Please don't be mad at me, I haven't played Diablo 2 since middle school. And at that time, my friends (who were also high-level StarCraft and Warcraft players) basically carried me through most of the experience and the Lord of Destruction expansion. However, Diablo 2 showed me the satisfaction you can get out of a good hack-and-slash RPG, tearing through mobs (often with friends), using different classes and builds, and being smart about how to handle the tougher encounters.

After spending some time with the technical alpha, I now see how Diablo 2 Resurrected delivers that exact experience all over again. It really is Diablo 2 with a fresh coat of HD paint, running without a hitch on modern systems. It plays identically to the original game and preserves that experience one-to-one, but with a few quality-of-life improvements and some major visual enhancements that don't affect the core gameplay systems. This is essentially what Blizzard did with StarCraft Remastered back in 2017--the same iconic game looking real fresh.

And just like StarCraft Remastered, Diablo 2 Resurrected lets you swap between the visual styles instantly with a keystroke. Both graphical modes run simultaneously, and switching between them is seamless. While it's not much more than a novelty to scratch that nostalgic itch, seeing the original sprites and choppy animations in a 4:3 aspect ratio helps you appreciate the work that's been done with this remaster. Revamped assets, high-definition textures, and modernized visual effects like lighting, shadows, and particle effects still maintain the true look and feel of Diablo 2 and use the proper 16:9 widescreen format.