When Diablo III was released in May 2012, it moved a lot of units but was met with outrage from both franchise fans as well as newcomers. Inability to login, faulty auction houses and other creative changes to the beloved series left a bad taste in the mouth of gamers.
Over the last year and a half, Blizzard has taken the steps to rectify many of those issues, including the announcement that the auction houses will be shutdown in March 2014; possibly a system that never should have existed.
The launch of Diablo III for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 revitalized the Diablo fanbase, offering a new style of gameplay to the beloved game. The platform move was positive, with the game earning a scores from critics and fans that neared perfection.
Diablo fans are in for a new treat coming in the near future with the first official expansion pack, Reaper of Souls.
Reaper of Souls picks up where Diablo III left off. After the Worldstone was destroyed at the end of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, the archangel Malthael, member of the Angiris Council and master of wisdom, fell from the High Heavens and hadn’t been seen since.
In the final scenes of the third installment, the Black Soulstone plummets from the High Heavens to the realm of Sanctuary.
Archangel Tyrael leads a group of Horadrim to find the stone and seal it away, forever out of reach of both the Heavens and Burning Hells. The group plans to seal the stone away, but before they can Malthael returns and ambushes the five, killing three Horadrim and incapacitating Tyrael.
Malthael, who now calls himself the Angel of Death, plans to end the Eternal Conflict by destroying all of humanity. In the game’s lore, the people of Sanctuary, the Nephalem, are the offspring of interbreeding demons and angels who rebelled against their hosts.
Tyrael charges the lone surviving Horadrim to find the player and that is where the game will pick back up.
The expansion will feature a new character class, called The Crusader. This new class will be one that balances melee and ranged attacks. The level cap has been raised, new weapons and items and a new slew of demonic hordes to slay.
Reaper of Souls adds a fifth act to Diablo III which will see the player travel from the land of Westmarch to the familiar Pandemonium Fortress.
A release date hasn’t been set for Reaper of Souls yet, though it is due out in the next year. It will be available on the PC as well as Xbox One and Playstation 4. Blizzard has also stated that the expansion will be ported for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions.
Watch the cinematic trailer for Reaper of Souls below and leave your opinions on Diablo III: Reaper of Souls in the comments.
