Diablo 2 Act 2 had far better atmosphere than Diablo 1 especialy when you meet for the first time Duriel up close.
Hahano.
Although, to be fair Act 2 in D2 is pretty close to actually having good atmosphere. First thing first, Act2 is actually what was *expected* of Diablo 2, it also doesn't depart from the original (mostly implied) D1 worldbuilding unlike mostly ultra-shitty Act 3. And it actually looks and feels sort of right unlike turbo-bland Act 1.
And it's actually fairly interesting and diverse.
Now if only you didn't spend half of it whacking vultures and catgirls in the desert...
Other than shitty MMO mechanics that's the main problem with D2.
The core of Diablo's atmosphere was it implying to be low-key Judeochristian medieval European setting. The fantastic elements were all hidden from the prying eyes of most mortals with both the forces of heaven and hell engaged in masquerade.
That means that middleastern Act 2 was thematically appropriate in addition to being foreshadowed nicely by D1's ending cinematic, unlike, say Act 3 which was terribly shit up until you started descending into the Durance of Hate.
Unfortunately it also means that undeniably supernatural enemies should generally not be encountered outdoors near the centers of civilization, and there generally shouldn't be fantastic races or beasts.
So basically unless underground or sufficiently far from civilization everything encountered during daylight should be deniably demonic and deniably fantastic. Masked probably just cultists/raiders (with many of them actually being just cultist/raiders), strangely malevolent fauna and elements, maybe rare incorporeals (wraiths) etc.
Any exceptions should tap into folklore.
And that means you shouldn't be running around whacking catgirls.
It's both interesting and sad that D2 nailed this atmosphere in cinematics, yet failed so fucking hard in actual game.
If you really want a pure but "improved" experience rather than an overhaul, all you really need is Pluggy + Glide.
