Cast your mid back to 2000, it was the year that Eminem became a household name with "Real Slim Shady" and also the year that music was forever changed by the Baha Men's seminal classic "Who let the dogs out?" Everyone was watching a, then unknown, Jason Statham alongside Brad Pitt in "Snatch" and Tom Hanks alongside Wilson in "Castaway". Anyone who wasn't playing "Snake" on the Nokia 3310 was almost certainly playing the precursor to all modern ARPG's ......."Diablo II".
If you are too young to remember 2000, then please forgive the nostalgic and indulgent ramblings of an elderly reviewer and be prepared to experience Diablo II for perhaps the first time, in its revamped, re-released form of "Diablo II: Resurrected".
Diablo II was basically an action dungeon crawler and it carried over the innovation of color coded loot we all know and love today, from its predecessor.
The more enemies you kill, the more XP you earn, the higher level you attain the more powerful abilities you unlock; coupled with improving your gear via loot progression, this essentially became the Western equivalent of a musou game.
Starting out as a relatively fragile character from a choice of 5 classes (Amazon, Barbarian, Paladin, Sorceress and the Druid from the DLC), you soon amass the power to cut through swathes of enemies with the cast of a single ability. We all soon became addicted to playing a nigh on immortal death machine and the satisfying gameplay loop. I honestly couldn't tell you what the campaign story for Diablo, Diablo II or Diablo III are and I really don't care, what I can tell you is, they are remarkable games that spawned 25 years worth tribute titles.
So what's new with Resurrected? How exactly have Blizzard and Vicarious Visions improved the OG game?
For a start, the original game’s 2D character models have become fully realized 3D heroes who inhabit the boldly re-envisioned dark fantasy world of Sanctuary rife with rich environmental detail.
To take advantage of today’s modern gaming hardware, it now supports up to 4K resolution and includes fully remastered 7.1 Dolby Surround audio.
All 27 minutes of the previously forgettable cinematics, have been recreated with stunning high-fidelity visuals that faithfully reproduce the originals and match the spirit of the modernized game’s graphics.
Gameplay wise there are a few quality-of-life updates, such as a larger stash and automatic gold pickup. There is also the option to seamlessly swap between the modern graphics and the original 800x600 resolution experience with the push of a button.
I reviewed Diablo II: Resurrected on PC it also released onto consoles and offers cross-progression and online multiplayer, so you can in effect pick up your game on any system. However online play is not cross platform, although last gen and current gen versions of the same platform can still play together (i.e. PS4 players can team up online with PS5 players). Cross progression and online are subject to having a linked Battlenet account.
All in all I enjoyed my time with Diablo II: Resurrected. I tried to be as objective as I could and not influenced by nostalgia, but it's really difficult when playing such a genuinely genre defining title. However it stands the test of time pretty well and is still tremendous fun to play.
The core gameplay has been almost completely left intact from the the original, warts and all. Anyone used to more modern games may initially have issues aiming at creatures diagonally, but stick with it for a hot minute and it all becomes second nature.
It would be all to easy to just dismiss this as a reskin with some new audio and cutscenes, which is essentially what it is. But that really doesn't do justice to the amount of time and effort that must have gone into creating Diablo II: Resurrected.
Given its cult status, ever loyal fanbase and being an industry bench mark, it must have been a daunting task to "make over". In many ways a reboot or new game would have been much easier than a remaster. Change too much and it's unfaithful to the original, change too little and its far too dated to appeal to many modern gamers. Drifting too far in either direction risks alienating either the new fans or old.
I think given the subject matter they did a decent job with this, the remaster cuts a thick channel right down the middle. At some points the game does show its age, the campaign is still a 20 year old campaign... go there, kill that, collect this, now go back over there and kill more of that.
The controls can seems a little cumbersome and action a little slower paced than many more modern ARPG's. But ultimately this is either a very enjoyable history lesson or a nostalgic walk down memory lane.
I don't think it necessarily has the longevity and replayability as its successor, but perfectly priced at $39.99 I'd recommend it as a must buy to old and new gamers alike.
Diablo II: Resurrected is out now on PC, Switch, Xbox and PlayStation priced $39.99 for the basic version or $59.99 for the Deluxe (which includes D3, D3 DLC and D3 cosmetics)
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