Diablo II - Resurrected

I think Grim Dawn would be up there in terms of best ARPG if it had server side multiplayer and seasons/ladder.

PoE is indeed horrifically bloated, you can ignore a lot of the stuff but simplified crafting and currency would be amazing.

At least the game is supported by it's developers and they are trying to iterate the genre with new features.

Diablo 3 was just shallow horseshit.

Inferno fiasco and real-money AH aside, I had a lot of fun with D3. It kept it mostly simple, stupid. The problem was, they didn't really improve/add much design, outside of the changes Reaper of Souls brought. I still maintain that is has one of the better/best "end-game" mechanics for new/returning players. Adventure mode is such a vastly superior alternative to new seasons/characters compared to PoE.

Khalan said:

Did anyone else think it looks (graphically/art) better than D4?

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Yes, Diablo 4 looks like Diablo 3 to me, and Diablo 3 was unplayable.

I think I got to the end of Chapter 2 or something.

Diablo 2 I played a lot. Even if D4 was really good I'm never going to put the time in that I wasted as a kid, but the way 3 was from just about every aspect, I'll probably never buy 4. I still feel like I wasted a ton of money on 3. I remember a while ago considering trying to roll a character that looked fun, and the consensus on the most fun build was basically a character that kills with an aoe damage shield, i.e. as little work as possible.

Top down hack and slash kind of feels like it may have run its course when compared with Dark Souls, which I feel like fills the niche that D2 once held, but I have from time-to-time desired to replay D2...like for instance I have a strong compulsion to roll a trap assassin at the moment.

Deathwing said:

I get your point and mostly agree. I want to clarify that I'm in bed with the best ARPG. That happens to be PoE currently and that doesn't mean it doesn't have its fair share of faults.

I want the best ARPG to have a competitor for obvious reasons that don't need to be detailed here. I was asking what this remaster offered, hopeful that it could provide some real competition.

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I don't think they had any intention of trying to make a competitor. It's just a remaster, not a new game or complete revamp. It's purely a money thing. It's probably relatively easy to update the graphics and add some QoL and charge 2/3 of a new game price for. It's blizzard basically scraping their IPs for as much money as they can.


If you want competition, and I agree its a good thing, just have to look at new games. But the ARPG market isn't exactly popping. I think Lost Ark could of been something, but it seems to have no intention of being ported to the west(and might be too late if it does).

Best is completely subjunctive. I will say GGG at least seems to care about their game, and the buyout from the chinese corporation Tencent hasn't effected it yet, if it will.

PoE is by means no pick and go game like D3 is. I’ve noticed some streamers I follow that spend a day or two planning out their build before a new league. Now D3 you can pick it up easily and be done with it in 2 to 3 weeks and still see all the content.

I haven’t played D2 in years (maybe 15+ years?) and I never gotten into it seriously. When it came out I was too wrapped up into Everquest with Brahma to worry about any other game. I think the furtherest I gotten to is act 3 killing Duriel and that is when the expansion LoD came out. So this will almost be a new experience for me.

BoozeCube said:

Past performance is the greatest indicator of future performance. Blizzards trend has been an ever falling slope of short cuts, cash grabs, and exodus of talent for more than a decade now. Only reason they have been able to stay relevant is their original bar was set so high.

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It is amazing that they rip things off 100% and still manage to fuck things up.

Deathwing said:

What is this offering that PoE or current D2 mods don't?

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Nostalgia + playable on the Switch for me. If the switch reviews suck I won’t buy it.

Voyce said:

Yes, Diablo 4 looks like Diablo 3 to me, and Diablo 3 was unplayable.

I think I got to the end of Chapter 2 or something.

Diablo 2 I played a lot. Even if D4 was really good I'm never going to put the time in that I wasted as a kid, but the way 3 was from just about every aspect, I'll probably never buy 4. I still feel like I wasted a ton of money on 3. I remember a while ago considering trying to roll a character that looked fun, and the consensus on the most fun build was basically a character that kills with an aoe damage shield, i.e. as little work as possible.

Top down hack and slash kind of feels like it may have run its course when compared with Dark Souls, which I feel like fills the niche that D2 once held, but I have from time-to-time desired to replay D2...like for instance I have a strong compulsion to roll a trap assassin at the moment.

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What aspect of D4 looks even remotely like D3? Some combat animations?

Voyce said:

Top down hack and slash kind of feels like it may have run its course when compared with Dark Souls, which I feel like fills the niche that D2 once held, but I have from time-to-time desired to replay D2...like for instance I have a strong compulsion to roll a trap assassin at the moment.

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I would agree that isometric or even "3D" isometric style ARPGs are probably going to slowly die out, aside from nostalgia. Games more similar to Dark Souls, Hades, Lost Ark, and even looter-shooter style games like Destiny/Outriders are probably the future of the genre. I feel like Lost Ark had a real opportunity to grow/expand the ARPG genre and help future developers iterate on things, but they seem content to just finger-pop their assholes instead of port it to NA. I agree that the genre will have probably moved on by the time they do (if ever).

Zindan said:

What aspect of D4 looks even remotely like D3? Some combat animations?

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So to spend the time it would take to break down and explain all of where the game looks as bad as D3 does, is time consuming, and it doesn't start and stop with aesthetics.

Now I will do this, if you can verify you're a Blizzard Developer that can impact the game and improve it, more specifically, that you would listen and make the changes necessary.

However; I'm not going to offer the auspice to a random poster, this implies there's an argument about the game to be had, whereby I can possibly impact your position, which I probably can't, and I have no reason to want to.

If you saw D4, and you were like, "Yeah that's the game for me...." Why would I tell you different?

Likewise, you have no chance in the nine hells of changing my position. I've looked at the game and taken a position. I'm 33 years old, I've been playing games since I was a toddler, I can look at video footage and make fairly astute observations about how the game will play and behave, and determine if its worth investment or not. I can do this the same way I can watch a movie trailer and choose to be interested in it, or pass on it.

Voyce said:

So to spend the time it would take to break down and explain all of where the game looks as bad as D3 does, is time consuming, and it doesn't start and stop with aesthetics.

Now I will do this, if you can verify you're a Blizzard Developer that can impact the game and improve it, more specifically, that you would listen and make the changes necessary.

However; I'm not going to offer the auspice to a random poster, this implies there's an argument about the game to be had, whereby I can possibly impact your position, which I probably can't, and I have no reason to want to.

If you saw D4, and you were like, "Yeah that's the game for me...." Why would I tell you different?

Likewise, you have no chance in the nine hells of changing my position. I've looked at the game and taken a position. I'm 33 years old, I've been playing games since I was a toddler, I can look at video footage and make fairly astute observations about how the game will play and behave, and determine if its worth investment or not. I can do this the same way I can watch a movie trailer and choose to be interested in it, or pass on it.

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mkopec said:

Nah, ARPG and their older smarter brother the CRPG are still going strong. Few big titles coming up soon and some smaller ones as well which are in beta/early release. I dont think this genre will die because, at it core easy to get into, but the depth in builds, loot, crafting, turn based combat for CRPG, are still big hits.

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Casually adding another subgenre of RPG to the discussion doesn't really matter much for arpg enthusiasts. Turn-based? What does that have to do with this thread?

Are any arpgs of note coming up in 2021?

Love me some D2, but I think we're definitely overdosing on nostalgia. I had multiple level 99's and the only rare rune I ever found was Jah which I promptly traded for a shit ton of SoJ's to purchase other gear with.

As others have already pointed out without duping what is the currency? How are super rare runes even going to be valued. I mean you can play forever and never find a high tier rune let alone enough to make some of the elite rune words. What about Pindle bots, etc.? Are drop rates going to be re-worked? Are bots going to be stopped somehow? There is a shit ton of stuff they'll need to consider/revisit otherwise the luster will fade real quick.

For all the hate D3 gets about being bland and repetitive I don't think D2 fairs much better given many high end builds rely on specific gear that will be extremely rare. Is anyone here really looking forward to making another Firewall sorc and running Bloody Foothills a few thousand times? Is that any better than rift grinding in Diablo 3? I'm not saying I won't purchase and play because I definitely will, but I think the novelty will wear off pretty quickly without some substantial changes which would defeat the purpose of a remaster.

Don't even get me started on PvP as well. PvP was awesome pre-LoD, but totally stupid after as any character that was good at PvP couldn't kill shit with all the immunities they added in.

Khane said:

I think Grim Dawn would be up there in terms of best ARPG if it had server side multiplayer and seasons/ladder.

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Titan Quest is one of my top ARPGs. I would say D2 is my first pick and Titan Quest is my second.