Diablo II: Resurrected Reviews and Impressions

Now that Diablo II: Resurrected has been live for a few days and Blizzard has had the chance to sort out the more severe server issues, you might be interested in some reviews for this high-profile remaster. If that’s the case, you can find a few of those below:

Game Informer 8.75/10:

Diablo II: Resurrected shows why the original title remains the standard against which all other ARPGs are judged. While it doesn’t come with many hooks and ever-evolving content that has become a baseline for the genre as it transformed into a game-as-service model, not all games need to be played with forever in mind. Diablo II: Resurrected proves that Blizzard’s classic is still a blast, even today. Whether it’s your first foray into hell and beyond or your thousandth hour, Diablo II: Resurrected is worth the time.

Destructoid 8.5/10:

Impressive efforts with a few noticeable problems holding them back. Won’t astound everyone, but is worth your time and cash.

NME 4/5:

A stunning recreation of Diablo 2, this will be essential for gamers of a certain age, while the uninitiated will probably get more of a kick out of it as a game design time capsule than a serious contender in the sea of live games vying for their attention. If nothing else, Diablo 2 Resurrected is the definitive version of a classic.

God is a Geek 8/10:

If you’ve never played the original, then Diablo 2: Resurrected is a great entry point. Some consider the second game to be better than the third (I’m personally a huge Reaper of Souls fan, though) and it’s easy to see why. It’s a more uncluttered and straightforward proposition, with a superb suite of classes and a great variety of biomes in which to tackle its procedurally-generated maps. It’s hard to hide its age even under the layer of polish, but Diablo 2: Resurrected is still a damn fine game.

PCGamesN In Progress:

So far Diablo 2: Resurrected seems like a fantastic way to play a classic action-RPG, with splendid updated graphics and quality-of-life features, though it’s far from perfect. The new accessibility options are welcome and improve the experience for everyone, but there’s not much here that goes beyond the industry baseline. Gaps also exist in its list of features, and some of these gaps are worryingly similar to those that plagued Warcraft III: Reforged. Nevertheless, as the servers go live I’ll be enjoying my return to Tristram, hopeful that there won’t be anything else that taints the experience.

IGN In Progress:

But none of those devils in the details has overcome the fact that I’m definitely having fun. Diablo 2’s design has aged remarkably well as an example of a relatively uncomplicated isometric action RPG. Everyone has skills, yes, but they all interact with the same systems: Health, Mana, Stats. There’s no unique currency or meter to learn for every class, just a skill tree, a billion demons, and an infinite fountain of equipment. It is, as ever, a satisfying game.

PC Gamer Impressions:

Replaying Diablo 2 now makes it so clear how many of Diablo 3’s streamlined additions—some of which I absolutely didn’t approve of in 2012—were direct responses to places where its predecessor felt stiff or obtuse. A lot of what I once considered ‘hardcore’, it turns out, is really just old, and existed because we didn’t know any better. Yes, videogame characters can run forever without getting out of breath, and now we know. This doesn’t detract from the impact Diablo 2 had at the time, or how important it is in the history of ARPGs, but it is a reminder that time comes for every game.