Role-playing · 2023 · Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. · local · online
Diablo IV
An action role-playing game in a grim world where two people can set out from one television.
What it is about
Sanctuary is back, and with it Lilith. You pick one of several classes and work through a campaign split into five regions that carries about thirty-five hours.
It plays from a top-down view: put down enemies, pick up gear, rearrange your skills, set off again. After that the game really begins. There are world tiers, nightmare dungeons and every few months a new season played with a character of its own.
On consoles two people sit at one television, with a single camera for both. Over the net there are four, and in the open world you constantly run into others without having invited them.
Our verdict for couples
On consoles this game has something almost nothing else of its size offers: the two of you sit down in front of the same television, plug in a second controller and set off together. Not a split picture, but one camera that stretches apart until one of you has gone too far and gets pulled back. It is an imposition and it works anyway, because you want to stay together regardless. The rest is Diablo, meaning enter dungeon, put down enemies, compare gear and go back in. The campaign carries a good thirty-five hours; whether what comes after that is still for you is decided at exactly that point.
Pros
- Two of you at the same television, on every console
- Loot drops separately for each of you
- A dungeon is done in a quarter of an hour
Cons
- No same-screen co-op on PC
- The camera pulls you together whether you like it or not
- After the campaign everything becomes a question of seasons
Suitable from
Hobby
- Conflict potential
- Harmonious
- Cosiness
- Draining
- When you can stop
- After 15 minutes
- How long it lasts
- No ending
What other co-op fans say
Opinion splits cleanly into two halves. The opening hours get consistent praise: combat, gear and the world itself are considered well made, and those who stay with the seasons still write contentedly after several hundred hours. The break comes at the transition into the endgame, and there the same word keeps appearing, namely empty. On top of that comes anger about the pricing of the add-ons and about an update process that copies the entire game onto the drive again before replacing it.
- “Several hundred hours later and the loop still works.”
- “Combat and builds feel solid when the balance is right, the world looks fantastic, and the seasonal reset keeps me coming back.”
- “The early hours kept me hooked, but once I hit the endgame, everything started to feel empty.”
Summarised by machine from 60 Steam reviews, not written by our editors. The quotes appear verbatim in those reviews.
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