Had a bit of a play around, pretty much boxed off act 1 with mixed feelings tbh.
Visually it does look really nice, they've nailed the art style remaking everything and it feels very smooth in motion. The lighting on the spell effects really make them pop too, especially in darker areas where it looks pretty impressive. It still retains the same sort of atmosphere as the original too, nothing but praise there really.
It might sound very odd as a negative, and this is mostly personal preference, but the fact that it's an almost 1:1 remake of the original holds it back in my eyes. The feel is spot on so those looking for that experience are really going to enjoy this, it just feels a bit weird having all the quirks and limitations of the original present in something that visually is very modern. The movement still has the grid like motion to it, despite now appearing to animate very smoothly, shooting projectiles still sometimes wiff past things because they aren't exactly on line with the target. It gives me more of a feeling of disconnect at times, yet it all feels just right playing on the old visuals.
I played through the original not long back and thought it had really started to show it's age in terms of feel, another playthrough with some mods was much more enjoyable for me. I believe that mod support is coming with the remaster? If so I think I'll wait to see what crazy stuff the modding scene is gonna come up with before/if I come back to it.
I dunno, it's hard to explain, I knew exactly what this was going to be coming in, and it met those expectations the same as my recent playthrough. It's a great game, but something I've outgrown at this point.
I'll say again though, those who really just wanted the same old D2 with better visuals are gonna have a great time with this.
so I'll not hold my breath