Diablo 3

I have been playing a lot of Diablo 4 in the time since the early access for pre-orders went live.

In Diablo 4, more so than any other game in the series, the world in which the Diablo universe is set, Sanctuary, is almost a character with a full backstory and personality all its own.

While each game in the Diablo franchise builds on the last, none of them quite replace each other.

Look, I'm old.

I've been thinking more and more about the question -- "Is Diablo 4 an MMO?" -- since I currently play World of Warcraft, am pretty heavily invested in Diablo 3, was into Diablo Immortal for a couple of months there, and was just utterly charmed by the open beta for Diablo 4.

There's an argument that the art direction of Diablo 3 was too 'light' -- an argument I find strange because there are still mounds of corpses, blood and gore strewn across walls and floors, and whole hosts of demons exploding out of every corner to destroy and consume all things.

The spellcaster archetype has always existed in the Diablo series, but there are a few more differences between Diablo 4 Sorcerers and Diablo 3 Wizards than just the name.

Blood Shards are not a new inclusion in Diablo 3; they've been a necessary currency for the franchise's current form of item gambling through the merchant Kadala, found near the Nephalem Obelisk in every Act.

Puzzle Rings have been used in Diablo 3 to open portals to Greed's realm since patch 2.3.0.

Diablo 3 Season 28: Rites of Sanctuary underway and introduced the Altar of Rites to New Tristram, which grants powerful (account-wide) boons -- but with a price.