The original graphics and game code: You can switch to Diablo 2's classic graphics on the fly and swap the new dynamically lit 3D for the classic 2D sprites. Blizzard's developers said they were tempted to add more material, but decided to focus on nailing the remaster. Same seven characters, same campaigns, no new modes or story. The content: Resurrected includes Diablo 2 and the expansion Lord of Destruction. What isn't changing from original Diablo 2? Blizzard also pointed to controller support as beneficial for accessibility. The multiplayer ladder board is now global, but how everything works will be mighty familiar.Īccessibility features: Blizzard added a colorblind/low-vision mode and made changes to how text is displayed to make it more accessible. Diablo 2: Resurrected is a separate game. It's a fully separate game: Diablo 2 classic remains untouched. I asked which consoles, but Fergusson says that's still in discussion (the smart money says Nintendo and Xbox are locked down, but Sony remains up in the air). Hosting games now means you're hosting a dedicated server for people to join.Ĭross-progression with consoles: Diablo 2 is being released for PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, and Blizzard is supporting cross-progression with PC. It also offers the advantages of just being able to click on a friend's name to invite them without typing in an IP address or scrolling through a list of game lobbies.
However, he also said that many parts of the game that once required those kinds of invasive mods to modify have been shifted into easily modifiable data, so modders will still be able to access them despite 's tighter security.ī friends lists, dedicated servers and security: Gallerani says Blizzard is "actively discouraging" exploits like item duping and botting, things the modern client helps prevent.
DLL injections as something you could do with classic Diablo 2 that you can't do with D2R. But it won't work exactly the same way, since modern is stricter and more secure. Modding: There are 20 years of Diablo 2 mods out there at this point, and Diablo 2: Resurrected will still allow modding. But again, same performances, shot-for-shot, if it cut from one scene to another in the original it's going to cut at that moment in the remake of those videos." and remake them from scratch with modern technology and CGI," says Fergusson. "We wanted to take this really dramatic story and take all 27 minutes of the cinematics. The cutscenes have been completely redone rather than upscaled from the original files, but with involvement from people who worked on the cutscenes back in 2000. If you want to type "pp" in chat the old-fashioned way, you still can.Ĭompletely remade cutscenes: This is the one place where D2R actually is a remake. There's an auto-party system for automatically joining games and automatically inviting people to your game, but it's optional. If you want to run over it to pick it up, you can run over it." There are new hotkeys. "If you want to pick up gold by clicking on it, you can still do that.
After the alpha test Blizzard also opted to increase the size further, meaning they'll be plenty of space for loot.Īuto-looting and other QoL upgrades are optional: "Auto-gold is a feature we've added that you can turn on or off," says principal designer Rob Gallerani, who works at Vicarious Visions, a studio now under the Blizzard umbrella. It's probably the biggest quality of life change over the original game. You'll now have a shared item cache to use between multiple characters, so you won't need to devote other characters to the task of schlepping and storing gear. Those are the sounds you're still going to hear."Ī shared item stash: Say goodbye to mule characters. The things you have those Pavlovian response to, knowing it's Diablo 2.
"But we're not changing those iconic sounds, like placing a skull into a socket or putting a potion into your belt. "We're taking the atmospherics in the world up, so you can hear the wind blowing through the streets and the rustling in the jungle," Fergusson says. The surround sound mastering is new, but the sound effects themselves are not. Basically, all you need to know is it's in 3D and the dynamic lighting will gel with the new models. 3D graphics and Dolby 7.1: A whole new graphical engine which Blizzard takes pains to point out uses "physically based rendering" and entirely new animations, models and textures, and visual effects.