Even as someone who has followed every major update to Diablo 4 over the last year, the release of Vessel of Hatred feels like the launch of a whole new action RPG. The bulk of the new expansion is like upgrading to a new phone: all the familiar stuff is still there but it's faster and easier to use. And the new campaign has plenty of moments that I wouldn't have ever expected to see in a dark fantasy story where you're hunting yet another demon from hell.
The Diablo 4 of 2023 wasn't broken, but it sure needed fixing when it came to playing it as the live service action RPG as Blizzard intended. Starting a seasonal character from scratch every three months was a problem when it took weeks to reach max level and even longer to find loot that was exciting to play with. All the fun was buried.
