Tinkering with gear also became a point of near obsession. That kept the action fresh and prevented me from resting on my laurels for too long. I rarely respec skills in RPGs, but Diablo IV’s well-balanced difficulty and variety of dangers challenged me to refund powers (at a reasonable gold cost) to experiment with others.

I got a kick out of discovering how skills and perks synergize to create fun combos, such as upgrading my fiery serpent summon with a gravitational pull that turned enemies into a bundle of sitting ducks for a chain lightning assault.

At that point, it becomes an entertaining and often chaotic dance of blasting apart foes, artfully dodging attacks with the evade maneuver, and timing cooldowns to unleash hell at the perfect moments. Though combat is enjoyable (if a bit mundane in the early hours due to limited offensive options), the fun picked up in a big way once I acquired enough skill points to fill up my hot bar. The same philosophy applies to the abilities on your skill tree. Progression is less about making the number of your level go up – enemies scale right alongside you, so you’re rarely more than one level higher than them – and more about smartly utilizing the best gear sporting the most useful effects relative to your class and playstyle. The experience succeeds in making this hunt for strength engaging, challenging, and satisfying. Diablo IV’s thrill comes in the increasingly exciting chase for power, whether it be rare loot or powerful skills, to take down scores of foes as quickly and effectively as possible.

Game informer diablo 4