Diablo 2 is almost 21 years old. However, despite a direct sequel and a lot of competition in the action-RPG space, Diablo 2 showed some serious endurance. This is generally thanks to the game community of mudders who have happily put in the effort to fill the void and provide new content to others while they wait for the Diablo 4 release date.
Some fans have even gone so far as to try to recreate the game themselves. Project Diablo 2 is based on the idea of creating a version of the old computer game that looks like what Blizzard would immediately follow. It was launched last year and reached a peak of 12,500 players in the first season. If it was not already clear, Diablo 2 is still a big issue.
It makes perfect sense for Blizzard to bring it back with a remaster. With Diablo 4 underway, along with a mobile spin-off, the series is poised to make a comeback. Even though Diablo 2: Resurrected is only here for preservation, it gives Diablo fans and newbies a new option as they approach the series.
After unveiling BlizzConline’s Diablo 2: Resurrected, we spoke to lead artist Chris Amaral and lead producer Chris Lena about Blizzard’s plans for the beloved series.
PCGamesN: Why did you decide to remaster Diablo 2, and why is it a good time now?
Chris Lena: I think Diablo 2 has always had a special place in Blizzard’s heart. In many ways, it is a genre defined. So it’s an opportunity to bring it back for people who enjoyed it at the time, but also to modernize it in a way that can bring it to people who have never played it before. Maybe even people who were not born when it came out.
So if you overdo all the art, let’s show how we remember it looked at the time and brought it to consoles – it all helps bring it to new audiences.
Chris Amaral: I think ARPGs are still very popular, and it’s really considered a piece of game history. Even though he plays it today, Diablo 2 still holds up very well. It’s still a fun, amazing game. So, as Chris said, it’s about raising it to a more modern standard to get more people involved.
I recently chatted with fans who have reset Diablo 2 for themselves over the years. They usually tell me the things they are trying to keep: story, NPCs, atmosphere, enemies, music, sounds, nuclear game mechanics and loot. What parts of the game do you think are important to preserve?
CL: It sounds like a similar list to ours. We did not want to touch anything that the way the game plays and feels.
One of the things that has kept Diablo 2 alive is the modern community
The things we done wants to improve, has more to do with quality of life than play. The shared inventory is an excellent example of this. You no longer need to have mule characters. You can share loot between your characters, but it does not change the moment to moment game, and it does not change how loot works or anything like that.
But we did keep the character inventory the same size, so you still need to do the Tetris-style inventory management to push in loot. Although both of these changes affect how you keep items, only the latter will affect your game. Do you know when you go to town? When do you use the town portal to sell goods and get more drinks? This is all part of what made Diablo 2 special.
Players have cheesy strategies and classes that they have fallen in love with over the years. Do you keep those intact, or will the game get a balance pass to give the less beloved classes their time in the sun?
CL: Yes, we have decided not to make balance changes now, precisely because we want to ensure that we deliver the authentic experience. Who knows what might happen to feedback in the future. I know our designers have a list of things they would like to do. So we’ll see how it goes going forward.
Was there anything you felt you needed to change to modernize things? How do you find a balance between modernization and preservation?
CA: As for the art, we developed a 70/30 visual guide. That 70/30 guide is there to keep what was important to the original game while adding something new.
We did not want to touch anything that the way the game plays and feels
The 70% is therefore the classic, which means that we do not waste it, change, deviate or redesign anything. We do a lot of squinting tests when we evaluate our art to make sure it retains the same look and feel. The 30% is the place where we add and decorate more details and storytelling. A good example of this is the druid class. We know that he originally had many Slavic and Celtic influences. Going through some of our backstories, we found many original art and reference images from the developers. We could see that they wanted to print more of the Slavic and Celtic look in his kit, so we brought more of it into his design and added more trinkets and accessories to make him feel like he had an updated look and story.
CL: I think there are some more even things we think are important. We brought it to the console, you can use a controller, you can play the game on modern resolutions – all the basics allow it for modern players.
So you mentioned earlier that you found old concepts from the original game to guide the art. Was there something unexpected?
CA: I think it was Larzuk. I do not know if you know Larzuk – he’s a barbaric NPC from Harrogath in Act Five. His inspiration was Marky Mark, at least according to the reference image we found.
So that was the only strange thing we came across. All the other things look pretty much on equal footing. Even if you look at the art, you would never guess it – there is no connection between [them]. Maybe someone just threw it in there as a joke.
Is Larzuk more like Marky Mark in Resurrected now?
CA: No, we’re looking at the reference images, but our main focus is the sprite game art. We use it to determine how we make the HD version.
The original Diablo 2 also includes item dupping, which affects trading, and other benefits such as cheats and bots. How are you all doing?
CL: I think the most important thing goes to the modern Battle.net. If you are on the system, we offer many inherent security features that Diablo 2 does not currently have. So that’s a big part of it.
We also go through the game and fix things as we find them. Hopefully the technical alpha will also help us find it [exploits] and close it as we each encounter.
Diablo 2: Resurrected comes with transversal progression, but will there be crossplay? Is this something you are open to?
CL: Yes, at the moment we are just starting with transversal progression. We currently have nothing else to announce about crossplay. But it’s a cool feature.
You’ve Revealed Resurrected Modding Support – Can You Tell Us A Little More About What It Means?
CL: One of the things that has kept Diablo 2 alive is the modding community – we appreciate all the work they have put into the game over the years. I think we can divide it into two separate categories.
There have been mods in the past that have injected code directly into the game, and these are the kind of things we can not support. But all the other mods – you know, those who use data and stuff like that – we love it.
As we went through the game, we converted a lot of things that had been hard-coded into data in the past. So when it comes down to it [data] side of mud, there should be more things available and it is easier to access.
How will Diablo 2: Resurrected be maintained once it is released? Will there be balance patches or updates to keep it fresh?
CL: I think the conversation with the technical alpha starts and starts. It’s really about what players are looking for and what they want. We love this game – we’re rebuilding it 20 years later – so we want to keep giving players what they want.
CA: Yes, I think our focus is really on listening to the community and seeing what they are saying online, and then seeing where it’s coming from.
The genre has accepted live service over the years. Have you ever been tempted to go further than a remaster and bring Diablo 2 more in line with the games that ultimately influenced it?
CL: I was not involved in all the conversations. But you know, we also have an entire Diablo franchise here. We will be releasing Diablo Immortal soon, we have Diablo 4 coming out, so many of these things fill different desires for different people. I think with Diablo 2, and where it stands in history, we want to stay true and not waste too much time with it.
Is there a time frame for when we can play the beta or when the game will be released?
CL: This is about what has been revealed so far. We are going to start with a single player technical alpha, and then we have a second technical alpha after that, i.e. [for] multiplayer and stress testing. The launch is this year, but that’s all we have in terms of details.
You can opt for the Diablo 2: Resurrected alpha, or you can view our list of the best games like Diablo on a PC if it’s too long to wait.