Upon the promise of gold a trio of mercenaries and one injured scholar brave the lands of plagued monstrosities to unlock and enter in to a temple.

But it is not gold that they find in there, instead, a blood ritual that summons the ultimate evil, Lilith.

With Lilith summoned, all hell breaks loose once again upon Sanctuary.

Diablo IV is the much anticipated new title from Blizzard and it does not disappoint.

You’ll select your playable character from the character classes available; Barbarian, Rogue, Sorcerer, Necromancer, and Druid.

Naturally each have their own skill sets from magic through to brute strength.

You can mold your character to your liking with a wide menu of aesthetics and appearance options then once you’re all personalised and named your hero, it’s now up to you traveller. Save Sanctuary alone.

For those that have played Diablo previously, especially Diablo III, you’ll be in a familiar territory.

Maps vary in size but still have an overall linear path. It pays to explore and I do mean pays as there is a lot to be discovered.

A mini map floats to the top right of your screen, but the full map can be accessed via controller (or keyboard) button. It’s also within this Pause Menu you can check up on your Challenge progress, join or start a Clan, add or find friends, and spend any Platinum you may have on outfits and armour. This Shop refreshes every few days with new goods.

It’s also here that you can use real-world money to buy Platinum coins, if you wish. It’s not a pay to win, but it is a pay for better gear scenario.

You’ll encounter core narrative and side quest giving NPC’s that are going to not only reward you for helping them out but also questing (as well as combat) is the way to Level up.

But not every NPC is to be trusted. Encountering other players may also happen, if you have cross-platform on you can meet with PC, Xbox and PlayStation players.

With Gear inventory and Skill Level’s this is now a pop-out side menu with a zoom if you need it.

Drop Gear, change Gear on the fly and when you have Skill points, you’ll find that the Skill tree branches off into a couple of areas.

Spent a valuable Skill Point but regret it? Not a worry, providing you have enough Gold you can get a ‘refund’ which enables you to choose another Skill.

Once you’ve got your new Skill you’ll need to assign it to a key on your keyboard or controller. Initially the assign slots are locked until you gain a few Skills and Level up a wee bit.

Another option within the Inventory and Abilities pop-out is a special section attributed to your characters special skills. You can upgrade a specific ability, or just totally sacrifice it with a beneficial trade-off.

NPCs are everywhere depending on the environment, especially in towns or human populated areas. Chat with them, as you never know what they may need and rewards you’ll get for completing an objective for them.

Combat is melee via your primary weapon, which can also be swapped out for something more death-dealing as you progress or your character class skills. Example, spells if you’re a Sorcerer, necromancy if you’re playing as the Necromancer. You get the idea.

Depending on your current Skill Level, gained by acquiring Experience (EXP), this will determine how difficult foes will be to take down.

There’s no shortage of things to kill and if you’re up against an enemy that is seeming to be impossible to kill, if you can, come back and tackle it when your Level is higher, or when you have better Gear or powers.

Asides from loot that you’ll find along your adventure, you can buy and sell if you locate a vendor. Same said for potions too.

Gear has varying stats, as do weapons. Higher the armour, the better you’re going to fare in a battle.

Graphically Diablo IV is darkly detailed. And I really do mean detailed. Blizzard have put a lot of demonic love into the environments, all environments, from the open areas through to caves, caverns, dungeons and towns.

Even gear and items have had a graphical makeover.

It’s been 11 years since Diablo III and 6 years since the Necromancer Edition.

While we did see the more entry-level mobile / PC crossover game release, Diablo Immortal (which I’m a frequent player of) last year, and Diablo II remastered, Diablo IV is THE Diablo game you need to be deep within right now.

Infact it’s the most epic RPG as of writing this review, in my opinion.

Diablo IV is for newcomers to the franchise, it’s for the more seasoned demon slayers and the best in the series.

Go solo, or go online just remember, blood is the key. See you in Sanctuary traveller.

The post Diablo IV (Xbox Series X|S) Review appeared first on Shane the Gamer.

An ancient evil threatens to engulf Sanctuary in darkness, and new heroes have been called upon to face challenges the world has never seen before. Today, Blizzard Entertainment announced Diablo IV, the highly anticipated next entry in its genre-defining action–role-playing series. The newest instalment of Diablo was announced during BlizzCon 2019, where attendees were eager to be the first in the world to play a public demo of the game. Diablo IV draws players into a grim story line and gives them the freedom to explore and forge their own path across the most expansive and intense vision of the world of Sanctuary—a bleak and shattered hellscape bereft of hope and beset by demons.

True to the franchise’s roots, Diablo IV will deliver visceral combat, gruesome and varied monsters, an epic hunt for legendary loot, and endless playability and progression. Players will find a lifetime’s worth of adventure scattered across a land rooted in unique ecologies and inhabited by dangerous new foes. They’ll delve into randomised dungeons packed with unpredictable adversaries and unimaginable treasures. While continuing to fully support solo and coordinated party play, Diablo IV will also provide opportunities for groups of players to encounter each other in the same shared world—whether to tackle bigger challenges… or possibly even slaughter one another in player-vs.-player combat.

“Sanctuary has been a home to Diablo players for more than 20 years, and it’s with our own deep passion for the series and a deep appreciation of the community that we announce Diablo IV today,” said J. Allen Brack, president of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re excited to be returning to the dark, quintessential Diablo gameplay that players love while expanding the world and story in new ways, and we can’t wait for more people to be able to experience it.”

In Diablo IV, players will attempt to bring hope back to the world by vanquishing evil in all its vile incarnations—from cannibalistic demon-worshipping cultists to the all-new drowned undead that emerge from the coastlines to drag their victims to a watery grave. For the first time in the series, Sanctuary will be a contiguous, seamless landmass comprising diverse regions ranging from the burning desert of Kejhistan, to the verdant werewolf-infested forests of Scosglen, to the harsh and rugged wilderness of the Dry Steppes.

At BlizzCon, Blizzard revealed the first three of Diablo IV’s character classes, all playable at the show:

• The Barbarian, known for their unparalleled strength and brutal melee combat, utilises a new and more powerful system in battle, Arsenal, which arms them with the ability to carry and rapidly switch between four different weapons at a time by assigning them to individual attacks.
• The Sorceress hearkens back to their Diablo II roots and shapes the elements to obliterate their foes by impaling them upon jagged spikes of ice, electrocuting them with bolts of lightning, or raining flaming meteors from the sky.
• The Druid is a savage shapeshifter whose updated playstyle empowers them to fluidly transform between werewolf, werebear, and human form to unleash the raw power of nature’s fury on the forces of the Burning Hells. 

These three iconic characters honour the legacy of the franchise and exemplify how Diablo IV builds upon the series’ history by preserving the core Diablo fantasy while allowing players to explore untapped gameplay possibilities with fresh inspiration. Players will be able to experiment and discover countless character builds through customisable talent trees and skills, a deep loot system filled with legendary and set items to collect, runes and rune word combinations, and even personalised mounts for traversing the open world. 

Diablo IV is being developed using modern technology that pushes the franchise to dark, new depths. This technology is at the heart of everything players will see, hear, and feel—delivering much higher fidelity and a more engrossing experience. It opens up countless possibilities for the Diablo series, from smooth character animations, such as the Druid’s fluid shapeshifting, to the seamless, vast overworld players will travel across in search of the next loot-filled underground dungeon. Ultimately, Diablo IV will ground players in a grittier and deadlier world.

Diablo IV is currently in development and will be coming to PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

The post Diablo IV Revealed appeared first on Shane the Gamer.