Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls

Diablo 3 was released 2 years ago to mixed reviews due to its excessively long development time, missing features and subpar itemization. The community backlash paired with disappointing retention forced Jay Wilson to switch projects and named Josh Mosqueira to replace him as Game Director. The development team under his direction has graced us with the much anticipated Patch 2.0 in late February. It brought revised difficulty levels, Loot 2.0, Paragon 2.0, Clans and basically put back some life into the game. That was one great step ahead but with the release of Reaper of Souls today, Blizzard expects their gothic franchise to shine as bright as a Obsidian Plate of the Whale once more and hopefully regain the love of the most hardcore fans.

Prologue

Before I continue with the expansion's review, I must explain why the Diablo franchise means so much to me. You might find this part boring and skip ahead, and I would understand you, but I find it compelling to bring some nostalgia into the fray regardless.

I was 10. My parents were separated and one weekend out of two I would spend with my dad. Back then the concept of ESRB ratings was still somewhat obscure and he had decided to get me a copy of the game, not knowing how violent it could be. I am still surprised to this day that I haven't become a butcher, but for some reason the gore and mature subject matter didn't faze me at the time. My father would go golfing, and I'd stay in the chalet to play the game online on a 14.4k connection. It was the first time I would play with people from all over the world, the first time I would experience latency and more importantly; the beginning of my true love for video games. I didn't let it ruin my childhood, but every 2 weeks I would salivate at the thought of my next unique drop.

A few years passed and along came the high school years. They were rough in the beginning; at the time I was but a scrawny little nerd who would sometimes be at the mercy of bullies. But when I came home, I had Diablo 2 and its hordes of demons to unleashed my pumped up rage. I like to think gaming is one of the many things that kept me sane and at the center of it at all was my beloved franchise.

Years passed by, I grew out of the awkward phase into a full-time man with responsibilities and while I would still play games, even work in their development, Diablo became but old memories of my troubled childhood. That is until Blizzard announced the sequel in 2008. Everybody who had social interactions with me in the months up to 2012's release could tell you how excited I sounded about it. You could even say that after such a long wait, Diablo had finally corrupted my mind and made me insane...

What's new in Tristram?

As I mentioned earlier, Reaper of Souls follows in the steps of Patch 2.0, the third major attempt to resolve Diablo 3's uninspired efforts. As they say third time's the charm as this complete overhaul of the game systems resonated positively with the player base. This new version brought back a good portion of inactive players and ensured my friends list was always full of life.

Paragon 2.0

The original Paragon system was a makeshift solution to give players more gameplay time once they reached Inferno difficulty. The feature was very linear, only becoming a grind that very few would persist through. The second version of this system was designed to resolve the main problem introduced with the lack of manual stat distribution in Diablo 3; less character customization.

Acquiring new Paragon levels (LV60+ for Diablo 3 and LV70+ in Reaper of Souls) will now enable the player to spend points into Core, Offense, Defense and Utility stats for all active characters. At first it may not seem like much customization when compared to the stats acquired on equipment, but the further you progress the more impact it has, allowing as much as 50 points per attribute. While LV800 is the most needed to max everything out, it is possible to keep progressing. How it will affect the player beyond that point only Blizzard knows. That said, this is as rewarding as it gets in the long run.

Loot 2.0

The Diablo franchise has set up the foundations for great aRPG (action role-playing games) with fast paced combat and streamlined mechanics, but the real reason why they are so addicting is their rewarding loot system. Even with reworked Legendary items from Patch 1.0.4, Blizzard failed to capture the audience and they knew something drastic had to be done. Character development relying heavily on main stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence and Vitality), the best items would always be the ones with the biggest numbers, not the most interesting affixes. Loot 2.0 was set to resolve that, but only achieved its goals on a limited level.

New items affixes such as Cooldown Reduction, Resource Cost Reduction or Elemental Damage increase can now be rolled. The new stats ensure skills selection is loot-driven and game changing. Some Legendary Items even have completely unique affixes. For example, the Puzzle Ring spawns a Treasure Goblin that picks up certain item types and after conditions are met, it will drop a rare or legendary item for your hero. Talk about a useful buddy; not running away this time!

Reworked Skills

All classes were graced with several gameplay altering skills changes, from the removal of overpowered passives like the Wizard's Critical Mass to the tune up of the Barbarian's Whirldwind. This was done to empower build diversity and prevent cookie cutters. There is also more emphasis on elemental runes per skills, especially when paired with items that empower them. This new system encourages players to try out new things, and it works.

New Difficulty Settings

Departing from the original Normal, Nightmare, Hell and Inferno difficulties, games can now be created as Normal, Hard, Expert, Master or Torment (ranging from T1 to T6). Instead of playing the campaign several times to unlock subsequent difficulties, the game is now based on the party leader's level. The harder the setting is, the higher the bonuses. This system is very flexible; it can accommodate all player types while being rewarding.

Social is back!

Blizzard took the time to add a Clan system and improve the social experience as a whole. Chat channels are more accessible and players can now join community groups to share their experience and organize parties. A newsfeed like feature displays your friends and clan mates exploits and legendary drops to add even more incentive to explore and find new things.

So what about Reaper of Souls?

Even though Patch 2.0 added a considerable amount of content to the game, the new features in Reaper of Souls are not to be ignored.

• Level cap is increased to 70. All classes unlock new skills and passives from 61 to 70.
• The addition of a new strength-based class; the Crusader.
• A new act with dynamically generated maps and events, as per Diablo's tradition.
• A new artisan; the Mystic. She is able to enchant and transmogrify your heroes equipment.
• A new game type called Adventure Mode lets the players complete counties all around the world of Sanctuary for blood shards, rift keys and as expected, glorious loot.

Sanctuary's in Trouble

The story picks up where Diablo 3 ended. The Black Soulstone containing the spirits of all Prime and Lesser Evils is protected by Archangel Tyrael and his newly formed Horadrim. The world of Sanctuary always on the verge of destruction due to its proximity to the Eternal Conflict, its people were just beginning to enjoy a few moments of peace. Then came Malthael, who once was the Archangel of Wisdom, starting a campaign to end all demonic life under his new title, the Angel of Death. As the humans living on Sanctuary are descendants of both Angels and Demons, their annihilation became the first item on Malthael's agenda, but our Nephalem friends would arrive just in time to prevent the eradication of their world.

Diablo isn't known for its depth as the emphasis has always been on fast-paced gameplay and addicting loot, but Reaper of Souls add a lot of intricate details about the world of Sanctuary and its inhabitants in the form of events, journals and companion quests. It was refreshing to see the lore going back to its darker roots and witness very cruel circumstances during Act V's campaign. Fortunately, Blizzard stuck to a solid, linear story without trying to make the next big M. Night Shyamalan's twist. Simplicity sometime feels much better with perfect execution.

The new act adds about 4 to 6 hours to the campaign depending on the player's comfortable difficulty level, but the new features such as Adventure Mode and Nephalem Rifts will keep the most hardcore players occupied for hundreds of hours.

Heavenly

The game's execution is perfect. From the incredibly smooth transition to expansion content (no need to patch or restart the game, the content was available at midnight EDT) to the gorgeous graphics, you can tell Blizzard knows how to craft masterpieces. It should be noted that while Matt Uelmen didn't come back to make the score, Reaper of Souls' soundtrack is magnificent and worth maxing the in-game volume during your first playthrough.

The new content is very enjoyable and feels just like home for a Diablo fan. The Crusader class is exactly what the game needed to add variety to the mix. It feels great to see my friends list come back to life and be able to get parties going quickly.

As usual, the story cut scenes are of utmost quality and real eye candy.

Infernal

The difficulty curve from 60 to 70 is merciless. Characters that could easily play Torment 3 to 6 while level 60 are now crushed halfway into the new act, forcing players to use the lower difficulty settings. The RNG system is the main cause, as characters depend heavily on loot to survive in higher difficulty but great upgrades don't come as fast as experience during Act V. Then again your experience may vary based on your luck.

While the storyline is a definite improvement over its predecessor, the ending is as anticlimactic as can be. I won't go in spoiler territory but let's just say Blizzard went full circle and decided to keep it safe. At least one thing is sure; we will get another expansion pack for Diablo 3.

There is still no Player Vs. Player mode in the game, 2 years following the promise it would come post-release. We're still waiting...

The Verdict

Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls is a great addition to the franchise and along with it came much needed improvements to keep the most devoted fans satisfied. The dev team has already announced they are working on Ladders for the next major update so we know exciting things are coming for the game. The gameplay is a good as ever, the production value is off the charts and all your friends are probably already playing. It's time for you to come back to Sanctuary, Nephalem.

NOTE: This review was made after spending over 20 hours playing a Crusader to LV70 during the closed Beta as well as finishing Act V on live servers in under 5 hours.

Here's the game's beautiful intro cinematic to give you a taste of what's to come.