The first testers are already eagerly playing the alpha of Diablo 2: Resurrected. Viewers notice visual changes to the enemy Blood Raven that they don’t like.
What’s going on with Diablo 2? On April 8, testing for Diablo 2: Resurrected already started for some streamers. Blizzard announced the remaster at this year’s BlizzCon and received much praise for it. Basically, you are replaying the old Diablo 2, but with improved graphics and some quality-of-life changes.
While the new effects of the spells are celebrated, the design of Blood Raven is not well received by players. They claim it strayed too far from the original, the players write.
In earlier leaks about Diablo 2, a remake was mentioned. But Diablo II: Resurrected is a remaster. A remaster is technically based on the foundation of the original game. It is visually improved and brings a few optional comfort features.
A remake, on the other hand, would be a version of the original title developed from scratch.
“It looks worse, just in better resolution”
This is the comparison: In the Reddit about Diablo, the alpha of Diablo 2 is currently the big topic. One thread discusses the design of Blood Raven. She is one of the enemies in Act 1, in the Amazon’s camp. For a quest, you are supposed to take her down.
The focus is on the design. User Cat5kable writes that Blood Raven has matured in the remaster and compares it with a before/after image showing the visual changes.
This is what part of the community says: The thread is popular and has already gathered over 480 comments (as of April 9 at 11:20 AM). User Jman5 writes (via reddit.com), that he never knew that Blood Raven wears a mask made from a raven’s head. “I wonder what other details of iconic characters will appear that were hidden due to low resolution,” he writes. Others add that it’s not just a mask, but actually the head of a raven.
Others write
- “Good or not. This is not even close to the original Blood Raven.”
- “As someone who played thousands of hours of Diablo 2, I wouldn’t even know what I’m looking at without context”
- “This is not at all how my imagination filled in the gaps. I don’t like it.”
- “Pretty disappointed with this change. It doesn’t really represent the old model well.”
- “Honestly, I think she looks much worse, just in better resolution”
- “To be honest, I’ll probably choose the original graphics instead of the new 3D graphics while playing. Blizzard takes so many artistic liberties when it comes to the characters in the game.”
Players are also complaining about physical changes to Blood Raven. Her bust size is said to have been significantly reduced.
How is the graphics received?
This is praised: Apart from the details about Blood Raven, there is much praise for the graphics of Diablo 2: Resurrected. Especially the spell animations receive a lot of positive feedback.
You can see the new effects in this clip from the stream of Monsters and Explosions with our colleagues Julius Busch and Ann-Kathrin Kuhls.
Also on YouTube, there is much praise for the remaster of Diablo 2. IGN released a 16-minute video with gameplay from the technical alpha (via YouTube.com). Below, players write:
- “The music! So nostalgic”
- “I had forgotten how good the soundtrack is”
- “This looks amazing”
- “Looks fantastic. So why do all new games in the genre think they need a bright neon color palette and exploding neon [colors] covering the screen?”
- “This looks outstanding”
Now you probably want to jump in and see the new effects and revamped enemies in the alpha yourself? With a bit of luck, you might be able to do that this weekend. If Blizzard does not select you for the test, you have the chance for loot in the form of game keys at MeinMMO.
We are giving away keys for the alpha of Diablo 2: Resurrected today, but hurry up!
