"This is Diablo 4 as it should have originally been released": Blizzard's action-RPG continues its very uneven trajectory with huge praise for Season 4

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We're so back, this time

Diablo 4 Season 4
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Diablo 4 Season 4 has just gone live, and it looks like yet another redemption story for Blizzard's ongoing ARPG.

Diablo 4 has been a tale of peaks and valleys since launch last year. The game launched to player and critical acclaim, before everything went up in the smoke with some contentious pre-Season 1 changes. Things seemed to stabilize in Season 2, before Season 3 launched to mass criticism, with players lamenting "boring" traps and a "useless" companion to boot.

In yet another twist, Season 4: Season of Loot is going down a treat right after launch with players. "After not playing for almost 8 months this game is hardly recognizable and I am having a lot more fun," the first Reddit post just below reads of Season 4, adding that Blizzard's developers have done a "good job cleaning the game up over the months."

Diablo 4 is so much better now. from r/diablo4

The post below praises Season 4 as the "best start to the season I have played," adding that it "explodes everywhere" and "this is Diablo 4 as it should have originally been released." This is big praise from someone who has consistently played every Diablo 4 season to date, and has seen the highs and lows first-hand for themselves every few months. 

Best Season start so far, thanks blizzard from r/diablo4

But what's actually so good about the new season? One Reddit post points to the new Diablo 4 Helltide boss as evidence of just how good things are now, a fight that walks a fine line between being difficult but not frustrating for scores of players to battle at once. "So much fun, I've never felt such a sense of community in a diablo game before. Cannot wait to play more tomorrow!" the player writes. 

Diablo 4's Season 4 was always billed as a huge overhaul for the ARPG - so huge that it required the first public test realm server since launch last year, a staple of other Diablo games in years gone by. Diablo 4 will "probably" get more PTR servers in the future, according to one Blizzard developer recently, and I can only imagine Season 4's excellent launch has hastened this approach.

Diablo 4 lead says "obvious" bad ideas used to "fall through the cracks" because the devs didn't fully realize "doing this 2,000 times is actually terrible."

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.