Shane
It was the millennium. Y2K was a thing that really never happened and it was also the year that Diablo rose back up and in to the hearts of RPG gamers.
Twenty one years later Diablo II is reborn for those that loved it back then and new aspiring dungeon crawlers to take on and defeat.
The story picks up directly from the first Diablo game (1196) where in a place known as Sanctuary an unknown hero has recently defeated Diablo – but he also tried to contain the dark beasts essence within himself.
It doesn’t work out too well for him as the essence corrupts him, causing demons and other worldly terror beasts popping up where ever he goes essentially wreaking havoc and killing indiscriminately.
Stories of this corrupted hero go far and wide and it is a curious group of warriors that seek to find out the truth behind the tales.
They enter in to the Rogue Encampment in search of this now dark and cursed hero. Finding him and his friend Marius surrounded by fiery destruction, your story begins.
To begin with you will have a cast of seven classed characters to choose from; Amazonian, Necromancer, Barbarian, Sorceress, Paladin, Druid and Assassin.
As you can imagine from their namesake, each characters skills are dependant on their class. For example the Necromancer is able to raise the dead and use underworld magic.
There’s no customization other than naming your warrior.
This remake of Diablo II can be played on or offline. But, you will need an active internet connection to play, as the game relies on your either creating or login in to Blizzard’s Battle.net.
You are ushered in to the game with a few quick and easy exploratory tasks that see your enemies skill levels on the lower than low side.
As you complete more missions and kill more beats your skill level will raise up. Once you get to a new skill level you’re also rewarded with being able to spend skill points within the skills tree on new combat techniques.
It doesn’t take too long for your Inventory to fill up though.
From hidden environmental spots to chest and loot that your defeated foes drop you’ll come across beefier armour and weapons.
Your Inventory is a grid filled with slots. Small stuff, like health potions, will fill in just one allotment. But something larger, say a melee weapon or bow and arrows is bigger thus takes up a few slots.
To equip something it’s drag and drop, and while you’re navigating around in the Inventory based menu’s you’ll come across the function to bind spells and actions to controlpad buttons.
You’ll run out of carrying space super quick. you can opt to drop some of your hoarded goodies to pick up new stuff, but if you’re able to I recommend stashing it in a storage chest to use or sell later.
There in-game vendors, ready to take your gold you’ve found or earned from those that you kill in exchange for potions, weapons, armour and more.
Diablo II Resurrected is an explore game. If you’re going to play this to just get through the task dished out by NPCs you’re going to miss out on a lot.
Hidden dungeons and more secrets are littered throughout an enclosed but open environment.
Replayability of Diablo II Resurrected is extremely high – even if playing offline.
This remaster has varying modes of play that offer up differing difficulties such as perma-death.
You can play the vanilla original as it was over two decades ago, or play the version with all of the expansions.
Diablo II Resurrected is your game, your story within a larger and engrossing narrative.
Diablo II Resurrected is an ode to the original, with 4K cinematics, cross-save, gameplay that you can’t stop playing and one of the best lores in video gaming in a franchise.
Diablo is the mother of all modern RPGs.
Released: September 2021
Rating: M15+
Platforms reviewed: Xbox Series X
Genre: RPG
Developer: Vicarious Visions, Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment