Blizzard is a classic example of what happens to companies when they get too big and too established: they lose their ability to innovate and adapt. Blizzard is to computer games today what American car companies were in the seventies and eighties: putting out new versions of the same old stale products. I mean really, when was the last time Blizzard released something truly original? World of Warcraft in 2004? Ever since it's been just more of the same.
I remember how thrilling it was to play Diablo on the PC; just a superb piece of game design and story telling. But with each new release of Diablo it seems the design ethic at Blizzard boils MOAR!!! without really thinking about whether more of whatever it is really adds value to the game.
I played through the campaign, did all the side quests and renown exploration, did some loot farming and levelling up and then completed Season 1. And the truth of the matter is, it just isn't very fun. Playing Diablo 4 is more like working on a third-world assembly line: endlessly repeating a set of unstimulating tasks for (potential) payoff at the end. I get that, to some extent, this is simply the nature of the Diablo games. But really Blizzard, the best you can do is recycle a game that came out over two decades ago with marginally improved visuals and better voice acting? Frankly I think Blizzard would have been better served simply redoing the original.
Diablo 3 had a better season system. Whoever made the brilliant decision to have players lose all their renown with each season should be fired. Were I the head honcho at Blizz, I might consider firing the whole creative team responsible, because, well, they're not particularly &#@&# creative!
Anyway, it's the kind of game I might pick up here and there. I don't see playing another season or buying any expansions. Why bother? I've seen it before.
I'm sure the game will have its fans. Players who will play it all the time because that's just what they've always done. Me? I'd rather experience something new.