Diablo 4 needs to make the seasonal story elements more coherent and impactful

Modified Mar 18, 2025 13:32 IST

Diablo 4 Season — Diablo 4's expansions being far apart is fine, but Blizzard should put some more effort into the seasonal story content (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

There’s been some discussion around Diablo 4 expansions and seasonal content, and I agree — and disagree — with some of the discourse surrounding it. Diablo 4 is being treated like an MMO, so yes, of course, you’re going to have to wait a year and a half or so before another expansion comes out. That’s just a part of the business model at this point. It’s not like EverQuest where it felt like an expansion was dropping all the time.

However, if Blizzard plans to keep the fans’ support, I do feel there should be more effort put into Diablo 4’s seasonal story elements. I also understand with the Normal Ladder players, that it sucks that story content is locked behind seasons, but I’m not sure what can be done about that other than introducing the story quests on Normal Ladder, without the mechanics. Let’s talk story in D4.

Diablo 4 expansions being far apart is fine, but seasonal story content needs a buff

The whole point of having Diablo 4 be supported for the alleged 10 years — other than to make mountains of money — is to tell an engaging story that fans will remember for years. However, many players feel that simply isn’t being done. The Vessel of Hatred expansion ended on such a giant cliffhanger that some players were furious.

The connective tissue between moments like this and the season should be a bit clearer (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

If the seasonal story content is supposed to build upon that narrative and offer a coherent story to lead up to/tease whatever’s next, I think more effort needs to be put into that. Many of the seasons just felt like filler episodes between what’s actually coming for Diablo 4’s next major story.

Not all seasons have felt this way, though. The Season of Witchcraft, for example, could easily fit into the story, with its focus on the Tree of Whispers. That’s never going to go away, so drawing up a story around it was a great idea. Then, you have the Season of Constructs. Not only was it a frustrating season, but the story didn’t really feel like it connected well to the rest of the narrative. If it did, I sure missed it.

I don’t even mind if the story takes only an hour or two to complete — that’s not really a big deal. In fact, that’s even better for those only playing the season to get the story. If the story is going to be locked behind a seasonal gate, it should be as easy as possible to access, period.

There are plenty of ways to make the seasonal story content more impactful (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

That’s not the real issue, though. Fans want to feel like the story is going forward, instead of just doing mindless tasks until the next expansion drops. It doesn’t help that some found Vessel of Hatred underwhelming. Personally, I found it an enjoyable story, though the cliffhanger did leave me badly wanting to know what happened.

I might be overreaching — and we’ll see in about a month if I’m right — but it feels like the upcoming Season 8 might add something significant to the story. Sure, it could also just add Belial to the game without any real reason or rhyme, but I would like to believe he’s somehow connected to the greater story of what’s to come in Diablo 4.

However, I don’t think it’s fair to compare Diablo 4 to games like Diablo 2. Players fought quite a few major foes across the main game and the expansion, but game design philosophy was different then. The Games as a Service thing wasn’t quite a “thing” yet. It certainly wasn’t as popular as a build design until games like World of Warcraft took off.

The hope is that season 8 is making a lean towards this exact change (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

If these past seasonal stories are all connected, I wish it were in a way that felt coherent. If they aren’t, it’s certainly something to focus on for the future. If fans aren’t going to get an expansion for another year or so, the story they get between that time has to matter. It has to feel worth doing. This matters almost as much as having good game mechanics and rewarding gameplay.

One thing Blizzard could probably do is every so often either release a video catching people up on the story of the seasons or make things clear how they connect (in-universe, not as an explanation video).

Another thought is to create a non-mechanic version of the story for the normal ladder, so players can enjoy it without feeling forced to join and make a seasonal character if they don’t want to. At the end of the day, I just want Diablo 4's story to continue and fans to feel like they’re getting their time, effort, and money’s worth out of it.

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Edited by Angad Sharma