Review — Diablo II: Resurrected (PS4)

I’m playing Diablo II on PS4. I really didn’t expect that to happen. But what I did expect to happen was for it to entertain for hours on end, and it has. It is beautifully remastered and had the UI added to console. The controls are surprisingly good without a mouse, though it does make it hard to choose which corpse to explode. Not the one beside me, I know it’s closer. No, the one over there where I’m looking by the massive group of enemeies!

It’s pretty hard to screw up a re-release of Diablo II. It was a great game 20 years ago and it doesn’t disappoint today. But I was surprised by how good the graphics look today. Lights and shadows look great, and the model detail is outstanding. The console UI was well thought out and easily supports up to 11 skills (plus attack).

The only technical complaint I have is that the game occasionally feels laggy. I guess this is because I’m playing online and wouldn’t have this problem with an offline character (also supported).

I’m going to review the gameplay anyway because not everyone is old like me and might have missed the first go around 20 years ago. Diablo II is the quintessential point-and-click ARPG. Its character building system is deceptively simple, allowing for incredible diversity of characters. As with all ARPGs, the loot is what it’s all about. Amass a fortune in gold, gems, jewels and ancient runes. Find more powerful weapons and armor to take on ever more powerful bosses, ultimately facing off against Diablo and Baal.

The item customization options with sockets, gems and jewels can create powerful customized combinations to blow your enemies away. Experiment with the Horadric Cube once you find it to make better gems, rare runes and many others to be discovered. Easy to learn but hard to master, Diablo II’s powerful RPG elements allow you to experiment or apply well-known builds to create a character more powerful than the Ultimate Evil!

Graphics: 9
Sound: 7
Gameplay: 10
Overall: 9