Diablo II: Resurrected

Diablo II: Resurrected is an action role-playing video game co-developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Vicarious Visions and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It is a remaster of Diablo II (2000) and its expansion Lord of Destruction (2001). The game was released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and Series S on September 23, 2021.

Gameplay

The remaster mainly updates the original game's graphics and network functions and does not change any of its item systems or game balance. Resurrected overlays upgraded 3D models atop the original Diablo II's 2D sprites, and is designed to toggle between the legacy and upgraded visuals with a button press. Its cutscenes were also remastered. Resurrected supports 4K graphics resolution and 7.1 Dolby Surround sound.[1]

Blizzard added small convenience upgrades while leaving the core gameplay unchanged. The addition of a Shared Stash lets players transfer items between their own characters, as compared with the original game, which involved a tertiary "mule" character to facilitate the transfer. Players can toggle automatic gold pickup, display ground items and other small upgrades. The game now reminds players to spend skill points and reminds that skill point allocation is permanent.[2] The remaster allows players to import save files from the original Diablo II in local singleplayer and continue from that point.[3] Unlike the original Diablo II, Resurrected allows the secret cow level, also known as the Moo Moo Farm, to be infinitely repeatable by players.[4]

Synopsis

Diablo II: Resurrected has the same plot as the original game.

Development

Diablo II: Resurrected's development began around 2019, as a joint effort between Blizzard's Diablo team (Team 3) and Vicarious Visions, at the time a subsidiary under Blizzard's corporate sibling Activision. According to Blizzard's president J. Allen Brack, Vicarious Visions was responsible for handling the front-end and 3D client while Blizzard handled the back-end server and Battle.net integration aspects of the remaster.[5] About a month before the February 2021 announcement of the game, Activision announced that Vicarious Visions had been transferred and moved into Blizzard's corporate structure.[6] Brack said this move was due to Vicarious having detailed knowledge of the Diablo series by this point, so that they could not only continue to provide support for Resurrected but also for Diablo IV and other Blizzard properties.[5]

During a 2019 media event, Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik stated they had been unsure if a remaster of Diablo II was possible due to a near-release loss of much of the game's source code and assets from corruption in their backup system. They were able to recover most of the code and assets through copies that employees of Blizzard North had taken home with them or other means, but the Schaefers felt there were still too many pieces missing to fully remaster the game.[7] However, according to Blizzard's current Diablo lead Rod Fergusson and principal designer Rob Gallerani, the missing data was not as bad as the Schaefers had implied. Their team scoured through other sources at Blizzard, such as through marketing material, to find additional resources to fill in the gaps. After assessing what was missing Blizzard decided they had enough to proceed with the remaster, with capabilities to recreate any missing assets and redraw the existing assets in higher definition with help of the original artists and animators from the game.[8]

The remaster's design philosophy required the game to be identical to what legacy players remembered. While the developers did not make even minor changes to core gameplay, they upgraded the game's visuals, modeling its remastered graphics on art from the original game. The remaster includes some small usability changes like the Shared Stash and automatic gold pickup. Some new conveniences, like the latter, can be toggled to the user's playstyle preference.[2] The two core principles for the remaster were preserving the authentic, original game's experience and making it accessible for modern play.[9]

The title was announced in the opening ceremony of the developer's February 2021 annual convention.[1] Its development had been an open secret, having been leaked during Blizzard's acquisition of developer Vicarious Visions the month prior.[10] A single-player beta period will precede the release.[2] Unlike Warcraft III: Reforged, the prior remaster of Warcraft III which was met with criticisms from journalists and players, Diablo II: Resurrected will be a separate release from the existing Diablo II on Battle.net.[11] Brack said that they had learned various lessons from how they approached Warcraft III: Reforged from fan reactions that they will avoid with Resurrected.[5]

Prior to release, Blizzard opened two development tests to players.[12] A single-player alpha ran in April[13] and a multiplayer open beta followed in August, with early access for those who pre-ordered the game on supported platforms.[14][15] Blizzard made multiple tweaks and additions based on community feedback during the technical alpha, including touch-ups of visual effects, revised item icons, interface usability toggles, and new features such as an in-game clock and extra player item storage.[16] The developers decided to remove ultrawide monitor support, whose larger display resolution interfered with the game's artificial intelligence mechanics.[9] TCP/IP multiplayer support, which let players connect locally in the original game, was unsupported in the remaster for reasons of security.[17]

Diablo II: Resurrected was released on September 23, 2021, for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X platforms.[18] Server issues prevented some from playing the game at launch[19] and in subsequent weeks.[20]

Reception

Diablo II: Resurrected received favorable reviews upon release, with critics praising its visual improvements and commitment to the original's gameplay. On Metacritic, the PC version currently has an average score of 79 out of 100.[21]