Eric Paton

After all these years, this is the product they decide to put out. There are certainly things in place that can be tuned up a bit and there are some things that need a lot of work. Some things in the game feel like it was meant to come out about 10 years ago. You can almost see the 11 year development hell this game has been through when you play it. I hope we continue to see the trend of games that are released as failures being turned into great games. The track record of S & B doesn't make me to optimistic The lack of sword/gun play just doesn't sit well with me. No swashbuckling in a pirate themed game? The areas that you can run around in seem like large empty spaces. Maybe there's an item here or there and a quest or 2 but that's it...just so lacking. The naval part is pretty much what you'd expect if you played Black Flag, but one thing that stands out...the boarding. What is that? It's bad! To have the boarding that we had in Black Flag and then this is what you came up with? Everything is just....lacking It's pretty...That's about it in terms of positive. Really disappointing!

Weapons are awful, fights are repetitive, inventory management is bad. It was enjoyable at first with a graphics style I like. Then I found myself in the same fights, using the same lvl 10 at level 20 because it was still far superior.

There's potential. In it's current iteration there's just not enough to keep you hooked let alone being overly interested in doing more than 1-2 characters fairly deep (lvl 70+). My first play through was enjoyable. I stuck to the main questline, progressing through with a friend. It was a good story, good voice acting and the gameplay was fun with my Necro. An occasional issue that is expected in a new game such as lag spikes, stuck characters, a bugged quest; nothing game breaking. Once we finished the story we started unlocking all we could with paragon, helltides, renown, altars. Our characters became very strong, dispatching world bosses in no time, and it felt good. During my downtime while not with friends I'd experience some of the other classes and the current builds available to them. All very enjoyable and once my first character finished the story things on the alts were a breeze. Reaching level 50+ takes no time at all once everything has been unlocked and your characters feels much stronger much earlier. This is where the problems reared their ugly heads, inevitable for such a game in its first year. Beyond your first character getting to the 70+ point with alts at 50+ things are just stale and repetitive. Yes, ARPGs have lots of repetitive aspects but when that activity is stale...it just doesnt feel good. Diablo 4's endgame is just lacking and the first Season wasn't enough to build onto what was there. We still go do the same 5 things with slightly different environments. The endgame just needs lots of work. No reason for me to currently go back and touch any of my characters. People will use POE as an example of things to do in endgame...well that game has 10 years with 4 leagues per year, it takes time.