Impressions and Thoughts about DIABLO II: RESURRECTED After the Technical Alpha

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in the Technical Alpha for Diablo II: Resurrected. This was a real treat. The game is a 4K remaster with vastly superior graphics, remastered audio, and more. The technical alpha allowed players to play through the first two chapters of the single-player campaign, but sadly, I didn’t have enough time to go through all of the available content.

First things first, it was a little hard to tell how much of the game had been updated for the alpha outside of the character models and environment. I don’t know if the art for the items and map were updated or not yet. It was a weird experience because certain parts were updated and others weren’t. That being said, Diablo II: Resurrected will have the option to let you use the old graphics if you so choose.

My experience overall is that this is a very faithful remaster that fans of the original will love. It’s not for everyone though. I hate inventory management when different items take up different amounts of space in your inventory. For instance, a shield takes up four spaces, a potion takes one, and a sword will take two. It just isn’t fun for me. In my opinion, it’s just an outdated mechanic. However, I know some people will love this return to form.

Another thing that was a little weird is that it almost felt too easy. I played as a Barbarian and felt like I almost never got hit without me trying to dodge because I was easily one-shotting enemies from the very start. Of course, this is very easy to adjust as the team continues to work on the game.

I’m reserving all judgment until the launch of the game, but my first impressions are that Diablo II: Resurrected is great for anyone who loves Diablo II and wants to play it again. The graphics are vastly improved. It’s also something to consider if you’ve always wanted to play Diablo II, but I would almost recommend that you wait a bit longer before making the call to pre-order. Diablo II: Resurrected is exactly what has been advertised so far. A big remaster of a classic game.