I hadn't really heard of Dark and Darker, thanks for mentioning it, it looks interesting!

I think Diablo IV is a very well made and produced thing, but the thing they're making is very much a "try to please everyone and hit with no one" sort of product. It's hoping that the edgy darkness will be enough to make you see that it's not all that new or exciting. I'm sure some people will still love it, and if this is someone's first time playing a Diablo that might actually make its issues easier to deal with.

I tried to log back in to the playtest today and bailed at the forty minute queue time, hahaha.