I've always wanted to try and make a Necromancer tank. Don't worry: He's still stupid as a sack of bricks and gets stuck on walls constantly. I've even got a cool, polearm-wielding desert mercenary. For tough elite groups, I'll switch weapons and throw gas grenades to weaken them before I head in. I like to smash my Paladin into the enemy packs with a Charge before switching to Zeal for a series of rapid blows, or Vengeance for elementally-infused strikes that take down monsters resistant to physical attacks. You have to choose skills carefully, as having too many might just give you a huge toolkit you're not fast enough to use. It seems harsh, and it is, but what was a technical and game design constraint at the time is pretty fun when you get into it. For instance, you only get two active skills at once. Some of the mechanical ideas feel old-school relative to how things are done in action RPGs these days. The Paladin's lightning resistance aura allows me to laugh in their faces and kill them in humiliating ways, and it’s been everything I thought it could be. This is because, for two decades, I’ve maintained a personal grudge against the dung beetle soldiers in Act 2 – you know, the ones that poop lightning when you hit them. I've chosen Paladin as my first character. let's just say it was a different time.) For two decades, I've maintained a personal grudge against the dung beetle soldiers in Act 2. This is not to mention the remasters of the classic soundtrack, or the new remixes, which are beautiful work. The ping when a gem hits the floor, the whirl of weapons, and the guttural demon voices ('Rakanishu!') are iconic sound design. Aside from a bit of remastering it is identical to the original, and it’s still phenomenal. There’s a wealth of detail in every scene, and in the character models, that really makes me appreciate the ability to dynamically switch between the old and new graphics to see the contrast.īeautifully, when you switch to the classic graphics you switch to the original sound as well, though the difference is nowhere near as stark here because it didn’t need any significant updating. Locations like the Monastery Gates in Act 1, an outdoor area that was always a bit weird from an isometric point of view, now have visible roofs on the buildings instead of just a black sea beyond the walls. The updated graphics do so much more than a simple homage to the original game, adding environment details that were just out of the question in 2000. I mean, the mood of this game is just superb.

Diablo 2 resurrected ign review