The new, the old, and the stubbornly-unchanged

With allegations of workplace misogyny being directed at Activision Blizzard at the moment, it’s good to see some shift in representation here taking place. The Amazonnian warrior, for instance, finally has some armor that will protect her vulnerable bits, sensibly covering her up in a way fitting for a battle-hardened veteran. If playing on a modern console, you have both a 60fps ‘Performance’ graphics option, and a native 4K / 30fps ‘Quality’ option – there’s so little difference in visual fidelity between them that the smoother Performance option is the one to go for.Įagle-eyed returning players will notice that some of the more sexualized character designs and armors have been edited, too.

It’s all in keeping with the original aesthetic – that dark fantasy moodiness retained, compared to the slightly friendlier Diablo 3 palette. Dungeons are slick with damp and reflections, furry gargantuan’s shag flicks with each whack of their paws, and fire spells light up enemies and the environment alike. The new visuals are lovingly put together – there’s the same implied griminess of the original’s pixelated look, but now with all the detail your imagination used to have to do the heavy lifting for. While you can still play at good ol’ 800 x 600 resolution, switching on the fly with a push of a button between vintage and modern graphics settings. The most obvious difference, naturally, is the fresh 4K lick of paint applied to the visuals.

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