Lamoine Williams
For
weeks just like many of you I have been patiently awaiting the release of the
Diablo2 remake. While it was officially released today, September 24, 2021, it
seems to be missing some of the crucial accessibility features we were promised
by the developer. Although there are accessibility options for resizing U/I
elements, choosing if NPC’s dialog is presented in audio, text, or both, there
is no Text to Speech to be heard anywhere. In the past, there have not been
many game remakes that have added in more accessibility for the blind. This is
something that the entire blind community wishes would change very soon.
When a
game is remade, the developers in most cases overhaul the game in order to make
it a bit more modern and appealing to consumers. Games may get updated U/I,
updates to graphics, and attention to things that make the game overall run
smoother. This is the perfect time to add in accessibility, while developers
are under a game’s hood adding in other updates. Sadly, this is not what is
happening in most cases. What we usually get are games that are graphically
pleasing, but have little to no updates that remove the barriers from the
original games.
One
thing to understand is the difference between a remaster and a remake. These
two terms are easy to get confused and although they seem similar, they are as
different as night and day. Let’s start with remasters. A remaster of a game
means that it is usually the same game with changes to graphics and assets.
These games are mostly the same at the core and have the same content and
overall gameplay.
On the
other hand, a remake is a total overhaul of the game. A remake may have the same
concept, just taken in a different direction. In remakes, developers rebuild a
game from the original. Technical updates are usually implemented while also
making the game more appealing to new gamers. Plot lines, characters, and
combat are things that are changed depending on the title.
So, how
bad is Diablo2 Resurrected from an accessibility standpoint? Well, it’s still
as dead as its predecessor to be honest. Pre-launch there was tons of talk
about how much accessibility was going to be put into this title. While
post-launch it is another dismal failure. Many in the disabled community were
sure after the mind-blowing release of The Last of Us Part II last year that
developers understood what was needed to make a game fully accessible and would
begin making it a priority. But with accessibility failures such as Watch Dog:
Legion, Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart, and Final Fantasy 7: Remake we
experienced none of what makes a game great, which is removing barriers and allowing
everyone to play.
©2021 Lamoine Williams
