You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

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You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Raid » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:15 pm

It's been rumoured for years, but Blizzard are finally doing a remake of Diablo II.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021 ... esurrected

It's a full on remake in isometric 3D, including brand new shot-for-shot recreations of the game's cutscenes (rather than just AI upressing as a lot of remasters do). They're also updating the original release for modern day systems if you don't like the new visuals.

Diablo II was the first Blizzard game I ever got into, so I'm honestly a bit excited by this. I certainly won't be pre-ordering it given the farce that was Warcraft III Reloaded, or whatever it was called, but I'm quietly optimistic. I can still read things and hear Deckard Cain's voice in my head.

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Mantis » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:20 pm

I want to be excited for this. Diablo 2 was the first PC game I ever went hardcore into the late game scene, many hours spent doing boss runs on Battle Net to farm runes. I absolutely love the vibe too, it treads the perfect line for me between being really dark and aware enough of itself to be funny and cheesy at times.

But Blizzard aren't the company they once were, and the Warcraft 3 remake was an utter disaster. So I'll be waiting until after release to check this one out.

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Tommy » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:21 pm

I assume there was a guy at Blizzard who suggested making a new game and is now in four separate bins.

What happened to original ideas?

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Raid » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:29 pm

Tommy wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:21 pm
What happened to original ideas?
I don't know what you mean.

Now here's Burning Crusade Classic and Hearthstone Classic!

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021 ... aid-bosses

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021 ... d-kalimdor

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Mantis » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:31 pm

It's because Blizzard aren't capable of making new games that are actually good. All people want from them is to be as good as they used to be. Easier to sell remakes than aspire to developing new stuff like that.

Diablo 4 is still in development, but I'm not holding out a great deal for that given how troubled the project has been and the open world online style they've settled on for it. I like that they're looking more towards Diablo 2 for the art style, but not convinced it'll save it from being mediocre.

Just read that the team behind Warcraft 3 remastered was disbanded and that this is being worked on by the Vicarious Visions studio who recently released the Tony Hawks remaster and have now been brought inhouse to Blizzard. Their Tony Hawks effort was really solid, so hopefully they'll do justice for Diablo 2 too.

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Tommy » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:38 pm

Raid wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:29 pm
Tommy wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:21 pm
What happened to original ideas?
I don't know what you mean.

Now here's Burning Crusade Classic and Hearthstone Classic!

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021 ... aid-bosses

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021 ... d-kalimdor
You've just saved me a bit of money - I forgot I was still paying for WoW classic :lol:

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Tommy » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:40 pm

Mantis wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:31 pm
It's because Blizzard aren't capable of making new games that are actually good. All people want from them is to be as good as they used to be. Easier to sell remakes than aspire to developing new stuff like that.

Diablo 4 is still in development, but I'm not holding out a great deal for that given how troubled the project has been and the open world online style they've settled on for it. I like that they're looking more towards Diablo 2 for the art style, but not convinced it'll save it from being mediocre.

Just read that the team behind Warcraft 3 remastered was disbanded and that this is being worked on by the Vicarious Visions studio who recently released the Tony Hawks remaster and have now been brought inhouse to Blizzard. Their Tony Hawks effort was really solid, so hopefully they'll do justice for Diablo 2 too.
I can see that. Are new audiences taken in by this remake stuff though?

WC3 was disappointing. From what I gather the remaster of AOE2 was accepted well. Again, why is it so difficult to listen to a loyal fanbase of two decades :lol:

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Mantis » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:45 pm

I don't think getting a new audience really matters that much for it, there is a very large number of customers who played the originals back in the day and would enjoy experiencing them again tarted up with quality of life improvements.

AoE2 had a couple of remasters over the last decade or so. The ultimate expanded edition or whatever the most recent one was called is actually really good, they've added in entirely new civilizations and campaigns from old mod content and done a ton of AI improvements over the original game. Still one of the best RTS experiences you can play.

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Tommy » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:46 pm

Mantis wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:45 pm
I don't think getting a new audience really matters that much for it, there is a very large number of customers who played the originals back in the day and would enjoy experiencing them again tarted up with quality of life improvements.

AoE2 had a couple of remasters over the last decade or so. The ultimate expanded edition or whatever the most recent one was called is actually really good, they've added in entirely new civilizations and campaigns from old mod content and done a ton of AI improvements over the original game. Still one of the best RTS experiences you can play.
I'm unsure anything ever improved on AoE2 tbh. Granted it's not a genre with broad appeal, but there's very few games in very few generes that got it so right.

To the point that many haven't even bothered too :lol:

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Mantis » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:50 pm

The original Dawn of War and Company of Heroes were amazing and definitely better in terms of combat and tactical gameplay, but they didn't have the same civ building element that AoE had with its broader tech tree of base buildings.

Shame it's a dead genre, if there were a taste for it now then I'm sure something amazing could be produced with today's processing power.

Action RPGs had a resurgence a couple of years ago though, so you never know. We wouldn't be getting this remaster without games like Torchlight and Path of Exile.

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Tommy » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:53 pm

Mantis wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:50 pm
The original Dawn of War and Company of Heroes were amazing and definitely better in terms of combat and tactical gameplay, but they didn't have the same civ building element that AoE had with its broader tech tree of base buildings.

Shame it's a dead genre, if there were a taste for it now then I'm sure something amazing could be produced with today's processing power.

Action RPGs had a resurgence a couple of years ago though, so you never know. We wouldn't be getting this remaster without games like Torchlight and Path of Exile.
Forgot about Company of Heroes - great and like you say, with processing power something on a larger scale would've been really interesting. I loved Company of Heroes (though clearly it wasn't as memorable). I suppose CoH was limited by its own context. Difficult to justify a game where you execute a perfect Nazi rush.

I'm behind on current games to be honest.

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Raid » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:54 pm

Tommy wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:40 pm
Are new audiences taken in by this remake stuff though?
I suppose it depends on the quality of the remake. The quick cash ins that are basically just a few new graphical effects and maybe a bump in texture detail aren't going to win many over without the benefit of nostalgia, but the likes of FF7 Remake (which was basically a new game that used classic designs) or the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes seem to be quite big business.

I guess Diablo II will be somewhere in between. I'm not sure if it'll win many new fans, I suppose it depends on how well they market it, but Blizzard have a pretty big, somewhat captive audience that will lap it up. I wouldn't describe myself as being part of that audience any more, not after the shit they've pulled in the last five years or so, but I'll be first to admit that nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool, and I'm very much interested in a classic game updated with a modern interface and quality of life improvements.

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Tommy » Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:59 pm

Raid wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:54 pm
Tommy wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 11:40 pm
Are new audiences taken in by this remake stuff though?
I suppose it depends on the quality of the remake. The quick cash ins that are basically just a few new graphical effects and maybe a bump in texture detail aren't going to win many over without the benefit of nostalgia, but the likes of FF7 Remake (which was basically a new game that used classic designs) or the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes seem to be quite big business.

I guess Diablo II will be somewhere in between. I'm not sure if it'll win many new fans, I suppose it depends on how well they market it, but Blizzard have a pretty big, somewhat captive audience that will lap it up. I wouldn't describe myself as being part of that audience any more, not after the shit they've pulled in the last five years or so, but I'll be first to admit that nostalgia is a powerful marketing tool, and I'm very much interested in a classic game updated with a modern interface and quality of life improvements.
It's an odd one really because I know if they remade 'my' games, I'd play them. But I see the film/gaming trend of remaking in the same way I imagine most do until it hits their own nostalgia.

A new game is different I think (re. FF7). Diablo is an odd one in that it's probably propped up by LoL and DOTA to some extent - the movement system would be deemed antiquated otherwise probably?

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by DjchunKfunK » Sat Feb 20, 2021 9:44 am

Remakes are just guaranteed money right now and in a climate where games cost a lot of money to make and it is getting harder and harder to make a hit publishers are going to continue to pump them out. This isn't really a new thing, it's been going on since the start of the Xbox One/PS4 generation.

I was never as into Diablo 2 as I was the first game so a remake holds less interest to me and as Mantis said Blizzard's track record here is spotty so definitely one to wait and see on.

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Re: You have quite the treasure there in that Horadric Cube!

Post by Mantis » Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:06 am

Also worth noting that the new team who are making this worked on the Crash Bandicoot trilogy remaster, which was excellent.

The interview on Eurogamer says that this is purely a visual overhaul, all of the code running in the background is from the original Diablo 2, they literally just put a new 3d model sheen over the top a bit like how the Halo remasters worked. And the minor changes they're making to online features to streamline playing together are a welcome addition too.

I don't really see how they can get this one wrong.

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