Summary
A great game with amazing re-playability
The Good
Diablo II grabbed me at the time because I saw a friend playing it and just loved the atmosphere it gave off. I'd felt lukewarm about the first Diablo but I knew this one was a keeper.
When I first played Diablo II, I was totally into the quests. Many grizzled veterans of the game complain about the repeated quests over difficulty levels, but I found it very fun. I also began to love the item-collecting side of the game, and was constantly comparing what crazy new items friends and I had found.
Things only got better when the expansion was released, which was also when I got into playing the game networking and over the net. The multiplayer is, in my opinion, what really makes this game. Once you have spent a few hours playing together with another 1-7 people, the game really opens up to you. Finding the absolute optimal combination of items really became a fun challenge.
This expansion really got me back into the game after about a 6 month hiatus. The 800x600 resolution and my then upgraded PC completely amplified the atmosphere I enjoyed so much. Taking characters to ridiculous levels of power and replaying the game from scratch with friends at LANs was never boring.
I fell into a pattern of playing a bit of Lord of Destruction between other games I'd play and then discard. I always ended up playing Lord of Destruction again to try another class or push my older characters further.
Once one becomes more adept at the game, replaying from the beginning gives one the chance to choose skills and items much better than they might have the first time round. However lame it may seems, making a very well-built character from scratch is very satisfying.
The Bad
The expansion's new chapter was an unfortunate thing for older characters at the time, as they could just breeze right through it without a problem. But I suppose creating new characters and playing from the beginning made up for that.
The third act was always a sore point for me. My characters always struggled there and I didn't enjoy the levels and quests there. Anywhere else was fun to wander about, but I always wanted the third act to end as quickly as possible. I don't know whether that was the fault of my characters or Blizzard's design, but I didn't like it.
Otherwise, I can't really complain. I only wish Blizzard had created more chapters and quests or perhaps expanded the level cap beyond 99 (not that I was dedicated enough to get any of my characters that high, but anyway). I think I can wait for a Diablo III.
The Bottom Line
This game is simple, straightforward and seemingly shallow at first. But if you really get into this, being a higher level character is a totally different experience. The way the game is engineered, it remains a challenge because the game adjusts to your skill level. The areas you play in are always randomly generated and this keeps it interesting too.
Perhaps this game worked best because of the social aspect and the multiplayer, so perhaps it would hard for a new player to get into it at this stage. However, I can still imagine that die-hard fans still give this game a bash from time to time.
