Can you ever satisfy the Diablo community? Does anything other than madness lie in wait for those who try? With the recent release of expansion pack Vessel of Hatred, squillions of people returned to the ARPG, but are they happy? Are they capable of happiness?
I relish any chance to return to Sanctuary. As one of my favorite franchises of all time, stemming from a childhood spent hunched over the family computer, enjoying the original Diablo in whatever free time I could muster, I now spend my adult days hunched over my own computer, enjoying Diablo 4 in what little spare time I can find. Like many, I was over-the-moon ecstatic about Vessel of Hatred. I mean, what’s not to love? A brand-new class never before seen in the franchise, an entirely new region to explore, and a slew of quality-of-life mechanics, like the group finder and Runewords?
But based on scouring through the hundreds of Steam reviews left by both satisfied and vexed players alike, it appears my enthusiasm for the ARPG leans more toward the minority side of the community. On Steam, Vessel of Hatred sits at a precarious ‘Mixed’ reception, with more negative than positive reviews as of late. Why? Well, for several reasons, but primarily because of the cost of the expansion and its lackluster storytelling.
Players praise the variety of Nahantu and the power and speed of the Spiritborn, but find the compact storyline of Vessel of Hatred both tiring and trite. Based on a few negative reviews, some players dislike the sheer volume of enemies now on screen at once, which is an odd complaint considering the state in which the game launched. But more than anything else, players criticize the price of the expansion. The Standard Edition is $39.99, and the most expensive version, the Ultimate Edition, is $89.99. That’s more than a brand-new AAA release, all for a few digital goodies.
You can decide for yourself whether the expansion is worthwhile after checking out Vessel of Hated, as told by Steam reviews:
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