Diablo II was one of the most popular games in the late 1990s, having sold over 15 million copies. Now Blizzard is bringing it back to the console market with a new game engine and some changes to gameplay.
The diablo 2 release date is the game that started it all. It was released in 1996 and has been remade for modern consoles.
CONSOLE GETS THE ORIGINAL DIABLO II EXPERIENCE
The wait will soon be over. Champions will soon return to Sanctuary to pursue the Dark Wanderer and purge Hell’s minions from the land. Diablo® II, the legendary ARPG, has been restored and revived. On September 23, 2021, Diablo® II: ResurrectedTM will be released. However, unlike the original, gamers on Xbox, PlayStation®, and Nintendo SwitchTM will now be able to take on the legendary eastward journey.
We asked Design Director Robert Gallerani to talk about how the development team approached adapting this PC classic to modern platforms and what they learned.
This remaster is a labor of love, designed to evoke nostalgia in experienced gamers while also introducing newcomers to the Sanctuary universe. We set out on this development journey to recreate the game as players remember it, rather than how it was. For example, graphical enhancements are meant to accurately reflect the original game, and you can understand the progression formed from this title only when you go to Legacy mode and look back at the original visuals. Then there are the little things, such as the sound of a potion being used, the way something is depicted on the mini-map, or even how creatures appear when a character enters a dark chamber, all of which add to the pleasant recollections of the original experience. It wasn’t only the game balance that needed to be perfect when we created this game and chose to bring it to the Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch platforms, but additional subconscious aspects that players may not have noticed while playing the original title over two decades ago.
So, what happens if we port the game to a platform where it has never been before? Bringing a game that was originally designed for keyboard and mouse on a PC to a console raised a lot of issues that needed to be answered, particularly with a console player in mind. We began with what we couldn’t alter since our goal is to maintain the original experience. Cross-progression provided us with a solid set of constraints and rules to follow. As a result, although we weren’t able to make any game modifications, we concentrated on how the material might be enjoyed on a new platform.
The first and most noticeable difference is the way a console player interacts with the game, which is via the use of a controller. By clicking anywhere with a keyboard and mouse, the user serves as a “eye in the sky,” directing their character what to do and where to go. Do you use a ranged attack on a monster? Do you open a chest by walking over to it? Maybe you could unlock a door? The players’ main input with the mouse is a click that communicates targeting or a particular ability or action. The game then directs the character to the location where the action may be performed, paving the way for you. On a controller, however, the player is more directly in charge of their character. This has significant implications for design on many levels, yet to our players, it all simply has to “work.”
Controller Movement
On a controller, movement is restricted to the thumbstick. As a result, rather than the game directing where the character goes, the player will. We switched off the game’s pathfinding on console to make this work, and as a consequence, players may now go to locations where the game would never have led them previously. A player may now run their character into a wall or move against collision items, as one example. It’s simpler to dodge enemy assaults with this flexibility of mobility. You must also decide how quickly you will go in addition to where you will travel. A stamina foundation exists in Diablo II. This indicates that walking and running are the two modes of locomotion. You can no longer run after your stamina has depleted. We wanted this framework to operate in tandem with players’ expectations that if you press the thumb stick a little, you’ll travel a little amount, and if you push it all the way, you’ll move at top speed. Because walking improves your character’s attributes in the game, it was essential that we make it easy for users to handle. We chose a toggle because it maintained our deliberate choice to stroll instead than sprint. This was necessary for looting, but we’ll get to it later.
The red squares in the video above indicate map collision, while the white line in front of the player depicts the thumbstick’s controller trajectory.
Controller-based targeting
When you don’t have a mouse, the next major difference is that you don’t have a cursor. This implies you won’t be able to tell the game what to attack and target. To solve this, we’re constantly scanning the playfield with a large cone on the controller, prioritizing targets on multiple levels, including monsters, goods, interactable objects, various players, your corpse, and more. In addition, each class has its own set of priorities. The Necromancer is an illustration of this. The Necromancer places a higher value on corpses than other classes. We attempted displaying a player all of the various aiming choices at one time, but the HUD was extremely overwhelming. As a result, we choose to just display the player their class’s main objective. Even though we don’t display a corpse being highlighted, if the player activates an ability that needs a corpse, the closest one is chosen (since it’s the closest).
Controller looting
It’s just as essential to plunder the enemies you’ve slain as it is to kill them. Players usually loot using a keyboard and mouse by holding down a key to reveal the item’s label, then clicking on the name. Because holding a controller button may be unpleasant for some people, we removed the requirement to hold down the item label button (though it is still available). When using a controller, two variables reveal item names: time and distance. As a result, if an object is near to a player, it will be visible at all times. Furthermore, when an item is dropped, the object’s name will appear on the screen for a short period of time. Our next task was to figure out how a player would pick up the object. When using a controller, it felt natural to have the player walk over the object. However, when a monster detonated into a treasure of riches and the player just wanted that one particular item, this proved to be very tough. We eventually included the option for players to take their time looting and to pause in the midst of different objects on the ground to loot the item of their choosing, making the looting experience unquestionably more open and less hampered.
Controller Capabilities
Given their prior console experience, we knew we needed to fulfill Diablo III gamers’ expectations. A player in the original Diablo II had two mouse click buttons: left and right. Players utilize hotkeys to quickly remap these two buttons to access a variety of skills. With a controller, this was changed such that buttons directly activate abilities rather than remapping them. At that moment, we display these skills in a “tray” on the bottom portion of the HUD, similar to Diablo III. In any case, since players may have a large number of skills, we’ve enabled them to hold the left trigger to get access to additional six slots, giving them a total of twelve spaces to dispatch numerous abilities.
Controller balancing
Because there are much fewer buttons on a gamepad than there are on a keyboard, we spend a lot of time weighing the trade-offs of button mappings to ensure that the most basic skills are easy to access. Following the Beta, we’re sure that we’re heading in the right way with controller support, which we hope will satisfy players’ expectations. We’re still analyzing edge situations and looking for ways to improve the experience, but we believe we’ve struck the right balance between a contemporary feel and traditional mechanics.
The second major difference, after the controller, is how a console user interacts with the game online and with other players. Even before starting a game, console gamers are used to creating a party with their buddies. Players on consoles may quickly see what their friends are up to, hop into games, and ask their friends to participate with them. Players on the PC have an easy-to-use keyboard. Players could meet up and play together in the original game’s lobby. On a controller, interacting with a torrent of remarks from other players in the general chat was almost difficult. As a result, we tweaked the player flow a little.
On-the-Go Gaming
The option to undock your Nintendo Switch and take your game with you on a vacation or simply to another room in the home is one of the best aspects of the Nintendo Switch system. This feature and play style necessitated extra care to make transitioning between offline and online as simple as possible for players. We concentrated on making the game legible for the portable screen as part of this endeavor, so playing Diablo II: Resurrected on the move will be a breeze.
On the Nintendo Switch, gamers who want to play with their friends online may form a group and play with up to four other people. When playing on the Nintendo Switch system, we discovered that 4-player co-op provided the best experience, particularly in portable mode. We hope that gamers will have as much fun as possible while playing Diablo II: On-the-go resurrected
A video of the Necromancer in action on Nintendo Switch is seen above.
Cross-Generational & Cross-Progressional Play
Cross-progression is available in Diablo II: Resurrected, which means you may retain your progress regardless of where you play! Players just need to connect their Battle.net account to each supported platform where D2R is installed. Your character’s stuff will become accessible across all supported platforms after that, and you’ll be able to keep your level, quest, progress, skills, and abilities.
Diablo II: Resurrected will have cross-generational play in addition to cross-progression. So, if you have an Xbox Series X|S and a buddy has an Xbox One, you can still team up to fight demons in Sanctuary. As they go east, players on PlayStation®5 and PlayStation®4 systems will be able to enjoy the same advantages.
Modes of Play
Diablo II may be played in a variety of ways: Online, Offline, Ladder (not accessible for offline characters), Non-ladder, Hardcore, Expansion, and Non-Expansion characters have all been resurrected. The titles of these various modes in the original game were perplexing to novice players. If you remember, the primary menu of the original game included the following options:
- Single-player mode
- Battle.net
- Battle.net is the entry point.
- Other multiplayer options
A comparison of the original Diablo II frontend screen and the one from Diablo II: Resurrected highlighting the Play Modes is seen above.
Many gamers, we found, would begin the game in single player mode and then want to play with their friends. They couldn’t play with buddies since they choose single player, which is an offline character. We wanted to get as many people as possible involved with a persona that they could play with their friends. As a result, we have a massive play button, and the player’s sole option is to play offline or online.
Getting Your Friends Together
We introduced the option for players to hop directly into a game and then invite their friends from their friends list, rather than sharing information about a lobby. While it is now virtually expected in games, it did not exist 20 years ago. We also added the ability to “auto-party” to the mix. When players initially entered a game in the original game, the first thing they did was write “PP,” which stands for “Party Please.” Given that almost every player would attempt to form a group using this technique, we decided to make it an automated process using the “auto-party” function.
Party-Finder
We developed the Party-Finder since our team still needed a simple and simplified method for console gamers to play with non-friends. This function is designed for users who wish to perform a certain activity with other players, such as a quest or a Baal run, but don’t have any friends online at the moment. The Party-Finder will pair you up with other players of comparable skill levels who have chosen the same activity as you. Following the Beta, we heard from a number of console gamers who wanted additional choices for navigating lobbies. The Party Finder now includes tabs for Bosses and Zones, allowing players to better coordinate their efforts. The Pandemonium event, Uber Diablo events, and PvP/Dueling filters have also been enabled, allowing console users to join to multiplayer sessions connected to those activities more simply.
Overall, we wanted to concentrate our console choices on a completely different audience than the one who played on the PC. We needed to onboard our players into the world of Diablo II in a way that was approachable for them, without changing what made Diablo II the classic that it is. Given that many of our players have had more experience with Diablo 3 on the console, we needed to onboard them into the world of Diablo II in a way that was approachable for them, without changing what made Diablo II the classic that it is. We want to introduce a whole new generation of gamers to what made this timeless classic so special.
–Design Director Robert Gallerani
There has never been a better moment to be a Diablo fan. Whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned veteran looking for a taste of nostalgia, the gates of Hell have been opened for you. We’re looking forward to sharing Diablo II: Resurrected with you, and we hope you’ll be able to join us when it launches. On September 23, the journey starts on Windows® PC, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, and Nintendo SwitchTM (pre-orders will be available shortly)! Check out our website for more information about Diablo II: Resurrected, or follow our official Twitter account @Diablo for real-time updates.
Thank you very much, Players.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Diablo 2: Resurrected cross progression?
Diablo 2: Resurrected is a single player game.
Will Diablo 2: Resurrected be on console?
Unfortunately, Blizzard has not announced anything about a console release for Diablo 2: Resurrected.
Will Diablo 2: Resurrected be on ps4?
Unfortunately, Diablo 2: Resurrected has been cancelled.
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