6 Things Diablo 4 Needs to Learn from Diablo 2

Table of Contents

• 6 Things Diablo 4 Needs to Learn from Diablo 2
• Screw the kits
• Loot should not be "smart"
• A plot with understatement and a heavy tone
• Before venturing forth... a team of eight people must be assembled
• The simplicity and rawness of artstyle
• Bonus: things Diablo 2 Resurrected should improve

Bonus: things Diablo 2 Resurrected should improve

I put Diablo 2 and Diablo 2 Resurrected as a model in some respects, but one has to be fair. Some of the mechanics and ideas have gotten very old. To prove this point, here's a list of things I think Blizzard (or rather Vicarious Visions) should improve on in an add-on:

New random tasks

I don't have much faith in Vicarious Visions creating an entirely new act in the game. Theoretically, Blizzard North was considering some sort of second expasion and then an "MMO-worthy" Diablo 3, but now that niche with a story set between Diablo 2 and Diablo 3 is to be filled by the mobile Diablo Immortal. The problem is that the content of Diablo 2 Resurrected will eventually get boring and instead of adding new chapters to the story and escalating the stakes, why not simply add random tasks to the existing acts? The kind that shows up every once in a while, but not always? This would of course require a proper balance in the face of partially randomly generated locations, but it would certainly breathe new life into the game.

Updating Act IV

Adding new content to the fourth act wouldn't hurt her either. So far there are only three tasks in it, while the two merchants have nothing to tell us. But it is still interesting after all. Who are the craftsmen in the angelic Fortress of Pandemonium? What is plaguing them and how could we solve their problems (other than with violence, of course) – wouldn't you like to know? Because I do.

Adventure mode

The adventure mode – which can be treated as an endgame, but also a campaign replacement – saved Diablo 3. Diablo 2 Resurrected doesn't need to be saved for now – but why not make the game more expansive and free, instead of forcing everyone to go through the same campaign again and again? It has its own amazing charm, but only for the first time, maybe the second and third time. Then at some point, the spell must break. Adventure mode, in which we perform tasks randomly selected from a certain pool – could change the way we approach Diablo 2. And at the same time, it would be possible to add quests and storylines that didn't fit in the base game – and not assemble some grand, epic narrative that would clash with Diablo Immortal or anything else.

BIGGER BACKPACK – and screw the sacred gameplay loop

The developers are defensive about implementing an enlarged backpack or a backpack with compartments for strengthening talismans, for example, but... mods did this a long time ago and it didn't disrupt the sacred "gameplay loop" as much as feared. Sure, we'd get gold a little faster for certain needs (scrolls, potions, resurrecting mercenaries) – but that still wouldn't ruin the joy coming from the game, and would speed it up just a little.

A little more fiddly animations/click effects in combat

The feel of combat becomes quite good in Diablo 2 and Diablo 2 Resurrected – but from a modern player's perspective it happens a little too late. I don't know how Vicarious Visions would accomplish this exactly, but the attacks should look smoother and jucier. The sound already does a good job – more so than in Diablo 3, but if cranking up the animation would bring more fun – it might be worth heading that way, right? Some things were visually tweaked anyhow – so why not this?