Diablo 4’s fourth season got a hearty month-long delay, owing to the fact that it’s spring-boarding a complete overhaul to the game’s itemization, crafting systems, and endgame. Plenty of folks, myself included, are more than a little excited for a new start to Blizzard’s powerhouse IP, but we’re stuck waiting until May 14. So rather than sit on our clicking hands, I have a few suggestions to help pass the time:
Grim Dawn
Grim Dawn is my absolute favoritest-favorite action RPG. Not only is it an absolute beast in terms of its content (if you cop the expansions on one of the game’s regular sales, you’re looking at 100+ hours of content at least), it’s unmatched in class fantasy and build customization.
Sure, it’s not the flashiest action RPG in the world, but its gruff, high contrast aesthetic is a bit reminiscent of the gold-box RPG glory days, isn’t it? The oversaturated hue of the spell effects mixed with the pitch black shadows gives it some real character.
Grim Dawn is a fair bit more complex than Diablo, but not nearly the impenetrable fortress that is Path of Exile. Think of it as sitting somewhere in the middle-complexity sweet spot that games like Last Epoch occupy. You can blitz through the campaign on the breezy Normal difficulty or crank things up a few notches and see if your build can stand up to Ultimate.
If you’re worried about this game’s age meaning it isn’t receiving updates or content, you may be pleasantly surprised to hear that that’s decidedly not the case. The latest mega-patch, 1.2, saw a whole slew of changes, including difficulty scaling, loot tables, and the addition of an evade button. There’s even a whole new expansion on its way, and a second game in early development. So, if you’re looking for something with a little grit, it’s never too late to become a fan of Grim Dawn.
V Rising
V Rising is, unlike Grim Dawn, markedly not old. In fact, it’s not even fully released yet. 1.0 is hitting just a bit shy of Diablo 4’s new season, on May 8, but you can explore plenty of the game’s content right now in Early Access.
The elevator pitch for V Rising probably went something like, “What if Diablo, survival crafting games like Valheim, and old-school MMO’s got thrown in a blender?” You’ll hunt down treacherous bosses and collect bear asses both, all in service to your ever-growing castle. The game has the same sticky mechanics that all the great survival games do: you’ll craft increasingly impressive and useful tools using workbenches, but you’ll only find the blueprints after defeating some of the world’s many, many big-bads.
By day, you’ll likely be cooped up in your castle, rearranging furniture, stocking the furnace with ore, that sort of thing. But come nightfall, when the sun’s rays won’t cremate you, you’ll be pushing further and further into the wilds, collecting resources and slaying foes.
If you’ve got a knack for building houses in The Sims or seeing how big you can make your Minecraft fortress, V Rising has a fantastic base-building system that’s sure to satiate your lust for interior design. If you also enjoy skill-shotting folks in MOBAs, the game so happens to use WASD movement such that its combat plays like a frenetic mix of League of Legends and Lost Ark. It’ll take some getting used to, but this weird combination of cozy homebuilding and action is surprisingly harmonious.
No Rest for the Wicked
And at last, we have Moon Studio’s (makers of Ori) very left-field foray into the action RPG space: No Rest for the Wicked. I was embarrassingly excited for this game, which launched last Thursday, April 18 into Early Access.
My recommendation of No Rest for the Wicked comes with two caveats: first, you’ll need a pretty juicy rig to run it. With a “recommended” GPU equivalent to an RTX 3070, it isn’t particularly optimized in these early days. Second, it barely qualifies as an “action RPG” in the traditional, Diablo-esque sense of the phrase. Its combat is slow, methodical, and heavy.
Those caveats out of the way, what’s here is very good so far. The first act of the game is available to play, which should run you anywhere from 10 to 15 hours depending on your propensity for exploration and upgrading the capital city of Sacrament using resources found along your journey.
One of the more progressive features of No Rest for the Wicked is its ever-changing landscapes that are a joy to revisit. Starter zones level up alongside your progress through the campaign, and trekking back through previously explored lands may reveal new enemies, bosses, and loot. Loot rarity has had the script flipped a bit too – “common” items are the most customizable, while higher rarities may come with hefty drawbacks in exchange for their affixed bonuses.
It’s early days for the game, but after two quick and beefy hotfixes (which went live over the weekend, no less), I think it’s worth keeping an eye on at the very least. Jumping in early is always a bit of a leap of faith, but I haven’t regretted a moment spent with the game.
