Diablo II: Resurrected

Diablo 2: Resurrected brings a beloved classic up today's graphical standards, but it overlooks 20 years of obvious flaws. It's still a very satisfying action RPG, but you couldn't get away with these problems a decade ago, much less today.

Diablo II: Resurrected is a painfully faithful remaster of the original classic, which makes it difficult to get into over two decades later.

You can't fault the craft of this painstaking remaster, and the game itself still has an ornery magnetism - but Diablo 2 is showing its age.

Beneath the beautiful new look and smart innovations, this is the same Diablo 2 that came out in 2000.

I want to review this game. But I also want to be cognizant of the alleged awfulness done by men in power to Activision Blizzard workers who merely wanted to do their job. Tasked with remastering a classic, originally created by this same beleaguered corporation, Vicarious Visions does not deserve this taint. The question is whether Vicarious Visions succeeded in its task.

Diablo II: Resurrected is a mastercraft remaster that reminds us how the original game changed the gaming landscape forever

Diablo II: Resurrected did what it was supposed to as a re-release, and it managed to simultaneously preserve the original game. It’s a shame that the talented studios behind it have to deal with the failure of Activision leadership overshadowing their work.

So it's a very, very good remaster (remake? It's unclear when this much has been done over), then, of a rather old loot game that has had many subsequent iterations from other developers. Is it worth going back to Diablo 2, ultimately, when games that we'd argue are somewhat superior - Titan Quest, the sadly PC-only Grim Dawn... even (controversially, yes) its own sequel in Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition, which packs in brilliant local co-op that Diablo 2 entirely (and understandably, given its framework) lacks. As good as Diablo 2 is, it's an unfortunate fact that on console we'd rather play its follow-up, which felt more tailored to the joypad experience. Diablo 2 is a PC game that has been (brilliantly!) transferred to PS5, but it's still a little held back by its origins.

Resurrected could end up becoming a much better value down the road as the development team begins introducing updates and upgrades, but as of right now, you should avoid this package unless you are happy with straight-up Diablo 2. That being said, there are many reasons to be thrilled to revisit the game, particularly for the timeless soundtrack and to get a glance at the spiffy new paint job. Just make sure to set your expectations accordingly.

Diablo II: Resurrected preserves the original game while still showing just why it was considered a legendary game in the first place.