One of the most difficult things for any Diablo II fan to do is accurately describe what about this game makes it stand out. Not necessarily from its contemporaries, that seems fairly obvious now (mostly tone, atmosphere, music and the ever elusive feel), but from the games that have after it, particularly its own sequel and all the other pretenders to the throne.

After more than 20 years, I think I've finally nailed it down: it's the illusion of difficulty. The feeling this game gives you of being truly lost in the wilderness, alone and surrounded on all sides by nefarious creatures and evil entities. Even if, in the end, it's not as mechanically complex or brutally difficult, even when compared directly to the Baldur's Gates and Icewind Dales of the world, it's a game that manages to perfectly walk that tight rope between hedonistic power fantasy and ruthless difficulty, with a perfectly sized inventory and the ability to return to town at the click of a button making sure that few treks ever take more than 30-45 minutes and you can return to the warm light of a tavern before things get too rough out there.

This push-pull, specifically adventurous spirit is what separates Diablo II from both its sequel and the various copycats that have come since, it's tough enough to take seriously but not so vicious and unforgiving as to be less fun. Throw in that dark tone, those perfectly designed sound effects, a classic Gothic art style and that stupendously good soundtrack and D2 is simply one of the best games ever made, a perfect alchemical concoction coming along exactly when it needed to, from a Blizzard that still had something to prove, the crown jewel of one of the great developer hot streaks of all time, and perhaps the most winsome and aesthetically captivating game I have ever played.