It has been four years since the original release of the action RPG, Diablo 3 and in typical Blizzard fashion, the game has only gotten better with age. While other RPGs have come and gone, Diablo 3 still remains strong partially thanks to the massive changes that the Reaper of Souls expansion ushered in.
Looking on it now, there are a lot of things other video games could learn from Blizzard’s demon slaying game.
So sharpen your sword, prepare your incantations, and check out our five reasons Diablo 3 (Buy it on Amazon) is still worth playing 2018:
1. Class Diversity
Yes, there is a plethora of games that feature a large roster of interesting and diverse classes, but it’s rare that a series will have so much diversity within the class themselves. Instead of simply pushing you into one or two avenues of play, each of Diablo’s five classes has extensive customizability. It’s true that each of the five classes have a general play style, but they all offer a large amount of combinations within the massive list of powers.
On top of these base powers, each one has a variety of runes that offer unique bonuses to your selected skill. I.e turning simple zombie dogs, into ones that can explode on command for enhanced damage. Every RPG that is centered around different classes should offer this much diversity as it truly gives the player incredible freedom for how they play.
2. Constant Updates
In a world where most of our updates either affect the game in minute ways or just unlock future DLC, we will eventually have to pay for; the large  support that Diablo 3 has received is impressive. Adding new sections to explore, unique gear, and tweaks to various existing items; this stream of updates helps keep Diablo from going stale. The most recent patch, 2.4, not only fixed some minor bugs but added entirely different sections into the game for us to explore.
Both of the two new areas included different enemy types that helped change the dynamic of battle, forcing the player to always stay on their toes. A sense of exploration has always been one of Diablo 3‘s strong points and the stream of constant additions fuels that.  These updates also act as a good buffer between the larger expansion sets, offering trickles of content before massive content drops such as Reaper of Souls.
3. Always Moving Forward
A sense of progression is key to any RPG’s survival and Blizzard has proven that they can do it better than anyone. While the game has a soft level cap at 70, the introduction of the Paragon system has fueled the drive to constantly play.
This system, for those unfamiliar, gives a player’s hero the ability to consistently level up certain aspects and stats. Some areas such as Critical Hit Damage and Movement Speed are capped at 50 Paragon Points, others are completely limitless in how many points you can put into them.
Acting as a second leveling system, Paragon allows a player to always advance their character’s power and makes grinding far less of a chore. Diablo 3 goes one step further and shares these points across all characters once they reach level 70, alleviating the need to grind out a new set of points when you want a different hero. Coupled with the constant stream of ever increasingly powerful loot drops, helped by the Loot 2.0 system, and Diablo 3 has the ability to keep a player engage for a long, long time.
4. Rifts
The bread and butter of post content that is truly brilliant in its simplicity. Rifts are essentially randomized dungeons that are ever changing and almost always offer a new plethora of challenges. Not only are the levels completely different each time, but the groups of enemies and even the final boss are never the same. This allows for a more diverse and engaging battles that can keep even the most seasoned player on their toes. Pulling from all five acts in Diablo 3, no enemy is off limits and each floor of the Rift changes the mob set.
For those looking to experience even more challenging post-game content, the Greater Rifts are right up your alley. Essentially they are timed and always escalate in difficulty, which fuels that sense of progression.
Other RPGs should look to Rifts and consider incorporating them as this gives the game a real longevity. The content rarely ever feels reused and by integrating the idea of Rifts into other properties, it can help sustain a game’s community.
5. Seasons
If every aspect below this helped Diablo 3Â push an almost four-year life span, then Seasons are what ties it all together. Seasons feel like games unto themselves as each one comes with a plethora of achievements to unlock, new challenge dungeons to conquer, and cosmetic items to earn. In a way, these long stretches act as minor DLC Â packages that constantly challenge the player in interesting ways. Each season lasts only a few months, but the rewards are usually enough to keep the game engaging.
The catch is that Seasons start you with a brand new character that you must level up and earn all the gear for. None of your Non-Seasonal gear carries over so there is not advantage that seasoned players will have over new- comers to the game. Everyone one starts at the beginning, which is a rare thing for a large scale game such as Diablo to accomplish. With the addition of Seasons, Diablo 3 has reached a point where it offers more content than games that have come out years later… I’m looking at you Destiny.
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