Diablo II: Resurrected

 
Diablo II: Resurrected is Blizzard and Vicarious Visions taking one of the most influential action RPGs ever made and dragging it, kicking and screaming, into the 4K era. Co-developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment, it launched on September 23, 2021 for PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch, bundling the base game and the Lord of Destruction expansion into one package. Instead of rewriting history, this remaster keeps the bones of the original intact while layering modern visuals, quality-of-life tweaks, and cross-progression on top.
Core Gameplay

Classic Click-to-Kill Combat: The core loop remains brutally simple and endlessly addictive: click on monsters until they explode into loot, then use that loot to kill tougher monsters. Seven iconic classes — from the whirlwind-spamming Barbarian to the trap-happy Assassin and shapeshifting Druid — offer wildly different ways to shred demons across five acts of dark fantasy.
Remastered, Not Remade: Under the hood, this is still the original Diablo II simulation running, with a new 3D engine layered on top. You can swap between legacy and remastered graphics on the fly, making it immediately obvious how faithfully the team has preserved timings, hitboxes, and even quirks that speedrunners rely on. Consequently, veterans can lean on decades of muscle memory without relearning the game.
Loot and Ladder Obsession: Gear is still king. You will chase runewords, unique items, and perfect rolls through Nightmare and Hell difficulties, then start fresh on ladder seasons to race the community. Additionally, eight-player online co-op turns Baal runs and Chaos Sanctuary farming into a social sport, complete with trading economies and build theorycrafting.
Modern Comforts: Resurrected layers in niceties such as shared stash tabs, controller support, and cross-progression between platforms via Battle.net. These comforts reduce friction for new players without gutting the tension that made the original memorable, although always-online requirements for many modes can still be a sticking point.

How It Stacks Up
Diablo II: Resurrected sits in a strange but powerful position: it is both a museum piece and a live service ARPG competing with its own descendants. Compared to Diablo III and Path of Exile, it is slower, harsher, and less flashy, yet its tighter skill trees and unforgiving loot tables create a different flavor of addiction. In contrast to full remakes that freely re-balance or redesign systems, this project operates more like a high-end restoration — it polishes the frame instead of repainting the whole canvas.



Game
Key Difference
Best For




Diablo III
Faster combat, build-swapping on the fly, and a more forgiving loot system.
Players who want flashy power trips and seasonal set hunting.


Path of Exile
Much deeper build-crafting with an enormous passive tree and complex item systems.
Min-maxers who enjoy spreadsheets and multi-hour build planners.


Grim Dawn
Dual-class system and a more flexible, single-player-friendly pacing.
Fans of dark fantasy ARPGs who prefer a fresh universe over a remaster.



Key Details

Developer: Blizzard Entertainment & Vicarious Visions
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platforms: PC (Battle.net), PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
Release Date: September 23, 2021
Genre: Action RPG / Hack-and-Slash
Vibe: Gothic loot therapy with a 2000s soul

Who It’s For

Must-play for: Diablo II veterans who want their favorite timesink preserved with modern visuals and a healthier online infrastructure.
Perfect for: ARPG fans who bounced off newer, busier games and want a more focused, old-school grind with clear build identities.
Skip if: You expect fully modern conveniences, radically reworked systems, or cannot tolerate always-online quirks for an essentially single-player experience.

Why It Works
The magic of Diablo II: Resurrected is that it resists the urge to apologize for being a game from 2000. Instead, it lets the original design breathe beneath sharp new visuals, improved audio, and small, thoughtful quality-of-life upgrades. Moreover, by refusing to sand down every rough edge, it preserves the tension and satisfaction that made the original a genre-defining classic. Ultimately, this is the definitive way to revisit the Dark Wanderer’s trail of ruin — or to experience it for the first time without having to squint at a CRT-era resolution.