Blizzard is making some small, but important changes to Diablo II: Resurrected following its Alpha test in April. In a couple of recent developer updates, the team detailed what’s coming to the remastered game when it launches later this year. The alterations do seem minor, but they should have a big impact in how the game is enjoyed. Following the Alpha, Blizzard has implemented some quality of life changes for Diablo II: Resurrected, as well as expanded options for accessibility.
When it comes to accessibility, Blizzard notes an important fact about Diablo II: it’s damn old. So old, in fact, the team was concerned that misses in its dice roll-style combat would appear to be bugs for younger players. The original Diablo II released way back in 2000, and used old-school RPG rules. Your chances to hit an enemy was based on the roll of the dice. If your roll was low, your attack whiffed its target. Blizzard isn’t changing how the combat works in Diablo II: Resurrected, but it is adding an option in the menu to enable “MISS” text when you character doesn’t land a hit.
Other accessibility options for Diablo II: Resurrected will be found in the redesigned menu. Notably, Blizzard is implementing all kinds of audio options. Character voices, impact noise, footsteps, ambient audio and more can be adjusted via sliders — with presets. Blizzard even mentioned possibly supporting text-to-speech and other options, all to “make Diablo II: Resurrected as accessible as possible.”
Shedding a little light
As a pivot, other changes coming to Diablo II: Resurrected will make it feel closer to the original. Blizzard got a lot of feedback from players following the game’s beta. For the most part, player reception to the remaster seemed to be positive. However, the developer is taking concerns to heart. The lighting and visual effects of spells is getting updated. An example used is the Paladin’s Holy Freeze aura, which will now “better represent the distinct wispiness and colors from the original game.”
There was also some critique when it came to icon art. Icons for potions, skulls, gems, weapons, and more were too different, according to the community. In response, Blizzard has reworked a lot of the art for icons to be more like that of the older ARPG, just in, you know, better resolution and detail.
Other quality of life changes were also detailed. Blizzard is adding auto-gold pick up, large font, UI upscaling, and other visual options to the game. There will also be improvements to the automap and comparison tools to boot.
Ultimately, Blizzard is aiming to make Diablo II: Resurrected not just a prettier version of the 21-year-old game, but a better one. So far, I’m feeling convinced. We’ll see just how much these updates improve the game when it launches on September 23.
