endgame grind so much less daunting for more casual players.

There is also an entirely new endgame mode called “Echoing Hatred” that we did not get the chance to access prior to launch. This will be an extremely rare event, requiring the equally rare Trace of Echoes item to access. This will have the player tackling an infinite supply of ever-increasing enemies, wave by wave. The difficulty will escalate as you play, and the rewards will become better the longer you survive.

All of this, to say nothing of the reintroduction of the Horadric Cube that allows you to upgrade your gear or craft new gear that suits your chosen build, or the new fishing mini-game that lets you take a break from the slaughter to catch some fish and enjoy a moment of relative peace in Shovos. Lord of Hatred also brings game-wide permanent changes to The Pit, skill trees across all classes, the level cap (now 70), and unlocking Torment 12 for the uber endgame players.

Lord of Hatred might be the best Diablo expansion ever released, and it certainly positions Diablo IV in the best place it has ever been. Whether you are an old Diablo player who skipped IV entirely, someone who bounced off at launch, or a completely new player to the series, Lord of Hatred offers the perfect time to enter hell and take on what Diablo IV has to offer.

Note: Blizzard Entertainment provided us with a Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred code for review purposes.

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