Hit Level 40 in D4 yesterday. I think I'm pretty happy with the game, having played some more and already triggered enough to min-max the shit out of Sorc.
Pros
- semi open world setup. Right from the get go you can choose to progress Act 1~3 in whichever order you like.
- So. Many. Side quests. Some of them a mini-quest chain. Others simple fetch and deliver. Some mundane, some epic assignments.
- So. Many. Dungeons. Most of them have again some sort of objective, so you're not mindlessly grinding away at the same thing entirely.
- With skill points locked behind Renown, you're forced into some degree of world exploration, and you can approach that differently every playthrough.
Cons
- Effectively the D3 'non consequential' character progression still exists in D4. Yes, respec costs some gold but the price is low, so 'on the fly' build changes are simply just a little less on the fly, but you can respec infinitely, even just removing and adding a single point for a few hundred gold is possible. I still settled on a build, but it does detract from the uniqueness of your character and playthrough. Choices frankly don't matter jack shit and its a shame.
- Heavy mainstream focus which shows in the above con, but also in event design. You can always complete events, unless your char and play is really bad. Mastery is however where you're actually being challenged on that event. Not achieving Mastery? No problem... that chest might still drop you a legendary (like it did for me yesterday).
- Legendaries have become even more ubiquitous than in D3 (! go figure...) because now you can extract the 'Aspect' of a Legendary and just slam it on any rare, poof Legendary crafted. As a result they don't feel special anymore, the only differentiator will be the Item's Power Level.
- Contrary to what others have said in this topic, loot DOES drop like candy, I was swimming in yellows ever since level 25 and found 8 legendaries over 6 hours of play.
- It is clear, as I already concluded based on screenshots in this thread, that the old 'infinite scaling' D3 mechanic is back and determines most of your itemization. You'll be chasing 0.5% for the rest of your career. Again: big meh. Because it also means you'll barely ever get surprised by a major power bump to your build. Everything is gradual, again detracting from the feel 'of special stuff happening'. Once you've settled on a build, most of the novelty is gone after the first 30 minutes of play. Another effect of this design choice is that attacks don't feel punchy, you're chipping away health or you're practically one hitting screens. Another issue added on top is that since Legendaries already drop long before level cap, you can get 'end game ish' gear customization going way before end game, detracting from the uniqueness of end game versus level progression. The whole affair will feel samey; my play with Sorc was already reminiscent of endgame Torments in D3. You hit your rotation all the time, it doesn't matter much whatever is on screen.
So yeah. D4? 7/10 and mostly as expected/predicted. That expectation is the only reason I'm not heavily disappointed. D4 plays it safe, combining D2 and even more so: Path of Exile atmosphere with D3 mechanics, heavily catered to mainstream/casual. And to be fair, the casual play might actually be the best way to play the game altogether, as you'll uncover 95% of the game's surprises there and not in its endgame. World exploration is a new element for Diablo and I think they nailed it, but it can't carry the game, and no, its still not as well designed as Grim Dawn.
