I’ve dropped in and out of Diablo 4 on PlayStation 5 regularly since it was released back in 2023; a solo burst of play here, teaming up with a buddy for bits there, and diving back in for the last major expansion in 2024.

However, Lord of Hatred, the game’s second massive content drop, arrived this month (May 2026) and absolutely captivated me with its opening, ensnared me with its continuation of the meta story, and has drawn me right back into Diablo 4 with its excellent new territory and gameplay additions.

I played through the whole expansion in two medium-length sessions over a recent weekend and loved every second of it. It really is one of my favorite expansions I have ever played —genuinely, no hyperbole. And this is not through anything truly groundbreaking or outrageously unique either, but by simply being the essence of what a Diablo 4 expansion should be, and nailing everything from music to story, and from action to new classes to play as. In short, it’s simple but incredibly effective.

An assault on the senses

Right from the very beginning of Lord of Hatred, I knew there was excellence achieved in the combination of the rich Diablo 4 aesthetic and style, as well as the audio and soundtrack.

After a gripping opening scene that sets up a direct continuation of the game’s narrative, I was travelling by ship to the map’s new area of the Skovos Isles — homeland of the Amazons, some might remember — and soon thrown into fights against sentient and evil wave-like enemies and more. It was a few minutes into this, an area that wasn’t even the new map being added, that Ted Reedy’s soundtrack crescendoed (He Is The Tide, in particular) and added its fast-paced rhythms to a chaotic encounter that my attacks almost matched beat for beat, and a soaring melody evoked the sense of an epic movie’s most epic battle scene.

With enemies crashing through ships’ sections, waves battering the hull, bloody, gritty action, and panicked dialogue between characters all competing for space, it was an assault on the senses, but in a hair-raising, spin-tingling, goosebump-giving way. And it was a theme that continued throughout the DLC, occurring multiple times across the new land.

The icing on the cake for us Diablo fans is the importance put on story and lore and story-driven side quests in Lord of Hatred. In short, it’s terrific, and sticks all its landings, big and small. The core main storyline is full of intrigue, a bit of mystery, and extends the main game’s plot superbly well. I found myself instantly re-invested in the narrative and incredibly eager to find out what happened next.

This also extends to the side quests, of which there were some really well-done story-driven quests across the Skavos Isles, and the combination of the focus on lore and story in the new land of Skavos makes Lord of Hatred feel like an expansion Diablo fans like myself have been pining for.

Of Paladins and Warlocks

I’m not downplaying the game’s new additions to classes and combat, and items and upgrades (and more) by talking about them last — that’s just the impact the above elements of Lord of Hatred had on me.

But, it remains that playing as a Palkadin, a holy crusader type that channels power from the heavens above — a class I’ve missed in Diablo — is a blast. One of two new classes added with Lord of Hatred, along with the Warlock, the Paladin’s tanky feel, sword and shield combo, and a raft of holy skills are a joy to use in Lord of Hatred.

There’s nothing more satisfying than battering your enemies with sword and shield attacks before throwing out the shield for a bit of crowd control, before calling to the heavens for some devastating holy lances to be fired into your enemies from the skies above. Sublime.

Throw in a warlock offering a whole different approach for magic players in Diablo, along with a whole raft of new upgrades, modifiers, skills, and items to collect and master, and the new classes really are a triumph.

In the end, Lord of Hatred is a huge success as an expansion to a titanic game in one of gaming’s biggest series.

I massively enjoyed its eight-hour (or so) campaign, and couldn’t wait for the next story beat to happen, while devouring all the visuals and music excellence I could while battering enemies with my Paladin’s shield. It all just works brilliantly and is so well executed from opening to close. It feels like a bespoke-made expansion for the most committed and long-time Diablo fans.

If this is a look at the future of the game — it feels like there’s room for one more expansion to really crescendo, climax, and finish the narrative — then we could be in for fireworks in the future.

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Rob is the Managing Editor of TechRadar Gaming and Streaming, a video games journalist, critic, editor, and writer, and has years of experience gained from multiple publications. Prior to being TechRadar Gaming's Managing Editor, he was TRG's Deputy Editor, and a longstanding member of GamesRadar+, being the Commissioning Editor for Hardware there for years, while also squeezing in a short stint as Gaming Editor at WePC just before joining TechRadar Gaming. He is also a writer on tech, gaming hardware, and video games but also gardens and landscapes, and has written about the virtual landscapes of games for years.