It’s safe to say that Diablo 2 has had a lot of influence on modern RPGs, which were based on its mechanics, gameplay features, and even plot. Even then, in 2000, Blizzard knew how to make really cool stories, how to captivate the audience and give hundreds of hours of pleasant grinding. Of course, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then, the audience under the onslaught of DLC, paid content and battle royale has changed their preferences a lot, and the video game market itself has changed a little less than completely, but Diablo 2 did not get any worse from this. Moreover, twenty years later, Blizzard decided to update one of its best games – that’s what we’ll talk about today.
Oscar-winning plot (beware – spoilers)
The storyline of Diablo 2, which begins immediately after the battle between Aiden and Diablo in the first part, is incredibly interesting, complex and exciting – now, as they say, this is no longer done. The narrative is divided into a backstory, four acts of the main storyline and a story from the expansion of Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, which in general gives the player the opportunity to plunge headlong into the confrontation between the forces of evil and the good of the fictional world. I especially liked the way the writers twenty years ago decided to put on the shoulders of a frail old drug addict an incredibly important mission, which he could not cope with.
It’s about a task from the Archangel Tyrael – he, having lost the battle to the Dark Wanderer and Baal, thanks to the old man Marius, gives the latter instruction to go after the villains, wait until they open the portal to Hell, and then go down there and break the stolen shard of Baal’s soul stone on the Anvil of Annihilation … Personally, it is not entirely clear to me how the Archangel, seeing a trembling old man in front of him, could entrust him with such a difficult task (although, of course, he had no choice). Marius, of course, does not burn with the desire to go down to Hell – instead, he ends up in a psychiatric hospital, where in the fourth act a wanderer comes to his room in the fourth act under the guise of Tyrael and promises to forgive everything in return for a fragment of a soul stone. In fact, the wanderer turns out to be Baal himself, who reunited his soul and restored his power, and then went to Mount Arreat to desecrate the Stone of the Universe, which he successfully succeeds in.
The narrative is arranged in such a way that we see the story of the Dark Wanderer, who would later turn into Diablo, as if from the sidelines – while Marius was running his tail after Evil itself, the player cleans up location after location after him, as a result he himself descends into Hell, destroys Diablo there and Mephisto, imprisons their souls in stones and safely destroys them on the Anvil, and then catches up with Baal, killing him too. However, this is not the ending either – the end of the story gently pushes us to the third part, which is directly related to Diablo 2.
With love for classics and hatred for innovation
Worried that Blizzard, in the wake of scandals, layoffs and tons of dirt, will decide to spoil the remaster with something new and unknown? You can safely send a jar of sedatives to the shelf – the developers have not touched any game mechanics, have not implemented new classes, capabilities, items or monsters. It’s literally exactly the same game as it was twenty years ago, with all the advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps this decision will not please a certain part of the audience, but, as they say, it will not please everyone, and Blizzard decided to please those who appreciated the classics and did not want anything else to be added to it.
Healthy remaster cut scenes
When creating remasters, developers often neglect cut-scenes – sometimes they may not be altered at all, but inserted from the original project, sometimes the picture resolution is simply increased. With this release, the situation is radically different, since the developers decided to redraw the cinematography from scratch – the frames remained approximately the same as in the original, but much more details appeared, some characters changed quite noticeably, and, of course, the resolution was also raised. Of course, the updated cut-scenes do not give anything fundamentally new in terms of the plot, but they have become a little different, more modern.
New / old graphics at one click
The graphics in the new game are certainly very nice, but the developers made sure that the gamer had the opportunity to compare it with the original at any time. It will be useful for both experienced gamers who played Diablo II for the first time in their youth, and for beginners to clearly see the difference 21 years after the release. Moreover, the function of changing graphics from new to original is implemented even better than many expected – you just need to press one button (G) to change the picture instantly, and then again to return the modern version.
It may have been difficult to seamlessly switch between the original graphics and the new picture, but the developers have worked hard, and they should be commended for that – the effect is really inspiring. You can run across the map, click one button on the keyboard and instantly jump back to twenty years ago, or turn on the original graphics during a boss fight and evaluate what a villain he was when the world of video games was not yet flooded with DLC. Of course, after some time playing with the graphics switch will get bored, but this is such a cool feature that you simply cannot pass it by.
However, not ideal
I understand that some of the elements of the game that was released twenty years ago, the developers simply could not change, but I still cannot fail to say about a couple of troubles. First, the interface is still cumbersome enough to make you feel uncomfortable collecting items from the floor. I’m sure it could have been done a little more conveniently, but perhaps the developers deliberately did not do this to please the original. And, secondly, the locations are so chaotically designed that sometimes even with a map it is quite difficult to understand exactly where I need to go. Yes, these are dungeons and they should be, but still the modern gamer is not used to suffering.
To take or not to take?
Personally, I see two types of gamers that really should buy Diablo 2: Resurrected. The first type is a real old-school fan of role-playing games who played the original, went to holes for all classes, and now wants to plunge into the world of nostalgia and youth, but with new beautiful graphics. The second type is a gamer who loves high-quality, well-developed RPGs, but did not want to launch the original Diablo 2 because of the graphics and minor interface problems. For these players, Diablo 2: Resurrected will bring a lot of fun and enjoyment, because, in fact, Blizzard took an almost perfect game and made it modern. But if you are not a fan of role-playing games, and Diablo 2 as such means nothing to you, then feel free to play something else.
Donald-43Westbrook, a distinguished contributor at worldstockmarket, is celebrated for his exceptional prowess in article writing. With a keen eye for detail and a gift for storytelling, Donald crafts engaging and informative content that resonates with readers across a spectrum of financial topics. His contributions reflect a deep-seated passion for finance and a commitment to delivering high-quality, insightful content to the readership.
