Version 1.00 is capable of impressing with its level of difficulty.
Recently, a user with the nickname Reachoutforfadez decided to return to the classics and played Diablo 2. He went on an adventure in version 1.00.
No runes, charms, or patches. Nothing. Just pure Diablo 2.
Judging by the comments, many players began their acquaintance with Diablo 2 with an already improved version (1.07 - 1.10), so they did not imagine that the Blizzard game could pose a very serious challenge.
Some consider Path of Exile 2 a very difficult game, but experienced connoisseurs of the ARPG genre know that dealing with the original D2 is much more difficult.
SLISKI_JOHNNY shared his impressions:
I recently [played Diablo 2] too, and maybe Sorceress isn't the best choice, but I was just getting destroyed there. Even PoE2 wasn't as difficult as Diablo 2 v1.00. It's no wonder that the game seemed much harder to me as a child — back then we only had D2 discs without the Lord of Destruction addon and we were without the Internet, so we mostly played without patches, on version 1.00.