The recently declared remaster of Diablo 2

[MMOruki]

The Dark Wanderer visits Marius from the opening cutscene of Diablo 2 Resurrected Items. The doors into the prison swing open in their, as if magic has forced the hinges to move. It is a memorable moment, one which determines this presence of power and magic to your Dark Wanderer.

But this was not always the situation. Pre-release advertising materials for Diablo 2 featured a warden personality opening the doorway for the Dark Wanderer. It had been the original intent that the warden exist to open up the door, but that personality never made it into the game. It altered the context of the scene. In the shipped version, the Dark Wanderer doesn't seem encouraged; they open their particular path.

In Diablo 2 Resurrected, the recently declared remaster of Diablo 2, Blizzard Entertainment could have revisited that cinematic and brought the warden back in. However, regardless of the original intention or that which makes more sense in the scene, that goes against Blizzard's philosophy for Resurrected.

Prior to BlizzConline, we spoke to Rod Fergusson, executive director of the Diablo franchise in Blizzard, and Rob Gallerani, chief designer at Blizzard's support division, Vicarious Visions. And after working on the industry's"worst-kept key," the pair have been apparent about Diablo 2 Resurrected: Here really is actually the Diablo 2 you know, warts and all.

"This isn't a movie," said Fergusson. "We're not reverse-engineering it; we're not rebuilding it trying to make it look and sound like [Diablo 2]. This ist's appropriate there, underneath the surface. The whole simulation, the search engine for this game, that lifeblood of the game, is right underneath. So there's a toggle switch, a heritage toggle, that when you press on the button, you will see behind the drapes, and there's Diablo 2 in 2D sprites running right there, and buy Diablo Immortal Gold you can play the way that you played 20 decades ago."