‘Diablo 4’ Lord Of Hatred Review: Third Time’s The Talisman Charm

InnovationGaming‘Diablo 4’ Lord Of Hatred Review: Third Time’s The Talisman CharmByPaul Tassi,Senior Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. News and opinion about video games, television, movies and the internet.Follow AuthorApr 21, 2026, 12:01pm EDT--:-- / --:--This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.This voice experience is generated by AI. Learn more.Diablo 4BlizzardMy sabbatical from Diablo 4 has ended, as I have not kept up with the game’s seasons much since its Vessel of Hatred expansion. But, if nothing else, I will always show up for a new, significant Diablo launch, and well, Hatred’s back. Mephisto’s back. How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?This is Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred, where once again, we are taking on Mephisto, who has been effectively the main villain of the entirety of Diablo 4, despite another Prime Evil getting his name in lights. After playing Lord of Hatred, it’s easy to see how this tale works as a trilogy, of sorts, though what, if any, storyline continues from here is unknown, given the conclusive nature of this plotline.There are two halves to this, the campaign and of course, the main show: the endgame and gear grind within it. I promise I did my best, but despite maxing both new classes, it is hard to get miles deep into an endgame of something as sprawling as Diablo in a limited review period. But I did play a lot of the new additions, even if they were at Torment levels that would make my old characters sneer.I’ve said previously that I thought Diablo 4 had the best narrative I’d ever seen in the series. That was not an especially high bar, but this was mostly due to Caroline Faber’s Lilith as the big bad, probably the best character we’ve seen in Diablo, and joined by the dulcet tones of Ralph Ineson as Lorath. Well, guess what? Those two are leading things this time around, which I would argue is an upgrade from Neyrelle spearheading the Vessel of Hatred...