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Diablo III: Eternal Collection (NS) - Blizzard X Nintendo

Diablo III: Eternal Collection (NS) – Blizzard X Nintendo

Blizzards first Switch game brings their most recent action role-player to Nintendos console and the result is far from hellish.

Diablo fans are not an easy crowd to please. The furore over the reveal of Diablo Immortal at the weekend already looks like its going to go down as a classic video game controversy. Which at least means fans are being consistent, because they were initially just as angry about Diablo III when it was first unveiled. They complained the graphics were too colourful and that the series was being dumbed down and ruined. Before it went on to sell 30 million copies worldwide.

Hardcore fans were also not too keen about Diablo appearing on consoles (forgetting that the original was on PlayStation 1), as they worried that Blizzard was not focusing enough on the PC and were drifting further away from the tone of the first two games. But as long as they accept its basic right to exist, we dont think theyll find anything to get upset about in this Switch version.

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Even though its one of the few genres thats still named after its progenitor, with any similar game simply being dismissed as a Diablo clone, many console gamers will probably still not be familiar with the franchise. Diablo III is not a difficult game to get to grips with though, as its basically just a dungeon crawler, an action role-playing game stripped to the bones so that its sole obsessions are fighting and looting.

The reason Diablo clones are so rare on consoles is that their controls are usually based solely on using a keyboard and mouse. Not only that but the screen is filled with tiny icons and stats that while perfectly readable on a high-resolution PC monitor have clearly not been designed with a TV in mind. But Blizzard solved that problem long ago, starting with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions and continuing with the more recent Xbox One and PlayStation 4 editions.

The latter were released as the Ultimate Evil Edition which also included the first expansion pack Reaper Of Souls. The Eternal Collection is basically the same thing but with the subsequent Rise Of The Necromancer pack and everything else thats ever been released since the game first came out in 2012 (plus some Ganondorf-themed armour and a Loot Goblin amiibo).

The obvious problem with the gamepad controls is that theyre much less precise than when using a mouse. Its not that anything doesnt work, just that all the many abilities and weapons have been specifically designed with the assumption youd be able to point and click exactly where you want to use them. Controlling your character directly almost makes the game feel more like a clunkier version of old school God Of War than a real Diablo game, although perhaps the most tempting compromise is the Lego movie games.

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Like the Lego games the most addictive element of Diablo III is collecting stuff. Once the screen is littered with a suitable number of corpses you can then go about hoovering up dropped gold, weapons, and clothing. Its easy to dismiss Diablo as mindlessly simplistic, especially if you limit your sample go to just a few minutes combat from the beginning of the story campaign. But although its tactics and systems are never especially deep, and the enemies all fairly dim, the breadth of options in how you play is enormous.

Diablo III: Eternal Collection (NS) - the spirit of Gauntlet lives

Diablo III: Eternal Collection (NS) – the spirit of Gauntlet lives

Which character class you choose makes a huge difference to the specifics of combat, but the basics are the same for all: you have simple active skills which build up what amounts to a super bar and this powers stronger secondary attacks. Skills can also be upgraded via runes, allowing you to further specialise your character.

There are also passive skills, such as increasing your resistance to magic or speed, and other miscellaneous abilities which work on a timer. However, since these used to work by pressing the number buttons on the keyboard activating them is fiddlier than on the PC.

Diablo IIIs backdrops become increasingly impressive as the game goes on, with the fixed camera making the best of the painterly art style. And it all works surprising well on the Switch with a very stable 60fps frame rate in both handheld and docked mode.

The resolution drops to 720p in handheld, which isnt ideal but easily mitigated by the fact that Diablo III is so well suited to being played on the go, with the game proving just as enjoyable in 10-minute bursts as it is during all-night marathons.

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The story is the same old wooden collection of genre clichés though, of the sort that Blizzard always reels out for their games. Most of the attempts at humour fall flat and the voiceovers are often embarrassingly amateurish.

Thats no more than would be expected but there are some qualms to be had when it comes to level progression. Although theres an endless array of secrets hiding around every corner the critical path through the main story campaign is absolutely linear and you can almost feel Blizzards heavy breathing behind you as you play, herding you in the direction they want you to go.

Thats not a particularly rare feeling in games nowadays though and most of these problems are softened by a clear advantage that Diablo III on consoles has over the PC version: four-player offline co-op. Having someone sitting on the same couch next to you is far more satisfying than playing with distant friends online – even if it does hammer home the Lego comparisons even more (as well as coin-op classic Gauntlet).

Theres also the fact that Adventure mode is unlocked from the start in the Eternal Collection, so you can skip the story campaign entirely if you get bored of its hand-holding and relatively slow pace.

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It is very hard to see how Blizzard could have done a better job here, and while many have been calling for a Switch version of Overwatch its obvious now why Blizzard chose to test the water with Diablo. We can only assume they consider this a successful experiment, as not only is it extremely solid on the technical front but the game itself is a perfect match for Nintendos console.

Its still fundamentally the same game as the 1996 original, but thats kind of the point. Diablo isnt interested in innovation or subtlety; its interested in empowerment and cheap thrills. It knows that fighting monsters and stealing their stuff is fun and its only concern is ensuring it stays that way no matter how, and with whom, you play it.

Diablo III: Eternal Collection

In Short: One of the best Switch ports so far, both technically and in terms of how handheld mode enhances and compliments the original gameplay.

Pros: Satisfying combat with highly versatile character classes. Mountains of content and excellent co-op options. High quality port and the game is naturally well suited to the Switch.

Cons: Deceptively linear and slow-paced story campaigns. Limited enemy artificial intelligence and awful storytelling.

Score: 8/10

Formats: Nintendo Switch
Price: £49.99
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Release Date: 2nd November 2018
Age Rating: 16

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