Blizzard Entertainment has announced that Diablo 3‘s annual retro event will be returning for the next month. The Darkening of Tristram was Blizzard’s homage to the first Diablo game, introduced last January during the 20th-anniversary celebration of the Diablo series.
Offering a recreated version of the original game’s dungeon, The Darkening of Tristram comes complete with “retro vision:” old-school visual and audio elements and 90s’-style pixelated graphics. The event also yields “unique transmogrification effects, achievements, portraits, pets, and more.” Blizzard has not yet clarified whether the event will offer any new loot, or will simply be a repeat of the previous event, giving returning players a chance to pick up whatever they missed last year.
“Your journey begins on the trail of a group of mysterious cultists causing trouble in Sanctuary,” Blizzard wrote in its Darkening of Tristram announcement. “As you hunt them down in Adventure Mode, you’ll uncover clues leading to a portal into Tristram’s past, and the terrifying darkness that took hold of the town so many years ago. Follow the clues and you’ll soon find yourself in a realm of glorious RetroVision™, where an all-too-familiar cathedral looms. Explore the depths and you’ll discover familiar enemies and iconic items, all brought to life in the Diablo III engine. Meanwhile, deep beneath the catacombs, the Dark Lord himself awaits any intrepid adventurer who dares to challenge him. . . .”
The Darkening of Tristram begins on January 1 at midnight PST and runs through January 30. Diablo 3 is available now for PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.