As if that vaguely horrifying Summer Game Fest trailer wasn’t enough of a giveaway, Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred is defined by blood, guts, and gore. There’s death, destruction, and violence, framed by a gorgeous jungle-inspired world and the rumbles of religious conflict. VoH is, for me, absolute perfection, but there was one plot point that completely threw me off. While it’s hardly going to deter me from playing the game all over again, I ask associate narrative designer Eleni Rivera-Colon about that decision, and the game’s comparatively hopeless ending versus Lilith’s demise at the end of Diablo 4. Note that this article contains major spoilers – you’ve been warned.
In my Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred review, I praise the RPG‘s overarching narrative as a whole, but mention one plot twist that, for me, fell a little flat. While that review is spoiler free, I’m referring to Urivar, the Burning Knight commander who’s painted as the secondary ‘big bad’ to Mephisto. Given the game introduces you to him by having him lop off one of Raheir’s arms and stab you through the chest, I assumed we’d be seeing more of him than we do.
Instead, we face off against Urivar three-quarters of the way through Diablo 4: Vessel of Hatred, besting him in his camp after he abducts Eru. While the death sequence is pretty damn epic, it left me a little puzzled: why introduce such a cool character, just to kill him off before we really get a chance to see what he’s made of?
“When it came to the base game and the end of the campaign, we had to figure out what [the events of Diablo 4] meant for the Cathedral of Light,” Rivera-Colon tells me. “It was really fun to explore what happens when you’ve got this strong religion that’s the key point of what people believe in, and then that light sort of dies because Inarius dies. What does that mean for a religion like the Cathedral of Light? What if there’s this new power that comes in?” That new power, of course, is Urivar.
“It was really great to explore that while also knowing this is Neyrelle’s story too, which is why the Cathedral of Light ends up sort of on the back burner; the bigger threat is Mephisto. In terms of what happens to Urivar, it’s a fun play on his version of justice – that’s something he’s really big on, he wants justice.
“It’s great that he gets a version of that and that we get to have this beautiful villain arc. Then we’ve got a great ending that feels rewarded, not like we just gave it to the player.”
Speaking of the ending, however, it feels like the beginning of a new chapter for Sanctuary; almost like a primer. While, for me, the sense of hopelessness it exudes embodies Diablo, I can see why some would walk away feeling slightly disappointed. Mephisto is still alive, after all, and it feels like your struggles are largely for nought.
I ask Rivera-Colon about this, and whether or not she’s concerned players will feel like everything was a bit of a wasted effort. “It’s funny you say that, because even throughout the campaign, our side quests, and all of the storyline, we were like ‘is there too much hope in this?’ There is a lot of hope, and I think that’s why [the ending feels so hopeless]; there are a lot of little wins that we give the characters. That’s the balance.
“We always have more demons, and there’s always going to be bigger things; there’s always going to be something that’s happening in Sanctuary. [The ending] sets that up and gives us a chance to explore what that might be while keeping this dark tone. There is always going to be something.”
Environment art director Chris Ryder chimes in with a simple “Eternal Conflict,” and while we all laugh, it’s a reminder of what Diablo is supposed to be – strife, strife, and yet more strife.
If you’re looking to dive into the next chapter of Sanctuary’s woeful saga, we have a list of all the best Diablo 4 builds to ensure you’re picking the right skills for the job. Alternatively, if you’re looking to try out the new Diablo 4 class, we have a guide to the best Diablo 4 Spiritborn builds – Centipede is the way to go.
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