The great evil is back! About 20 years ago, *Diablo 2* and its expansion *Lord of Destruction* bound countless players to their PCs. And even today, this game has a huge fan base.

Now, we have the possibilty to rewind time (sort of) and defeat the Diablo again... with nicer graphics of course!
The Closed Beta started this friday, whereas the open Beta will be available to everyone next friday -  20.08.2021.
I've jumped right into it and took a look on the changes.


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23u5bqZFayqcLzqwiQSG4djgWNs8NC48gJWxyurSRaLFBhXChLHyWSQDrPFniWUPNjbCJ.png)
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<h3>What is Diablo 2 Resurrected?</h3>

I guess most of you know the Diablo series, but to sum it up real quick:
Diablo 2: Resurrected (D2R) is an action role-playing game **announced for September 23, 2021**, developed by Blizzard Entertainment and Vicarious Visions. The game is a remake of Diablo II (2000) and its expansion Lord of Destruction (2001).

The main content, core mechanics and balancing of the game are identical to the original Diablo 2 from 2000. A 3D graphic with up to 4K resolution (2160p) was placed over the 2D sprite graphics of the original.

<hr>

<h3>The journey begins</h3>

![d21.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tGW1cichJKDc8txaBRZypTZAfCvAENkxswPNH9xn25tSEPAGdf846FkEE2jJQu7Waq6.png)
*As creative as I am in terms of naming my characters, I created a Paladin named Wirago. Available classes are Druid, Sorceres, Pladin, Barbarian and the Amazon. The Necromancer and the Assasine will be available on launch.*



![d22.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/Enyo1Scuru3CjU32Xi6AbCm3X4vt7HTUpdo3GTZnngd6oJ1pEa8pXYiM9sTCHuCvQ5N.png)


*You can directly switch between the old graphics and the new one by hitting the 'G' key.
New. Sometimes, the image seems to have issues beeing loaded properly, sorry for that :(*


![d23.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/Eo43ukcP9nWgXn326rjBmbAsc2RFDLW49LDgTmgpLYQkAtvF1Y2JrQn7LKaquVSNww8.png)
*Old. Quite a change, huh?*


![d24.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23swiDvEWDcWMb3XekHNtxoaEKQMrW7PuiyZP9eZHr28KH3LqD3Jg8RCxDT19oG7GHeQ9.png)
*Quests and inventory are identical to the 2000 version. Although some may find it outdated, I always liked the simplicity. Nothing to improve for my taste. The items - and their icons - have not changed either. Except in their resolution of course.*


![d25.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tGVThwWLQ3v4bwCzvV4p8kTNvcYbJV5XMCyT3G1uxruorkGHft8hDkpxBKkCQmBfdyh.png)
*First noticable change. Your personal stash is not only far bigger than in the old version but it also comes with shared slots that can be accessed by all your characters. Since the old chast was always too small and transfering items from one char to the other one was rather tedious, this is warmly welcome change.*

NOTE:
At this point the servers crashed and it too about 2 hours to come back up again. #justBlizzardThings ;)


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tRzSxhBvjEdesACJzvukTxHkqRakhjQWf3qPiqgKFDoDahd79buD5BGrmGjDf8rq9uC.png)
*The skilltree and character sheet hat been toic of some layout improvements to fit the higher resoltion. To be honest, it makes the skilltree look a bit empty, since they have not changed the talents or stats but it comes with a clean and tidy look.*

![d26.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23swc8ZSMb56ZX5fNE1oRYNg35ZoUEyABb4bySXYb7h1C3W99K7qFLyPzEQ9FM9aCMCdF.png)
*So I battled with my (not yet so) glory paladin through Act 1. Slayed huge spiders, and what not, just to..."


![d27.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23t77FTM8WhUjgD2292Fu96n1gxPogEhGEL7Qu5tL1pJzhF8Tonc68tfKp9ujd9jE7bwv.png)
*...face Andariel, the endboss of Act 1. An easy task for my warrior of light.*


![d28.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tGdvwE4eEfZBeZqfsgZ73Q9Sg4RadRyLPkokLbB3tYn8Po73a6sshVPENQ8Ww77ERjd.png)
*A few dialogues and another beautiful cut scene - all cutscenes were completey remade by the way - I found myself in Luth Gholein. The main city of Act 2.
So I - again - hacked and slayed may way through the desert and also defeated the endboss of Act2 - Duriel. 
Sadly at this point the beta ends, since only Act 1 and 2 are available and the level is capped at level 30. Well... time to pick up the next class :D*


![d29.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23w2esszsJFjW4poVeJJpSXKaguprWfdyMXJextGgjUYVUKmf4fBxggL1YUSkdF7AtabM.png)
*Farewell mighty paladin. We well see is in ~1 month again. Well, not quite. Be aware that all beta characters will be deleted after the second beta event next week!."

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<h3>Conclusion</h3>

After playing through both Acts with two characters, I have to admit that I am pretty hyped. Not only because I am a huge Diablo fan (although D3 is not that great in my opinion) but because it looks like a pretty well made remaster. Graphics and soundtrack are pretty good upgraded and the new cinematics are beatifull.
And most important, the few changes do not affect the gameplay and flair that made Diablo 2 the masterpiece is has been.

Only drawback. The price. As usual. Yeah, a lot of effort has been put into the game, but come on Blizzard, it is a 20 year old game under the hood!


![image.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/wirago/23tGa8mcazna9ZQ2UwUs2tRi1Bn67xwFLm8Rap31cxWYHigD3epTbwSaiU1mqEuYcPAsU.png)
<a href="https://eu.shop.battle.net/en-us/family/diablo-ii">Source</a>

However, my wife and I are looking forward to the release and will both spend countless hours in grinding the precious legendary items and maybe reach level 99 this time. "This time", because back then, when I was like 15 years old, I was not allowed to play that much and only reached level 92 at maximium. Time for a change!