Diablo 2: Resurrected Review

00:00:00.960well

00:00:02.080it seems your terms

00:00:05.120are not acceptable

00:00:07.680after a couple hundred hours smashing

00:00:09.679demons and diablo ii resurrected i've

00:00:12.240kicked the prime evils to the curve a

00:00:13.840couple times and i'm thoroughly

00:00:15.519reacquainted with the good and bad of

00:00:18.000blizzard's most revered action rpg

00:00:21.199i played more than my fair share of

00:00:22.880diablo 2 between 2000 and 2007 and

00:00:26.240resurrected absolutely scratches an itch

00:00:28.800for the golden age of this genre at the

00:00:31.679same time it's a game from before modern

00:00:34.320concessions towards fun diablo 2's

00:00:36.880insistence on grind unforgiving systems

00:00:40.079and 20 year old bugs can just make me

00:00:42.320feel

00:00:43.360tired

00:00:44.480satisfied but tired

00:00:54.879the gothic atmosphere of diablo 2 is

00:00:56.960still unmatched

00:00:58.480the completely redone graphics of

00:01:00.160resurrected do so much more than a

00:01:02.160simple homage to the original game

00:01:04.720adding 4k friendly details that were out

00:01:06.960of the question the 800x600 graphics era

00:01:10.880locations like the monastery gates in

00:01:12.799act 1. an outdoor area that was always a

00:01:15.119bit weird from an isometric point of

00:01:17.040view now have visible roofs on the

00:01:19.439buildings instead of just a black sea

00:01:21.439beyond the walls

00:01:22.880there's a wealth of detail in

00:01:24.560environments monsters and characters

00:01:27.119that made me appreciate the ability to

00:01:29.119dynamically switch between the old and

00:01:31.680new graphics to see the contrast

00:01:34.720in the aged but mostly gracefully column

00:01:37.360we have the arc of diablo 2's story

00:01:40.159which is good but not as good as i

00:01:42.399fondly remembered the first two acts are

00:01:45.280fun and each quest is a dark gothic

00:01:48.000fantasy vignette while act 3 is a great

00:01:51.119sprawling jungle crawl with lots of

00:01:53.439little dungeons sprinkled around

00:01:56.079act 4 however is boring as dirk

00:01:59.119i have no idea how a story about

00:02:01.759invading hell itself could be boring but

00:02:04.799diablo 2 somehow did it with a

00:02:07.600combination of a dearth of npc dialogue

00:02:10.640and linear areas

00:02:12.640thankfully things pick up again with the

00:02:14.800lord of destruction expansions act 5.

00:02:17.440it's a bit rushed but it's a good time

00:02:20.239of the seven classes i chose a paladin

00:02:22.560for my grand return to diablo ii this is

00:02:24.879because for two decades i've maintained

00:02:26.800a personal grudge against the dung

00:02:28.400beetle soldiers in act two you know the

00:02:30.560ones that poop lightning when you hit

00:02:32.080them the paladin's lightning resistance

00:02:34.319aura allows me to laugh in their faces

00:02:36.160and kill them in humiliating ways and

00:02:38.400it's been everything i thought it could

00:02:40.080be

00:02:41.360that's part of the charm of diablo 2 and

00:02:44.160it's still great design today some

00:02:46.400enemies are just immune to certain

00:02:48.160damage types or have ridiculous attacks

00:02:51.040forcing you to diversify your build or

00:02:53.519your co-op party to win

00:02:55.680there's masochistic joy in overcoming

00:02:58.080the escalating challenges especially

00:03:01.120when the escalation goes exponential as

00:03:03.440you break into nightmare and hell

00:03:05.200difficulties for character levels 30 to

00:03:07.68099 or so

00:03:09.599the heart of it all is still multiplayer

00:03:11.840and co-op runs to defeat bosses and farm

00:03:14.239gear are where resurrected shines most

00:03:16.879building synergetic characters with a

00:03:18.480regular group is really rewarding and

00:03:21.280classes like paladin and assassin only

00:03:23.680reach their full potential in a crew

00:03:26.480that said the loot system is an

00:03:28.640unreliable and random free-for-all

00:03:31.440especially in co-op it assumes that

00:03:34.080etiquette will prevail and we'll trade

00:03:36.159items across games and characters to get

00:03:38.480what we need

00:03:39.920the new larger shared stash helps you do

00:03:42.319that but it still puts you at the mercy

00:03:44.560of others

00:03:45.680i've already seen a lot of ninja looting

00:03:48.159which sucks

00:03:50.110[Music]

00:03:53.920some of the mechanical ideas feel old

00:03:56.239school relative to how things are done

00:03:58.319in action rpgs these days

00:04:00.400but that doesn't make them bad for

00:04:02.400instance you only get two active skills

00:04:04.879at once but what was a technical

00:04:07.360constraint at the time is pretty fun

00:04:09.840when you get past the clunkiness

00:04:11.840there's a lot of juggling between powers

00:04:14.480my normal paladin rotation has charge

00:04:17.040zeal vengeance holy shield gas grenades

00:04:19.840and five different auras in play

00:04:22.560there's a ton of freedom to build weird

00:04:24.639and wonderful characters like a melee

00:04:27.199sorceress or crossbow paladin i'd

00:04:29.680normally encourage you to go in blind

00:04:31.600and experiment for yourself

00:04:33.440i won't in this case because there are

00:04:35.440copious skill traps that can ensnare new

00:04:38.160players meaning that some abilities you

00:04:40.400might be tempted to choose don't scale

00:04:43.120well past the early game in other words

00:04:45.919there are right and wrong decisions but

00:04:48.560you won't know that unless you look it

00:04:50.479up or spend a lot of time failing

00:04:52.800additionally some straight up broken

00:04:54.639things like the infamous next hit always

00:04:57.280misses bug have been retained in the

00:04:59.360name of keeping the flavor of diablo 2

00:05:02.080the same as it's always been but that's

00:05:04.400something few people know about unless

00:05:06.240they do their homework

00:05:07.840this also applies to broken skills like

00:05:10.320the amazon's fend and druid's fury

00:05:13.440why are they still in this game

00:05:16.080i'm also a little sad to see that

00:05:17.280resurrected has retained diablo 2's

00:05:19.360arcane skill reset system

00:05:22.000you get just one respec per difficulty

00:05:24.720level and the only way to get more is by

00:05:27.600farming the big bosses for rare items

00:05:29.759and then shoving them in your horadric

00:05:31.520cube

00:05:32.639unlimited respects outside of ladder

00:05:34.800play would have been a prime candidate

00:05:37.120for overhaul to make resurrected more

00:05:39.199accessible to a new generation and

00:05:41.680mitigate the skill trap issue

00:05:44.080it's similarly galling that those things

00:05:45.840weren't addressed because the other big

00:05:47.520update in resurrected is that you now

00:05:49.280automatically grab gold when you pass by

00:05:52.639this change shows that a small tweak can

00:05:54.800go a long way towards removing tedium

00:05:57.440from the original game without really

00:05:59.680changing the experience

00:06:01.840the moment-to-moment gameplay that made

00:06:03.919diablo 2 legendary in its time though is

00:06:06.800completely unchanged it's as wild and

00:06:09.280chaotic as an isometric action rpg ever

00:06:12.240is but the long view is also kind of

00:06:15.759slow

00:06:17.120running is limited by your stamina bar

00:06:18.880so any backtracking you have to do is

00:06:20.880painful

00:06:25.440i've got other problems myself how can

00:06:27.759blizzard justify dropping support for

00:06:30.080lan play

00:06:31.440why can't i clone a multiplayer

00:06:33.360character into single player

00:06:35.520the latter is especially concerning

00:06:37.199seeing as the servers have been

00:06:38.639temperamental at times and i'd rather

00:06:40.639not have to start from scratch when i

00:06:42.960want to play but the cloud doesn't

00:06:45.759but none of those devils in the details

00:06:47.600has overcome the fact that it's

00:06:49.199definitely fun

00:06:51.199diablo 2's design has aged remarkably

00:06:53.599well as an example of a relatively

00:06:55.680uncomplicated isometric action rpg

00:06:59.199everyone has skills yes but they all

00:07:01.360interact with the same systems health

00:07:04.080mana stats it's just a skill tree a

00:07:07.360billion demons and an infinite fountain

00:07:09.759of equipment it is as ever a satisfying

00:07:13.599game

00:07:18.160diablo 2 resurrected updates the

00:07:20.080graphics of a great classic action rpg

00:07:22.720for a new generation it masterfully

00:07:25.280preserves the mood of a singular game

00:07:27.840and at the same time it preserves the

00:07:29.759gameplay as it has been for over a

00:07:31.919decade mostly for better occasionally

00:07:34.720for worse

00:07:35.919unfortunately parts of the gameplay that

00:07:37.599were standard 20 years ago just look bad

00:07:39.919now or feel like a waste of our time

00:07:42.800those looking for the old king can find

00:07:44.720it right here

00:07:46.000but they might want to politely bow

00:07:48.080rather than kneel

00:07:53.599for more check out our reviews of

00:07:55.120pathfinder wrath of the righteous and

00:07:57.199tales of arise and for everything else

00:07:59.840stick with ign

00:08:01.680i shall take your position

00:08:04.720into consideration

00:08:29.840you