“Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred” a terrifying and captivating journey into the heart of darkness

A year after his triumphant return, “Diablo IV” returns with its first expansion “Vessel of Hatred” with which it not only continues the story that began with the base game, but also introduces the new jungle region of Nahantu and the additional class of Spiritualist (Spiritborn in English), some additions substantial, although it is worth asking if they are worth the entrance ticket, a question that we will try to answer here to the best of our abilities.

welcome to the jungle

Let’s start with the story, of interest to many fans of the franchise despite the fact that most of our time was spent exploding, electrocuting and shredding hordes of demons. In the case of “Diablo IV” we remember that it concluded with the plots high – SPOILERS FROM NOW ON -, where the sweet victory of the heroes against the villain of the game Lilith was diminished by the sudden disappearance of one of the companions, Neyrelle, next to the soul stone that contained the Primary Demon Mephisto. So the “Vessel of Hatred” campaign sees you following in Neyrelle’s footsteps to the jungle region of Nahantu – previously visited in “Diablo II” – in a race against the clock to finally contain the Lord of Hate and save the soul. of your young friend.

It’s a premise fascinating enough to be worth its own story, and it’s ultimately a distillation of the main theme of the Diablo saga: the perseverance of the human spirit in the face of impossible circumstances, something more than just present in the fight between Neyrelle and the tempting whispers of the demon Mephisto. In Blizzard’s favor is the fact that they manage to tell it coherently and with enough dramatic peaks to make the journey more than bearable, although if I have one complaint it is that the story felt relatively shorttaking from start to finish only about nine hours versus the 30 hours the original campaign took me.

The other attraction of the story is the new region of Nahantu, a region inspired by Mesoamerica and lovingly recreated by the developers from beautiful jungles in the process of being ruined by a demonic pollution to curious wastelands where the corpses of giants are mined for curious materials, it is A stunning addition to the world of Sanctuary.

With the spirit high

The other big addition to “Vessel of Hatred” is the Spiritualist class, an interesting inclusion to the cast of “Diablo IV” as it can competently adapt to the role of other heroes thanks to its ability to switch between four guardian animals that modify your attributes and types. attack with the Gorilla providing physical attacks and shields like a Barbarian; the Jaguar swiftly slashes fire similarly to a Renegade; the Eagle with its powerful ranged attacks like a Sorcerer and the Centipede granting poisonous blows more in the style of a Necromancer.

This is a particularly versatile class because it allows you to combine skills from different guardian spirits to allow you the play style of your preference. In my case, I started the expansion using the Jaguar’s abilities because they reminded me a lot of the Monk class from past games, keeping this same animal as a guardian because it grants greater attack speed. So cool was this buff that I kept the feline as my guardian when later in the expansion I decided to switch to the Eagle’s ranged abilities, though I eventually had to abandon it when I moved on to Torment II difficulty, where I found the Gorilla’s defensive buffs indispensable. so as not to die instantly while getting better armor. In general, and despite my preference for the Sorcerer, Spiritualist is frankly an interesting addition to the game with a degree of customization that I haven’t seen in the other classes I’ve tried.

New and improved

The Diablo franchise has a history of having excellent expansions, even if the games they belong to were not the best received initially, as was the case with the relatively controversial “Diablo 3” and “Reaper of Souls.” The sequel repeats the story with “Vessel of Hatred” and although the response to “Diablo 4″ was much more positive than its direct predecessor, This expansion serves to iron out the rough edges that one of the best RPGs of 2023 had.

It does this not only by introducing new activities to break the previous monotony, but also by simplifying the systems and adjusting the frequency at which one receives objects to make the experience more dynamic and keep the dopamine hits constant in a delicate and addictive balance.

Perhaps the best improvement is the addition of Mercenaries, computer-controlled assistants who can help alleviate your character’s weaknesses by distracting monsters, improving your attack, or even slowing down enemies’ movement; The possibilities are numerous to experiment with which one best meets your needs. Additionally, the fact that these companions make frequent comments about your activities also serves to reduce the feeling of loneliness that these games give when you are not participating in the multiplayer.

And speaking of multiplayer, “Vessel of Hatred” has implemented its first exclusively group activity with the Dark Citadel. This is a dungeon dedicated to those who have beaten the game and requires a moderate level of cooperation to conquer, including in addition to the usual fights, solving some simple puzzles. Honestly, the challenge is not as high for those who are used to more complex encounters like the raids in “World of Warcraft” – another Blizzard product -, but they serve as an interesting addition to give variety to the game.

Conclusion

For me – and I imagine for many – games like Diablos are a Zen activity, a time in which I turn off my brain and relax by doing activities that will result, after some internal alchemy, in larger numbers: more damage, more lives, more experience and more cosmetic items. In this aspect, and despite some reservations about the relative brevity of the campaign, “Vessel of Hatred” perfectly fulfills the purpose and During the week that I had the game at my disposal, I was able to easily get lost in the lush jungles of Nahantu, an expedition that I plan to continue frequently over the next few months and that I recommend others join. It’s worth it.