When Diablo 4 was released last year, it was well received by gamers who were looking to go back to the glory days of previous iterations of the game, more specifically Diablo 2. With the latest expansion, Vessel of Hatred, the game doubles down on that idea and gives us even more. In our time with the game, the expansion gives a little more of everything that was introduced in Diablo 4, and then sprinkles on a bit more. 

Photo: Diablo 4

The first thing everyone will probably do when starting out Vessel of Hatred is create a Spiritborn character. The new class is very fun to play, very flexible in how you want to build out your character. You can choose between a couple of playstyles when playing the class, Gorilla, Centipede, Eagle, and Jaguar. Each of these spirits has a wide range of abilities that allow you to build out your character as you like. It doesn’t also mean you are locked into one spirit, you can mix and match and the game does encourage you to do so. 

Photo: Diablo 4

Story-wise, Vessel of Hatred picks up right after Diablo 4, the game easily does a recap to put you up to speed with what’s happening in the narrative of the game at that point. Neyrelle, who we follow, is headed off to the new region, Nahantu. The new region is very diverse, which first starts off as a Jungle, like the Kurast region, and also a desert area as well. It’s pretty vast and you can see the developers really took their time to fill the region with as many things and places as possible. There is a lot to do in the region, side-quests, strongholds, and a whole lot more for players to earn items and renown. This is one of the highlights of the game as Nahantu is an exciting region to explore, and very beautiful aesthetically.

Photo: Diablo 4

The story of Neyrelle is also very compelling as she tries to stop Mephisto before the demon engulfs her entirely. There’s also the story of the Cathedral of Light which shows the downfall or the aftermath of Inarius’ death in Diablo 4. These are the two pillars of the story of Vessel of Hatred. One area where the story could be further developed is its length. It has this rinse and repeat formula where you get sent to one area to fight a boss and then, do the same in the next one. The climax of the story comes and ends abruptly. Yes, there’s an awesome boss fight but we wish there was a bit more to the story. The narrative is probably the only thing that holds Vessel of Hatred back from being a perfect expansion.

Photo: Diablo 4

Most of the new aspects that are added in this expansion work well. For example, companions, there are NPCs who journey with you that are called Mercenaries, and their additions feel very meaningful. You can unlock four of them in total and each of them has its own side-quests which reminds us a bit of the loyalty missions in Mass Effect 2 wherein you know more about the characters’ story through these quests. These are some of the best quests in the expansion and the variety of the quests were very interesting. They are fleshed-out characters with their own backgrounds and personalities which adds to the immersiveness of the game. Other things that were added in the game are the Dark Citadel, a co-op endgame experience for a great multiplayer experience. This is what we call the MMO side of the expansion, they feel like raids or dungeons in traditional MMOs, which we wouldn’t say is a bad thing. There’s also the Kurast Undercity, a new time-attack mode that challenges players to fill a spirit meter. You defeat demons to keep the clock alive and reach the boss room.

Photo: Diablo 4

Since its release, Diablo 4 has gone through so many changes and updates and it builds upon that with the new expansion Vessel of Hatred. So far, they have done a good job of keeping old players coming back and inviting new ones to try out the game. Vessel of Hatred is a great addition to the lore and the overall gameplay of Diablo 4, we wish there was more story, but maybe that’s reserved for the next expansion right? Overall though, the expansion just does more, more of everything people love about the game and that’s never a bad thing.