Diablo 2 Resurrected Season 10 is underway, and that should be cause for celebration. The iconic ARPG built on Blizzard’s first outing and set the standard for basically every game that followed in its dungeon-crawling, loot-hauling footsteps. It might be a little clunky by modern standards, but there’s a special sauce to its brand of Sanctuary that still tastes sweet to this day. Despite going to the trouble of a full remaster, however, Blizzard has let D2 fall silent since the launch of Diablo 4, and it feels like a tremendous wasted opportunity when viewed alongside the efforts of its closest rival, Path of Exile.
The early seasons of Diablo 2 Resurrected weren’t entirely transformative, but they did a good job of building on one of the PC’s best RPGs in subtle ways that didn’t push it too far from the core that made it great. We saw the introduction of Terror Zones to add a little more random danger to the world, some new runewords that provided fresh build potential, and a selection of balance changes that made key improvements to underlying mechanics and ensured that every class felt viable and fun to play.
Then, around Season 5, the changes all but stopped. That made sense, I reasoned at the time, because the team was obviously hard at work polishing its latest entry in the series, which had launched just a few months prior. Diablo 4 is a game I really love – it might well be best-in-class for how good it feels at a basic level of hitting monsters and using your skills. It’s also grown a lot over the seasons, and even more dramatically so with the launch of its Vessel of Hatred expansion. But I’d appreciate a better excuse than pure nostalgia to return to the game that defined the genre.
Now, Ladder Season 10 is underway, giving you a fresh chance to grind to level 99 and seek out the strongest loot once more. But again there are no adjustments or improvements. All we’ve had in the past two years are the holiday Nights of Terror events. They’re quite fun, with daily boosts that enable the likes of nigh-infinite item gambling, dramatically increased magic find, or Terror Zones that hop around the map rapidly for 24-hour stretches. But they don’t feel like a substitute for an actual update.
In comparison, look at what Grinding Gear Games is doing with Path of Exile (a game expressly built by a team with a shared passion for Diablo 2). The next PoE 1 season has been delayed to focus on early-access support for its recently launched sequel. Rather than letting the original languish in the meantime, however, GGG whipped up one of its most interesting and transformative events yet, with a full complement of experimental subclasses, including many that never quite made the final cut, and a revamped endgame. It proved so popular that Path of Exile even briefly leapfrogged PoE 2 on Steam, and the event’s runtime has since been extended by another month.
I’m not saying Blizzard needs to get quite that weird with it. The people who still love Diablo 2 – those that regularly go back each season to make a new character – love it for what it is. It’s slow, methodical, and incredibly grindy, especially if you want to get your hands on some of its most powerful items. Pulling too dramatically away from that might alienate the players who actually spend the most time with the classic ARPG (although there’s always the option for an additional, ‘experimental’ ladder).
Whatever it is, there’s certainly space for something. Honestly, I was more than happy with those early seasons. A new feature here, another runeword there; little, tangible upgrades that made you think, “Ooh, I should go back to Diablo 2 again,” even if you ended up playing the same build you fall into every time. I’d also be open to more dramatic upgrades, although I think it’s reasonable for Blizzard to prioritize its best ideas for future Diablo 4 seasons. More than anything, I’d just like some acknowledgement that this pillar of PC gaming hasn’t been completely forgotten by the studio that made it.
Diablo 2 Ladder Season 10 has begun as of Friday March 7 at 5pm PST / 8pm EST and Saturday March 8 at 1am GMT / 2am CET. Items from your Season 9 stash will be kept in withdraw-only tabs until Season 10 ends, Blizzard notes, after which time any still left there will be lost. Let me be clear: Diablo 2 Resurrected remains the best way to play one of the most important PC games of all time, and you’ll probably have a lot of fun if you decide to jump in. I just can’t help but wonder what could be.
If you are giving it a try, be sure to check our ranking of the best Diablo 2 Resurrected classes before you decide what to pick. Alternatively, why not experiment with another of the best games like Diablo and see what you think? There are a lot of great choices out there nowadays.
Do you still revisit Diablo 2? Or has another ARPG taken its place in your heart? Let us know on Discord. You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides.
