Diablo III: Reaper of Souls review: better than you imagined

Remember everything that went wrong with Diablo III? Now read this, and learn about everything that went right with Reaper of Souls.

The hotly-anticipated Reaper of Souls expansion pack for Diablo III went live last week on March 25, 2014, and brought with it the shadow of death. In Reaper of Souls, the player journeys through the city of Westmarch and then through the no-man’s land of Pandamonium in search of Malthael, the angel of death.

(See: Do you know what happened at Singapore’s Diablo III: Reaper of Souls launch?)

Once the archangel of wisdom and a brother of Tyrael, Malthael became obsessed with ending the war between angels and demons, and saw Diablo’s end in the Black Soulstone as a great opportunity.

With the Prime Evil squirreled away in a little piece of crystal, Malthael decided to use Diablo’s power to destroy humanity, a pariah race whose end he believed could stop the war. He stole the Black Soulstone from Tyrael and the Horadrim, kicking into motion the events of Reaper of Souls.

And here’s what happens

Act V features Westmarch, the largest city on Sanctuary, and gives us a good look at its rambling, vermin-and-reaper-infested streets. Later, we’re taken to the Blood Marsh, an oozing bucket of poisonous gases and muck. After that, it’s back to the High Heavens as we tail Malthael into Pandemonium, ancient battleground of the angels and demons.

All these locales make for a visually interesting act. Unfortunately (sorry, Michael Chu and team), the story still fails to stick out from the rest of the game. Eventually Diablo is slain and the most spoilerrific ending is revealed. Tyrael ponders on the Nephalem’s humanity after s/he kills Malthael, who had absorbed Diablo’s essence into himself, and ends with concluding that the nephalem is corruptible by the now-free soul of Diablo, kickstarting a narrative cycle not unlike that in Diablo I. By then, you’re almost glad that the campaign was so short, because the rest of Reaper of Souls is what players are going to be truly interested in.

Although Westmarch is the first time we’ve seen a city in the Diablo franchise, and although it is pretty imposing, it doesn’t matter. The Blood Marsh doesn’t matter and neither does Pandemonium, because of one thing.

Adventure mode!

If there is one thing that elevates Diablo III from the indefatigable Diablo II, it’s adventure mode. Goodbye long, boring campaign runs. Adventure mode unlocks only when you finish Act V, and it allows you access to any waypoint in the world.