'Diablo 4' Patches Out 'Fun,' According To Reviews Of Game's Latest Update

Blizzard appears to have detected some fun being had by players of its hit new ARPG Diablo 4 and gone out of their way to correct the issue, according to reviews of the game's first major patch and seasonal release called "Season of the Malignant" (which might be a fitting name based on early reactions).

Diablo 4 Patch Notes

TL;DR:

- Fixed multiple issues where players were having fun
- Fixed multiple issues where players were excited for Season 1
- Increased time to fix inventory
- Increased time to teleport
- Increased unique items rarity you were never going to get anyway https://t.co/Ttw6cyAQBR pic.twitter.com/zi7vU9a3Pm

— Ham on Wry (@RealHamOnWry) July 19, 2023

While Blizzard's patch actually gives certain Diablo 4 classes buffs and fixes bugs in the game, the general impression from many outspoken players, media outlets and content creators seems to be that Blizzard made its game harder, longer and more tedious for seemingly no reason — though some have speculated it's an attempt to prolong its perceived lack of endgame content.

The major nerfs build-wise were dished out to Hammer of the Ancients for Barbarian, Bone Spear for Necromancer, Werewolf Shred for Druid and Ice Shards for Sorcerer. Media outlets including PC Gamer and Forbes bemoaned the changes to Sorcerer in particular, as the class already was already in a tough spot relative to the others in the game according to many.

On the general side, things like Vulnerable, Cooldown Reduction and Critical Hit were also nerfed alongside experience-gain reductions of up to 90 percent for certain activities, Helltides being less rewarding and several other contentious changes. In combination with the build nerfs, this has made battling a slog, and players have reported doing less damage and dying more easily.

Redditor TheMorals summarized the changes in a post titled "Patch 1.1 is essentially a slowdown to every single part of the game." The post was apparently widely agreed upon in the Diablo 4 subreddit, as it racked up over 22,000 points in just one day.

Among the more bizarre changes is an increase in teleportation time from three seconds to five seconds, making it more tedious to get out of a dungeon. One Redditor summed up the nerf as Blizzard "making eye contact with you and calmly and clearly saying 'Yes, I really, truly do hate you with every ounce of my being.'"

Meanwhile on YouTube, well-known streamer Asmongold released an exhaustive, 90-minute lambasting of the patch, saying Blizzard "killed" the game.

Blizzard has promised a Campfire Chat about the changes this Friday when they will discuss player feedback to the patch, but with Baldur's Gate III on the imminent horizon, many players have expressed that they don't see why they would return to Diablo 4 when another time-consuming (and very-hyped) game is about to come out.