Dude, you're nitpicking over what they callback on, but it's still obvious.
2024 :
The Enraged enemy, the maps in The Classic Event, the first step into triggering Hidden Wave being callbacks to the original, the Hidden Wave dialogue, Awakened Fallen King, Fallen King teleport stomp animation returned for Awakened Fallen King, Molten Warlord kept his face markings he had back in latter Overhaul, Grave Digger being a remaster of the 2019/Mega variant, Operation: I.C.E is literally a Frost Invasion retelling, the Molten Monster.
2025 :
Champion Templar being a callback to the original Templar enemy before the Fallen Enemies Beta and rework happened, Templar is renamed into Warden in Polluted Wasteland II, Null and Void Event... Nothing else, there's just so much references and callbacks in Null and Void that I'm not even bothered to list them all, Narrator literally mentions the spotlights in The Final Act as a callback to Lunar Overture.
2026 :
The Hardcore Rework is a homage to what's supposed to be the original Hardcore Update by having the Void Caster as the final boss, releasing the first three Evolved Towers, which are Juggernaut, Operator, and Kingpin, while having its own Live Event before the update drops, the Blighted enemy, the Hardcore wave structure being reminiscent of the Legacy variant by having the same detection check waves, Mysteries return, 3 Elite Phantom on Wave 25, and Void Rushers debuting on Wave 28, the Void Keeper's name is a callback to a removed enemy named Gravekeeper, the Void Swordmaster is a reimagining of the Fallen Swordmaster, the Void Guardian is inspired by the Legacy Fallen Guardian, Void Tricksters is a reimagining of the Legacy Necromancer Boss, Wrecked Battlefield is still playable in Hardcore and Voidcore despite there being Wrecked Battlefield II.
That's not even everything, that's just what I can remember at the time. There's more, more obvious or subtle.
