Overall this game does a great job capturing the D2LoD experience in combat, styling, and atmosphere and that was my main concern: does it feel authentic in core gameplay and ambience? Yes it does.
But these are specific examples where I feel D2R is not authentic:
UI panes like waypoint list, advanced char details, and other panes seem a bit bland, especially the borders/edges. Even core panes like char, inv, Merc seem too smooth - using thin gold border accents or elaborate scrolling leaf for some panes would add more appeal to the UI imo. Waypoint list and advanced char details in particular need more work as they are the most bland imo.
Character movement - having gone through A2 w/ several chars, some of the movement feels off, especially in town with the SHIFT+LMB issue with the leg animation flutter - that’s a glaring issue. Otherwise, AZN seems off on directional changes and height of loping etc. If possible I wouldn’t deviate from the core feel of movement in D2LoD with classes.
As I’m sure developers are aware, the zone loading delay is a current issue but I think most people are hoping this will be fully optimized and not an issue for launch. Instant load times for most D2 players are a given and having load delays will not go over well with the existing D2 playerbase.
Item icons in inventory - some of these seem off, especially specific rings and amulets etc. I would just make sure to checklist amulets and make sure in comparison they look the same in D2LoD because right now, some don’t. But if authenticity is not a concern - it’s fine.
I felt like my A1 and A2 Mercs were going AWOL more often in D2R than in D2. This was highly subjective though - specific example would be in outdoor zones for long periods of time they would frequently be nowhere on the minimap or close by - I would have to TP or WP to get them back in close proximity. This happens all the time in D2 as well with Merc pathing/navigation where they get hung up and separated but I feel in D2R this was more pronounced.
Gems seem off a bit like the L12 gems don’t seem as visually distinct from chipped if memory serves but stuff like this is very minor.
Fonts on dropped items and in general - I feel like D2 has bolded heavier font in general - D2R’s font feels thinner and more spaced apart in general for drops etc. This is kind of a big deal because we look at drops ad nauseam and giving font more solid and bolder feel would be nice.
Because of the higher resolution, I feel the screen distance between inventory and stash, and between inv and vendor screen is too big. Moving items and/or buying/selling doesn’t have the same feel because of this distance imo. Because we’re stationary in these cases, I would much rather have vendor/stash panes right next to inv pane for efficiency, instead of being on opposite edges of the screen.
But back to the overall picture - great job on the alpha in general. The graphics and animations are excellent imo. Ghostly marauder in A2 desert for example was amazing to see - semi-transparent, truly ghostly, great job on details like that. And people will nitpick every animation and every skill and all kinds of things but again, my main question coming in was this: Does D2R capture the D2LoD experience? And the answer was yes, except for loading screens and some avatar movement issues. Fix those, keep a consistent frame rate and you guys should be fine for core gameplay.