Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Reviews

We have rounded up some more reviews for Diablo III’s expansion, Reaper of Souls, which seems to have convinced most (if not all) specialized critics.

I’ll start from a disappointed voice, Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s Rich Stanton, who thinks the changes brought by the expansion simply can’t fix the base game:

The same old story, then? Diablo 3; the game to play when your brain is toast! I had hoped Reaper of Souls would renew Diablo 3, give me a reason to pick it up over the competition and especially start running random dungeons again and again with friends. From moment-to-moment your moves and skills feel great, but that was true of the vanilla version too; and for all this expansion adds to and changes and tinkers with Diablo 3, the core feels the same.

Despite Loot 2.0 and Adventure mode and the Crusader, Reaper of Souls doesn’t quite reinvent Diablo 3 and the reason is simple. The core concept underpinning this experience, fun as it is in passing, makes for a game that plateaus quickly. Diablo 3’²s central problem is that it lacks long-term appeal and, despite Reaper of Souls having the best of intentions, it seems some things just can’t be fixed.

GameInformer, 9.25/10.

Along with all the new loot, players have access to more options involving that loot. Crafting has been redone, and you can track down a plethora of legendary recipes. These special recipes require specific components that drop off rare monsters. You acquire some of these naturally if you choose to engage in Adventure mode, as the missions often involve tracking down these named spawns. During Act 5, players unlock the Mystic NPC. Did that awesome item drop but it had a stat that didn’t mesh well with your build? The Mystic allows players to reroll certain item characteristics, providing a new optimization route and resource sink.

With a staggering revamp that touched upon almost all aspects of the game and modes that keep things interesting, Reaper of Souls isn’t so much an expansion as it is a completely new game.

Destructoid, 9/10.

Diablo III may have lost its allure after a first months of play, but Reaper of Souls has sucked me right back in again. Most of these additions should have been in the base game from the get-go, but there’s no denying that they’re welcome changes. Now that Diablo III has a new base to work from, I hope Blizzard keeps at it to make it the best they possibly can. Thankfully, Reaper of Souls gives me hope.

Metro, 8/10.

It’s not hard to argue that Reaper Of Souls is actually more enjoyable than the parent game, but that’s not entirely fair given a lot of it is fine-tuning and implementing the lessons learned from the original. It’s certainly not a drastic change in the nature of the gameplay but it is a very worthwhile expansion, and the rare sort that is just as much for new players as it is old.

PC Gamer, 87/100.

The story is lacking, but great environments, a new class, and more freedom partially from the free patch make for a better Diablo III.

Strategy Informer, 9/10.

Does Reaper of Souls justify its asking price of a full game? If it only presented itself with Act V then no, but the inclusion of an all-new-ish character class and Adventure Mode does soothe the sting. Reaper of Souls, in conjunction with the Loot 2.0 patch, finally brings us the Diablo III we want and that fans deserve.

Digital Spy, 4/5.

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls offers little in the way of earth-shattering innovation, but the game is all the better for the new content it brings to the table.

While it’s unlikely to convert players who were unconvinced by the core game, Diablo III fans will gleefully devour every last morsel it has to offer.

Eurogamer, 9/10.

Reaper of Souls is a huge improvement for Diablo 3; it does what was needed and a whole lot more besides. It’s overkill – right down to the removal of any cap on the endgame Paragon system, which now invites you to play forever, taking your characters’ stats to infinity and beyond. But I wonder if our expectation that Diablo 3 should be a game that we can play endlessly and that will reward us forever is misplaced. Reaper of Souls gives it a much more welcoming, flexible and gratifying character, but it’s still a game of utter excess, at once deep and mindlessly shallow. Too much of it will leave you feeling dizzy and sick. Turning it from a miserly grind to a jackpot that always pays out doesn’t change that – in fact, it only heightens it.

But how good it feels to pull the lever and let the goodies gush! Ker-ching!

Videogamer.com, 9/10.

Adventure Mode has fixed the endgame by focusing that task and the new Crusader class manages to fill a tanky, more defensive niche – but if you didn’t see value in it before, fundamentally it’s the same game. Thankfully, that’s just what I wanted.

USGamer, 4.5/5.

If the purpose of an expansion is to not only introduce new content, but also extend the life of its core game, Reaper of Souls delivers. Act V might seem a little light, but Reaper of Souls’ new features and Adventure Mode make it an essential purchase for anyone with even a passing interest in Diablo III.

Post Arcade, 8.5/10.

So what are you waiting for? Don your spectral boneweave hauberk of the mind, arm yourself with an energizing beach tusk of agony, and start gutting yourself some tortured summoners and nightmarish desecrators.

Inside Gaming Daily, 8/10.

With so many changes to the core game the Diablo III experience today is very different from even a few months after its launch. The adjustments made in the 2.0 patch are enough for former players to make a return trip. Reaper of Souls offers a suitably complete, if uninspiring, revisit to this dark, desolate world. It’s darkly beautiful (one day I’d like to walk through these towns as they were originally created and admire the beauty, not the desolation), superbly crafted (as we expect from Blizzard), and fittingly familiar. For mercenaries everywhere, the loot upgrades are probably enough to justify diving back in to this deeply depressing storyline. If you always thought Diablo was (not for you) then move along, nothing to see here.

Joystiq, scoreless.

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls doesn’t reinvent the wheel in the dungeon crawling genre it reinvents Diablo 3 itself. Gone is the diabolical auction house, replaced with a better loot system that rewards a player’s loyalty. While Loot 2.0 is available as a free update for Diablo 3, it’s Adventure Mode that helps Reaper of Souls stand above the original. With its emphasis on getting directly into the action with no interruption, Reaper of Souls brings Diablo 3 back to basics: A mouse-breaking, loot-craving killfest to Hell and back.