Diablo II Resurrected Review - A Well-Realized Tribute to One of the Greats

Diablo II Resurrected is Blizzard’s latest attempt to remaster yet another one of their classics that defined an entire genre. For many, Diablo II and its expansion, Lord of Destruction, provided their first experience playing a deep looter-based action RPG. The game served as a precursor for the many, many titles that came after it.

When you think about looter shooters, loot dropping on the floor after beating enemies, and an endless loop of replayability defined by constantly finding and upgrading gear, it’s easy to forget that it all stemmed from Diablo II. Diablo II Resurrected doesn’t mess with the aspects that made the game timeless. The developers instead lather the classic in a new coat of paint and add a couple of modern touches; as to the results, I’m happy to report that they nailed it.

Diablo II takes off right after the events of the first game. After The Warrior - you - defeats the Lord of Terror in the depths of Tristram, he takes the soulstone and becomes corrupted by it. The now-tainted hero wanders throughout Tristram to unleash horrors, and you play as one of the many adventurers that are hot on The Wanderer’s tail, striving to stop an evil dude from doing evil things.

Reforged This Ain’t

From a story perspective, nothing has changed, as every audio clip and bit of dialogue has remained intact in Diablo II Resurrected, except for the cinematics that play in between each of the game’s Acts. These cinematics were masterfully recreated, and play out the exact scenes to a T. Blizzard is known for creating beautiful animation in their cinematics, so if you’re familiar with their work in recent games, you’ll be treated to familiar scenes played out more clearly and with increased detail and emotion.

What’s great about Diablo II’s story is that they kept the overall goal simple while expanding the lore of the world just enough to introduce new characters. From Diablo’s siblings, the Lesser Evils, and the roles Marius and the archangel Tyrael play in the grand scheme of things, the supporting cast never takes the spotlight, but narratively, there’s enough meat on the bone for those looking for world-building.

But the real reason people are eager to return to the world of Sanctuary after twenty-one long years is its satisfying gameplay loop supported by the game’s novel and rich item customization. Just like the story, the core gameplay mechanics and items remain just as they were in the original release. If you want to really feel the nostalgia, Resurrected even gives you the option to play the original game as it was before the Lord of Destruction expansion was released.

It’s crazy, really. I’ve played the original game on and off for years, and I have done at least thirty playthroughs since the game was released in 2000. Playing Resurrected felt like I was going in for yet another run, and everything I knew about the game in my head just poured out. I felt like a kid again trying to make crazy builds with the items I'd looted along the way, easily spending countless hours on the game without even noticing. Diablo II still feels good in 2021. Not many classics can earn that distinction.

Grateful For Greater Graphical Gains

The nostalgia trip is then backed by a graphical overhaul that’s impressive from start to finish. From the game’s UI, every single location in each Act, skill animations, and even how items look in your inventory -  everything was retouched with a modern audience in mind. It’s the same game with a different exterior, but in case you’re not feeling the visual changes or simply want to play the original game, a simple press of a button will toggle between Resurrected and the original game’s visual design with ease. It’s done so well that I’ve toggled from the two versions multiple times in order to compare what they’ve changed, which is cool, as it feels like you’re playing both the original and the remaster at the same time. 

The visual changes don’t feel over-the-top, to a point that a beefy PC or a specific console is not needed to get the most out of this version of the game. The improvements feel just right in bringing this classic to our current times, with a few qualify-of-life changes to improve the experience, such as gold being automatically picked up as you go over it, instead of needing to click each piece one by one.

Occasional Online Woes

Another new addition is the ability to play Diablo II with a controller. This was a big surprise, as it works very well, making me confident that the console version of Diablo II Resurrected would be a solid choice, especially for the Switch. Resurrected adopts the same button layout as Diablo III when it hit consoles - basically, players assign each button to a corresponding skill. It felt smooth and easy to slay hundreds of creatures in this manner, but managing your inventory through a controller isn’t ideal, as it adopted the Destiny cursor approach to sorting through your items. I still prefer the keyboard and mouse as that’s what I'm comfortable with, but both options work about equally, so console players ought to feel right at home here.

Diablo II Resurrected features online and offline modes, so being online isn’t a requirement to play the game, unlike Diablo III on PC. The only issue is that you can’t play characters created for online play offline and vice versa, so if you’ve spent hours building your fire Sorceress offline, you sadly can’t use her to play with friends. It’s a rather unusual restriction.

With online, players can opt to trade with other players, fight to see who’s the most overpowered, and even do co-op play through the various acts. During my time with the game, it wasn’t as smooth as I hoped, as I’ve experienced a few disconnections at the worst possible times, ruining progress, especially if you haven’t yet picked up an area’s waypoint. It’s an unexpected annoyance, and this occurred with Seasonal Ladder not even live yet, so it’s unknown how servers will manage when waves of players rush back to play Seasonal Ladder, which as of this writing has yet to go live for the first time.

Diablo II: Resurrected is a great remaster that will satisfy veteran players that treat Diablo II like comfort food. After going through the game once again after many years, I'm reminded how Diablo II’s gameplay aged so well that it can easily compete against recent titles that aim to deliver the same experience. Those who’ve never played Diablo II will find Resurrected more palatable than the original thanks to myriad graphics improvements and minor changes, and will soon find out why Diablo II is considered by many to be one of the greatest games of all time. 

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9/10

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Highlights

PROS

• Each cinematic of Diablo II was recreated from the ground-up

• You can toggle between the remastered and the original look with a press of the button

• Still the same game you fell in love with back in 2000

• Controller support works and plays great

CONS

• Server lag and disconnects in online play

• Still no ladder season activated for some reason

• Online characters are separate from offline characters

What I’ve Played

• Went through the all 5 acts with the Amazon

• Played the Necromancer offline and just started my Assassin run

[This review is based on a PC review code provided by Activision Blizzard.]

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