It was addicting, so much so that I had to focus almost exclusively on the campaign in order not to lose the storyline. The world of Sanctuary is so intricate that, after the Prologue, I spent several hours chasing down side-quests and confronting every enemy unit in sight. Combat in Diablo IV is scaled by both player level and how many friends you're playing co-op with, meaning defeating minor enemies with your friends will never be too easy, while defeating major enemies will never be too hard. Each type of playable character has its benefits - smashing baddies with the barbarian, commanding undead armies with the necromancer, expertly sniping demons with arrows as the rogue - but I found the sorcerer to be one of the strongest during the early game (conversely, I found the the druid to be somewhat weak before reaching level 30). I completed a full playthrough of the campaign in a little over 20 hours with my sorcerer 'Bob,' equipped completely with fire-based attacks and multipliers from the skill tree. The full price of the base game is $69.99, but if you want to fast-track all the fancy cosmetics, you'll need to fork over more.

The push extends to the game's marketing campaign: the studio commissioned a massive Diablo 4-themed mural for a deconsecrated Jesuit cathedral in France in March, teamed up with companies like KFC for merchandise and game tie-ins, and has offered players exclusive windows to play the game in the months leading up to its release.

Stewed in a pressure cooker of past franchise failures and expectations, it's an expansive homage to the gothic, heavy-metal sensibility of the first two Diablo games with a colossal open world and shiny new graphics. It's clear that Activision Blizzard believes Diablo IV could answer their prayers. The company needs a win, a redemptive title that proves to core fans that they can listen to criticism, and to the world at large that they're a responsible company. Antitrust officials in several countries may block the deal. It's a lot of baggage for Microsoft, which wants to buy the company for nearly $69 billion - potentially the largest video game acquisition in history.

Diablo 4, lilith