Review: DIABLO II: RESURRECTED Is Full of Nostalgia That Falls Flat for New Players
Author’s Note: Activision and Activision Blizzard have been pretty terrible at the corporate and management levels. After much thought and deliberation, I decided to review the newly released Diablo II: Resurrected to support the hard working developers and game makers who are better than those who have more power than they.
Let’s imagine the year is 2000. Blizzard has just released Diablo II, and gamers are getting sucked into it. Now, 21 years later, Activision Blizzard releases Diablo II: Resurrected. The latter is designed to be a faithful remaster to the original that improves the quality of graphics while staying true to the gameplay experience of the original. Activision Blizzard was kind enough to supply me with a PC review code for me to check out. You can also play the game on Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
First things first, I never played Diablo II growing up. I’ve seen friends play it and have heard great things, but never picked it up myself. This is actually one of the first pros to Resurrected. It allows new people to give the game a go with nicer graphics than the original. I’ve heard the game is pretty faithful to the original, and I know that was the team’s intention. This also means that they didn’t take advantage of some modern gaming conventions that could serve as quality of life improvements. I really dislike these inventory systems where you get a small box and you have to play Tetris with your items (minus the rotating). I would’ve liked an updated format, although I also understand keeping it for the nostalgia. That said, I wish that they would’ve made it so that potions stack. I could honestly look past the inventory system as long as they let potions stack.
Besides the faithfulness to the original and the chance for new players to try the game out with improved graphics, let’s talk about the graphics. Overall, they’re good. I wouldn’t say they’re mind-blowing, but they are leagues ahead of the year 2000 and are still very reasonable. Plus, if you’re feeling extra nostalgic or wanting to feel more original, you can always toggle the graphics between modern and classic. Another great part of the game is the soundtrack. I really like the overworld theme that plays as you run around in the beginning. Matt Uelmen did a great job.
Sadly, with the updates that they did it wasn’t very fun for me. The lack of aforementioned quality of life improvements really annoyed me. Without the nostalgia factor, I found myself wanting to play Torchlight or Diablo III over Resurrected. There will be some people who find the game fun without nostalgia, I just really appreciate some more modern conventions. Other features that I wish Resurrected had included are cross-play; the ability to change audio output (not a huge deal, but something small that I don’t see why it wasn’t included); and a feature that you never find in these games, customizing the way your character looks (once again, this is a very small deal since you would never actually expect this).
If you’re nostalgic for Diablo II, I would recommend Resurrected. If you’re wanting to try the game out to see why the game is so beloved, it’s definitely a personal call. It’s only $40, but you can also grab the original for about $10. I will say that playing with friends greatly improves the experience, so if you have some friends getting it, this can be a good social game. For anyone who used to play, this game is sure to bring back tons of memories and is definitely worth a few points more than I’m going to give it.
