Diablo 2: Resurrected will test your resolve to boycott Blizzard

Well, probably not, but personally I’m very, very excited for a reason to come back to this - newer/modern AARPG’s aren’t really doing it for me like they used to, including Diablo III, and thinking back on Diablo 2 I remember enjoying it for making me commit to a build and for the fun interactions with skills and equipment, so I’m hoping this also resurrects my enjoyment of the genre. We’ll see - it’s going to be opening up in it’s first of two technical Alpha (this first one is single player content only) on the 9th through the 12th.

Anyway, I thought we should have a dedicated thread for this, since there are several Diablo 2 threads but none seemed dedicated to that specific game.

Ideally, let’s leave the P&R out of it. Keep it to the game, please.

I bought this computer a few years back. Never installed the Blizzard client. And I don’t plan on ever doing that again.

I might install that super Grim Dawn mod though, if I ever miss Diablo 2. ;)

WoW classic is the strongest test they could have come up with, for me. So far I have held on, but it hasn’t been easy.

My thought exactly. It seems to me that if I want to play Diablo 2, the best way to do it is with Reign of Terror, and not just because it means I don’t have to give Blizzard any money (though that’s a nice bonus).

Just my monthly plug reminding people that Reign Of Terror is amazing.

Wow, Reign of Terror looks really cool. Thanks for the link!

It won’t test my resolve at all. Diablo 2 is played out, as in I played it out. No desire left.

It has been fully extinguished.

RoT is great. Hoping someone gets in and does some balance work at some point, but it’s pretty amazing nonetheless.

I’ve submitted an opt in for the alpha. I hope I get picked as I’d like to find out how a remastered D2 holds up in 2021.

My wife and I are looking forward to the game, though the lack of couch co-op on console is going to be a bummer.

Can’t wait to revisit old Tristram though.

If the gameplay is unaltered, it’s gonna feel extremely slow compared to modern ARPGs, particularly early on.

Anyone wanna take a charity bet that some form of respec makes it into the game?

I did as well. Any word on when that starts?

Nah, good as Diablo 2 was, I have zero desire to go back now. As far as ARPG genre goes, things have moved on. Grim Dawn wins hands down for me, though having never played PoE, take that view accordingly. Character/skill development feels much more meaningful in Grim Dawn (not including the Reign of Terror mod) whereas Diablo 2 was rife with skills that were useless. Sure Diablo LoD 1.10 if I recall brought in the synergies, but the game was still dominated by Amazons who were either strafe or multi-shot focused (what happened to the Javelin skills…) or Sorceresses that were Frozen Orb/Blizzard focused with a dash of points thrown in to teleport. Diablo 2’s Act 3 was my least favourite act to run around because of the confusing jungle maze and what I’d call the little shits that run fast and hard to target. Or then there was the bug tunnels that were not quite wide enough at times with a party to navigate through.

I do want to maintain the boycott, but Diablo II holds a very special place in my life. I played it for years with my friends on hardcore, and after years of trying, we finally made it to Hell difficulty Act V, and then 3 of us died to Neilathak. So we never did beat Baal on Hell difficulty on hardcore. So, the truth is, if my friends get this and want to get back into it, I don’t think I can resist.

I don’t care about any boycott and I love Diablo 2 so I’ll be in on day 1. The improvements look awesome. The graphics seem vastly improved.

Glad I read this thread; I loved Grim Dawn and I’ll love that mod, too.

D2 re-release doesn’t tempt me but it’ll be very hard not to buy Diablo IV. Or Starcraft III, should it ever happen.

Diablo 2 for me is the pinnacle of the aRPG genre. I loved this game. Yet I tend to agree. Why would I want to revisit this?

Why would anyone want to revisit a game they love? I don’t care about Diablo 2, but I replay old games quite a lot, even if I’m aware that design mechanics have “progressed” since the time they came out.

Let me tell you about this Master of Magic DLC, guys…

I know you’re far more of a “retro gamer” than I am, but I will say that while I totally understand the appeal of returning to a favorite, some games tolerate it a lot better than others. I don’t know where D2 falls on that spectrum because while I enjoyed it in its day it’s not a game I feel pulled back to.

That’s certainly true, of course, and I can’t speak to it in the specific case of D2, which I’ve only played a bit and never liked that much to begin with. (I didn’t really start enjoying action RPGs until later.)