---
image: "/img/games/diablo2/cover.jpg"
date: "2020-12-13"
title: "Diablo 2 twenty years later: a retrospective"
tags:
    - 'Diablo 2'
    - 'hack and slash'
    - 'diablo'
    - 'retrospective'
game_platform: 'pc'
played_on: 'winxp'
howlongtobeat_id: 2512
howlongtobeat_hrs: 35.5
draft: true
game_name: 'Diablo 2'
description: "2020 marks the 20th anniversary of the beloved and mostly undisputed hack and slash king, Diablo II. Does it still hold up, twenty years later, compared to modern Diablo clones?"
game_genre: 'Hack and Slash'
game_release_year: '2000'
game_developer: 'Blizzard North'
---

a

## 1. World Design

a

a

### Graphics

![](/img/games/diablo2/crystallinepassage.jpg "The Crystalline Passage, a typical dark and grim dungeon.")

a

a

a

![](/img/games/diablo2/talrasha.jpg "Tal Rasha's chamber - be ready to face Duriel! Note the thick fog of war.")


### Enemies and Mobs

a

a


![](/img/games/diablo2/mobs.jpg "Killing mobs in Act IV and hoping for something good.")

a

### Quests

a

a

a


![](/img/games/diablo2/baal.jpg "The Main Quest: kill All Evil. I'm about to hand it to Baal for the first time.")

## 2. Loot

a

a

![](/img/games/diablo2/loot.jpg "Wow, my topaz-socketed 72% magic find helmet pays off in Nightmare!")

a

## 3. Character Progression

### Attributes

a

![](/img/games/diablo2/stats.jpg "The Druid skill tree and my stats. Hurricane gets damage bonuses from other skills.")

a

a


![](/img/games/diablo2/items.jpg "Look ma, unique stuff!")

## 4. Ambience

### Sound and Music

a

a

### Cinematic

a

![](/img/games/diablo2/inhouses.jpg "Scouring for chests in the remains of Lower Kurast.")

## To Conclude

a