Diablo III on Nintendo Switch Review

What happens when our resident 'PC Master Race' gamer gets her hands on the Diablo III: Eternal [...]

What happens when our resident "PC Master Race" gamer gets her hands on the Diablo III: Eternal Collection for Nintendo Switch? Beautiful things, friends, beautiful things.

It seems that ever since the hybrid console from Nintendo was released, a common question for all games is "When is it coming to the Switch?" With a long list of successful ports already to the portable platform, including greats such as Wolfenstein II and Skyrim, the excitement was immediately felt when Blizzard unveiled that the Diablo III experience would be making its way as well.

This is the fourth platform I've now played this title on, with Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC being the first. Usually my go-to is PC, so when I sat down to try it out for myself, I knew it would be good but I still expected to keep that "PC Master Race" hautiness. Boy, was I wrong and honestly? Happy for it.

This port was stunning. It was fluid, the mechanics were smooth, the progression was easy to follow, the portability added an entirely new layer of immersion. For Diablo lovers, this is the port and an experience that is truly worth the double-dip.

Diablo III: The Eternal Collection doesn't technically offer a whole lot of "new" when it comes to the game other than the Legend of Zelda exclusive gear such as the Ganondorf cosmetic armor set, the Tri-Force portrait frame, the Cucco pet, and the Echoes of the Mask cosmetic wings. The ability to play on the go is nice, in a handheld is even better. The ability to play with friends on the spot through the Joy-Cons is phenomenal as well and is a game changer for those professional convention attendees.

When looking back at previous ports such as Skyrim, Wolfenstein II, DOOM ... the transition from mega platform to hybrid console was shockingly smooth. Diablo III was no different and - bear with me as I disgrace my PC name - almost better.

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Roll With It

Though the Nintendo Switch version wasn't the first to implement the roll mechanic, it's still glaringly missing from PC. With games of this particular niche, console ports are usually looked at from a convenient perspective, not necessarily optimized. Convenience, though definitely a part of the Switch port, was not its main goal. Instead, the Eternal Collection offers an impressively smooth gameplay experience that handles both the docked and remote settings like a dream.

The way the controls map out the game are incredibly fluid, making it so much easier to jump back into a Rift with your favourite main. For this review, I veered away from my usual Demon Hunter role and decided to go Monk instead. This change did little to dim my enthrallment in the game - the OP nature of the monk even made it better. Diablo III was meant for the Switch and the portability, accessibility, and successful integration with the hardware supports that notion one thousand percent. Because of that, this is a port that will have a long lifetime of playability.

Offline Play and Specs

Another aspect that I thoroughly enjoyed about this port is that if you take the game offline, you won't lose any of your XP, loot, or progress made. Take it up in the air with your for travel, take it on a road trip - wherever! That time put in won't be for nought and the nifty cloud save feature makes it even easier to pick up right where you left off.

Speaking of travel, let's talk specs for a second. Undocked, the Eternal Collection will run at 720p while the docked version will maintain a 960p experience at a steady 60 fps. Though it seems like there's a notable gap there, it was hardly noticeable while playing. I often swapped between docked and undocked to play with another player and give that poor battery some rest and I didn't find the enjoyment or the enthrallment lessened either way.

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Multiplayer and Battery Life

Transitioning from multiplayer to single-player was easier than ever. Both the local co-op and the online matchup was predictably easy - as seen in previous versions - but as mentioned earlier, the Joy-Cons made that even more accessible. Since every Switch comes with two remote Joy-Cons, one handheld is all players need to get in on that 2P couch co-op experience.

Even with four players on all at once, the gameplay continued to run smoothly, unhindered by the Nintendo Switch's perceived limitations. The only downside to this is that the battery life leaves much to be desired. If you don't already have a battery pack, it's worth investing. On average I'd get anywhere between 2 -2 1/2 hours of remote gametime in before that "Low Battery" prompt would appear. But - the docked play helps with this and there are ways to work around it. The battery life was expected, as it's pretty traditional with the bigger Switch game releases.

Our Take

This port is a dream and perfect for those that love the grind or simply want to kick it with friends for an enjoyable game experience. I truly believe Diablo III has reached the epitome of its enjoyment with the Nintendo Switch, it was made for the portable console and the polished finish is truly a testament to that fact.

You haven't truly enjoyed Diablo until you've played it on Nintendo Switch and as a dedicated PC player, I have no shame in admitting that the Switch did it better.

WWG Score: 4.5/5.

You can contact the author of this story on Twitter @DirtyEffinHippy.

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