The massive patch that dropped two weeks before launch granted all players the ability to choose specific difficulty modes at their leisure, and this mattered a great deal for my well-geared level 60 character with a 55 Paragon rating. He was a tough bastard, but only because I allowed it. Reaper of Souls fails to serve a sufficiently epic story, but it nails the ambiance. Later, marshlands simmer with more menace than I ever felt in the Leoric Highlands or Dalghur Oasis, and the portal-ridden citadel of Pandemonium mirrors Malthael's madness. As if in defiance of criticisms that Diablo III was too soft, Blizzard kicks off its tale with medieval streets paved with bodies that squish under your feet. Instead, it's the environment that stands out in Reaper of Souls.

If it warrants attention at all, it's only in that it lets us settle a score gone unpunished from the first outing (and in the weakest of the expansion's three boss fights, no less). Malthael's saga delivers few surprises there's little like the shifting allegiances and unexpected deaths of Diablo III proper. The star of but one act, Malthael is never around long enough to make us care about his grumbles. But at least Arthas had the benefit of years of accumulated lore to support his cameos. He pops in and out as the narrative unfolds, spouting a few threatening lines before evaporating in a mist of gloom, and thus he recalls Blizzard's similar treatment of Arthas Menethil during World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion. I can't recall a gaming villain who looks as imposing as Reaper of Souls' Malthael but leaves so weak an impression.

Diablo 3 expansion review