Diablo executive producer Rod Fergusson says Blizzard "didn't want to mess with balance" when creating the upcoming Diablo 2: Resurrected remaster. Fergusson said the team approached the project with authenticity in mind and only wanted to make minor changes.
What is new in Diablo 2: Resurrected?
This news comes via an interview with Fergusson conducted by GameSpot. In the interview, GameSpot's Michael Higham asks Fergusson if anything has changed in Diablo 2: Resurrected regarding character balance, especially with regard to the game's console version and controller support. Fergusson says Blizzard didn't want to interfere with the balance of the game, even if there are some "balance issues" in the original Diablo 2. He says everything the team did when crafting Diablo 2: Resurrected was "very focused on keeping the balance as it is".
Despite not wanting to interfere with game balance, Fergusson did say that there are some aspects of Diablo 2: Resurrected the team felt comfortable changing. Some issues in the original game arose due to technical limitations, Fergusson says, and this is why the team changed them. Examples include the new shared stash and gold auto pick-up features, which Fergusson felt confident Blizzard would have included if they were able to at the time of the original game's release. Fergusson sums this up by saying Blizzard wanted Diablo 2: Resurrected to be "easier to play, but not easier".
Will Diablo 2: Resurrected feel different on consoles?
There's also some information in the GameSpot interview about how Diablo 2: Resurrected works on consoles. Fergusson is adamant that nothing has changed balance-wise as a result of controller support, although he does concede that certain "precision" elements might feel different on consoles or with a controller. Despite this, he says that he and his team worked hard not to make Diablo 2: Resurrected feel like a PC port on consoles, as he said that would have made the game "clunky". As such, the team has dedicated a lot of time to making the experience feel smooth on non-PC platforms.
It's worth checking out the full interview with Fergusson if you're a Diablo 2 nut, as there are plenty of other tidbits and interesting nuggets of information there. All in all, despite the visual overhaul, it sounds like Blizzard wants to maintain the original feel of Diablo 2 with the new remaster, so you're unlikely to be disappointed if you love the game. Diablo 2: Resurrected launches for PC, PlayStation platforms, Xbox consoles, and Nintendo Switch on September 23rd, with an open multiplayer in August.
Are you looking forward to Diablo 2: Resurrected? Let us know in the comments below!
