This review contains spoilers
Amazing sequel and one of the best RPG’s I have played.
Diablo II is the definition of the RPG genre and the grandfather of all the hack and slash games that followed. It got a solid story, excellent mechanics, great sound and music, good visuals and challenging enemies and bosses.
When comparing Diablo II to its predecessor, it is a huge upgrade. The mechanics have improved, the visuals are much nicer, the spells and skills are way better and there are many more classes and characters to play.
Diablo walks the earth again after a unnamed hero from the previous game slew him and tried to contain his dark essence in his body. It ultimately consumed and corrupted him and gave Diablo free passage to use him as a puppet and spread his evil, including his demon horde and freeing his brothers Mephisto and Baal.
Evil takes over the lands in an alarming pace and a lot of people are either dead or fleeing to small settlements. You start in a camp owned by the Rogue Sisters, an order of fighting women that lost almost all of their members. From here, you start your journey and fight against the Prime Evils.
In terms of graphics, Diablo II looks stunning. It is still 2D, but the art style and the different dimensions and depth the engine uses, make it feel like a fully 3D game. Animations, blood and environments look beautiful and the dark and grim atmosphere the graphics create is just perfect, especially for the open field areas.
Diablo II is split up into acts, each with their own questline, pieces of the story and environments. This is, by far, one of the best aspects of the game, the variety of play. One act you are in forests and plains, then you travel through the desert, then the jungle and lastly, Hell itself. It is just refreshing and stunning to enter a complete new environment every act.
The sound design in this game is one of the best I experienced so far. The blows of your weapon, the hit sounds on enemies, the grunts of Fallen that you kill, the perfect and lifeless sounds the zombies make, it is all perfect. To top it off, the music is excellent. There has yet to be an RPG that can match the atmospheric vibe that Diablo II created with its excellent soundtrack.
The mechanics are great. You got durability on your gear, different quality ratings that your weapons and armor can possess, and, best of all, the crafting system via the Horadric Cube to create more powerful gems, potions and other items. The combat feels more responsive and predictable instead of the one hit deaths that you could encounter in the first game.
The only thing that I needed to get used to, was the fact that you could not save the game without exiting and that the enemies did not stay dead. All the RPG’s that I played, including the first Diablo did save your progress and kills until that point, but as a kid, I was surprised when I saw that all the enemies were back when I started it up again. Nowadays, this is nothing special, but back then, it was a new concept in which you could harvest XP almost infinitely from enemies.
Your inventory has been improved too. There are now many more slots to fill like a belt, gloves and shoes. You can also place gems in socketed items, providing a nice boost on your stats.
The game and its expansion, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction are still played today and the leader-boards remain more active than ever. It is a true testimony for its legacy and rightfully so.
I can only praise Diablo II and would recommend it to everyone.
Diablo II is the definition of the RPG genre and the grandfather of all the hack and slash games that followed. It got a solid story, excellent mechanics, great sound and music, good visuals and challenging enemies and bosses.
When comparing Diablo II to its predecessor, it is a huge upgrade. The mechanics have improved, the visuals are much nicer, the spells and skills are way better and there are many more classes and characters to play.
Diablo walks the earth again after a unnamed hero from the previous game slew him and tried to contain his dark essence in his body. It ultimately consumed and corrupted him and gave Diablo free passage to use him as a puppet and spread his evil, including his demon horde and freeing his brothers Mephisto and Baal.
Evil takes over the lands in an alarming pace and a lot of people are either dead or fleeing to small settlements. You start in a camp owned by the Rogue Sisters, an order of fighting women that lost almost all of their members. From here, you start your journey and fight against the Prime Evils.
In terms of graphics, Diablo II looks stunning. It is still 2D, but the art style and the different dimensions and depth the engine uses, make it feel like a fully 3D game. Animations, blood and environments look beautiful and the dark and grim atmosphere the graphics create is just perfect, especially for the open field areas.
Diablo II is split up into acts, each with their own questline, pieces of the story and environments. This is, by far, one of the best aspects of the game, the variety of play. One act you are in forests and plains, then you travel through the desert, then the jungle and lastly, Hell itself. It is just refreshing and stunning to enter a complete new environment every act.
The sound design in this game is one of the best I experienced so far. The blows of your weapon, the hit sounds on enemies, the grunts of Fallen that you kill, the perfect and lifeless sounds the zombies make, it is all perfect. To top it off, the music is excellent. There has yet to be an RPG that can match the atmospheric vibe that Diablo II created with its excellent soundtrack.
The mechanics are great. You got durability on your gear, different quality ratings that your weapons and armor can possess, and, best of all, the crafting system via the Horadric Cube to create more powerful gems, potions and other items. The combat feels more responsive and predictable instead of the one hit deaths that you could encounter in the first game.
The only thing that I needed to get used to, was the fact that you could not save the game without exiting and that the enemies did not stay dead. All the RPG’s that I played, including the first Diablo did save your progress and kills until that point, but as a kid, I was surprised when I saw that all the enemies were back when I started it up again. Nowadays, this is nothing special, but back then, it was a new concept in which you could harvest XP almost infinitely from enemies.
Your inventory has been improved too. There are now many more slots to fill like a belt, gloves and shoes. You can also place gems in socketed items, providing a nice boost on your stats.
The game and its expansion, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction are still played today and the leader-boards remain more active than ever. It is a true testimony for its legacy and rightfully so.
I can only praise Diablo II and would recommend it to everyone.