Diablo IV: Lord of Hatred Spiel Pt. 2

by Rian

As a long running series, there wasn’t much I could say about gameplay aspect in Lord of Hatred in the previous piece. And now that we have discussed the parts that are on the surface without going into spoiler territory, I thought to touch on the areas that it is plot critical. Much of the heavy lifting the expansion does for the franchise, I believe it has to do with the plot element.

With Spoilers, Spiel

The arc of Lilith in Diablo IV is particularly a strong one, because she is the product of what she hates so much. Dubbed Eternal Conflict in Diablo universe, angels and demons are at each others’ throat since the beginning as they know it. She’s tired of the war, tired of her father’s, Mephisto’s, antics, only to run away with the angel Inarius which led to the creation of Sanctuary, the mortal realm, where the game is set. Previously on the franchise, though her demise as the co-creator of the Sanctuary was accredited, not much else became of why and how they failed in the main games. She is a demon, quite literally the daughter of Hatred, and she’s not to be part of the world she hopes to create, free of angels and demons.

This is an overarching pattern spans the entire Diablo IV since the release. Inarius and his rambling remark about “what we’re looking for and what we need are rarely the same thing” is actually on point. If anything, it drove him further into insanity that he cannot escape the cycle. All, if not for the exception of the protagonist, simply called the Wanderer in-game, failed to be part of the future they dreamed of. Even archangel Tyrael could no longer be an archangel of Justice to carry out the justice itself. But this motif has a significant drawback for the future expansion and installment of the franchise.

Diablo IV has already exhausted all available avenues as far as I could see. All the characters put on stage since the beginning of Diablo IV has already left the stage. One could argue Lord of Hatred has cleared the stage for the next Great Evil to be under the lime light. However, the problem is how thoroughly it has cleared the stage. All of the existing factions, including the patrons and allies of the protagonists, are gone or reduced to being virtually gone. The only exception would be the Wanderer, the protagonist, only that the adventurer has no personal connections to them. We are back to square one.

On a positive note, Blizzard could whip up an interesting introduction for the next expansion. Heck, Blizzard might be a cinematic studio first than a video game developer. What I worry is the pattern. Diablo has already established much of what could happens to the protagonist, the introduction of why chasing after the evil, finding and fighting to ward off the said evil, (in the epilogue) only to realize it didn’t truly worked. And Lord of Hatred didn’t do the epilogue on how it could fail. There is less continuity to work on. If the Wanderer chases after family or wealth, that’s Diablo I; if the Wanderer chases after evil, take Diablo II; if the wanderer investigates a supernatural phenomena, Diablo III; if it was a happenstance, IV. For the life of me, I do not know how the next story will unfold. Hopefully, leaving nothing on the stage doesn’t translate to redoing from the introduction again.