Diablo III is coming to Switch, with a compilation of all the updates and expansions that have come out to date. In this analysis of Diablo III Eternal Collection we discuss all its characteristics and the technical result of playing the famous Blizzard RPG on the Nintendo machine.
It is no longer surprising to say that Diablo III is unrecognizable since its launch back in 2012. Blizzard, after many efforts, managed to refine a formula based on constant updates that have survived to this day and more than succulent additions based on its two expansions, Reaper of Souls and Rise of the Necromancer. With all this, the loot fever does not seem to have an end, both in the different difficulty modes that his campaign has to offer and in the adventure mode.
The content today is such that the novice player who enters Diablo III Eternal Collection for the first time can feel overwhelmed between campaign, adventure mode, failures, challenges and online possibilities . Even more so when the game introduces you to “Season 15”. Don’t worry and start at the beginning, discovering the game as it was conceived and adding more depth and, of course, more loot of higher quality while you fill in all kinds of random assignments throughout the mapping.
In short, the old and well-known Diablo III that is still as fun as the first day. My colleagues have already written a lot about it, both about Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition that was released a few years ago and about the news that the Necromancer’s Awakening expansion offered. Here I am going to focus on the work that Blizzard has done for Nintendo Switch , with some of its features, additions and especially the technical response offered by the Nintendo machine, from which Blizzard seems to have gotten the most out of it.
Diablo III: Eternal Collection Captured Gameplay
The devil is in the detailsWe had already been warning it. The Blizzard team has done a lot of research to bring the Diablo experience to Nintendo Switch . He has even consulted Iron Galaxy, the developers of the Skyrim conversion, to get the most out of it, and that can be seen in the first moves with our hero, by maintaining a constant frame rate per second in all our games. When the console versions were released, PS3 and Xbox 360 took the worst part, having to adjust their resolution to 720p and with a framerate that did not always meet the desired 60 frames per second. Although in the dungeons it frequently reached this rate, when the stage was full of effects or we went outside, the frequency would drop, especially in the PS3 version.
Despite the large number of elements that can appear on the screen with advanced abilities, Diablo III on Switch always holds the framerate.
What Blizzard has achieved in this version of Switch is that this rate of frames per second is always fixed, or at least that is what I have been able to denote in all my games. Both at the beginning of the game and in advanced multiplayer games, powerful magic effects and multiple enemies on the screen, at no time have we noticed the slightest tug . If there is, at least our eye has not been able to capture it. I think Blizzard’s ultimate goal in this project was for this to be a completely immovable red line, and it has succeeded.
The Blizzard team has done a lot of research to bring the Diablo experience to SwitchIn this type of conversions, when the frame rate is so ambitious, the one who has to compromise is the resolution. It has not done much, because unlike other games that move below 720p, here Blizzard has achieved this native resolution for the Nintendo Switch screen and 960p for the Dock mode, as confirmed by the study . Here I have a few more doubts, and it is that although the resolution may be the one stated, the truth is that I notice a big difference with the 1080p offered by the console versions, for example (leaving the PC out of the equation for just a moment).
Up to four players can enter battle locally or online. Remember that for this last mode you will need to pay for the Nintendo Switch Online.
The image quality offered by Diablo III on the Switch is good, but I really miss that total sharpness that highlights all the mastery of the team and the great detail put into all the elements. I notice it a bit blurry, and although it is perfectly understandable that the resolution has to give way to unleash the refresh rate, it is still true that Diablo III is a game with an artistic design, a texturization and a graphic representation that win when everything works at the highest level. I know Blizzard has had to sacrifice detail on certain effects and environment elements, although they also confirmed to me at the time, when I was able to speak with them during Gamescom, that the resolution is invariable and remains fixed at all times. Comparing the original and console version with this Nintendo Switch version, I think that some players may be affected by this fact, while for others it will be a slight sacrifice due to its portable status. In fact, on the console’s native screen, which is smaller for its portable condition, this loss of focus and detail is less noticeable.
Online control and functionsIf you only own the Nintendo machine or the portable game is your goal, Diablo III Eternal Collection is a more than worthy version that has been taken care of to the point of offering full compatibility with the Joy-Coneven in its simplest conception. Pull the controllers out of their slots and you’ll find that the game is surprisingly well suited to playing with a single Joy-Con in hand. To do this, take advantage of every last button, using L and ZL or R and ZL that remain in the palm of the hand for potions and attacks, while dodging with a cartwheel is transferred from the second stick to the action of shaking the controller . Obviously, this type of control offers a simpler experience perhaps not suitable for dungeons and the most difficult difficulty modes, but it allows you to play with another person, one with each Joy-Con at any time in a simple way. All the control options imaginable with the Joy-Con and the Pro Controller are available, so if you have that controller and the Joy-Con,
All the contents of the latest updates and the two expansions are in this Eternal Collection.
It’s a good booster, no doubt. More for a game as easy to pick up and play as Diablo III is. Some new features unique to Nintendo Switch have been added, but they are still mere curiosities. There was a lot of talk about being able to take Ganondorf as a playable character, and now that we have been able to test it, it is still a transfiguration equipment that we can acquire with the Craftsman, changing our appearance regardless of what class we are. Transmog gear that also costs a fair amount of gold, so don’t expect to carry it around at first. The wardrobe comes with a good handful of objects, pets and wings, while in the inventory we will have an Amiibo portal. There will also be a portrait based on the Zelda triforce and a new mascot, the famous and vengeful Cuco also from the franchise.
I am going to confess one thing. I know that Diablo III for Switch has the number one objective to dazzle all the users of the machine who could never get to play the PC version or other consoles in these years. But it shows that they also have in mind players who want to return to Diablo, having unlocked the Adventure mode without having to go through the main campaign. For a gamer like me who has both the PC and Xbox One versions, I would love to see all the work that Blizzard has done thus far be compatible with cross-play., instead of having different heroes in each version. Being able to take my Necromancer, my Templar or my original Demon Hunter wherever I am on Switch and return home to also enjoy the console or computer version would be ideal. If I say this it is because Blizzard has not entirely rejected the possibility of cross-play in Diablo , ensuring that, although it is not available now, cross-play “is something we are interested in.” It would not be the first time. Microsoft and Nintendo have had a good background in this formula with games like Rocket League, Minecraft or Fortnite, and Diablo III itself has allowed games to be carried from a PS3 to an Xbox One or from an Xbox 360 to a PS4, for example. Being able to do the same with the Switch version would be great.
The result is faithful, maintaining all its playability and squeezing the characteristics of the consoleThe online functions are also unchanged compared to the other versions. Of course, if you want to play online you will have to purchase the Nintendo Switch Online service, which is paid for since September, while to upload the game to the cloud you will also have to do the same. However, to access the season strictly speaking, we have not needed this service, so as long as you keep the console connected to the Internet, you can access the challenges of each new season.
Diablo III Eternal Collection on Nintendo Switch has turned out to be, as I could see from my first contact test at Gamescom, a great conversion. You can tell that Blizzard has taken this work seriously and found it quite comfortable for the short development time. Although as I have commented throughout the analysis, there have been sacrifices in resolution and image quality, the result is faithful, maintaining all its playability and squeezing the characteristics of the console. Diablo III, after many years with us, has proven to be truly timeless.
“Excellent”
Diablo III: Eternal Collection
Diablo III Eternal Collection on Switch is a more than worthy conversion that manages to taste all the action and all the features of the other versions intact, with a frame rate at 60 fps that does not decline at any time. Its resolution in dock mode, below 1080p and the sacrifice of some of its detail may be the only negative characteristic, losing that sharpness that made Blizzard’s great work of art stand out, but the result in general squeezes the maximum the technical capabilities of the switch, as well as the control formulas for several players.
• All the content of the most complete edition of Diablo III
• The frame rate, constant at 60 fps and unalterable
• The different modes of control. Diablo III takes full advantage of local play on Switch
1. Image quality is not as sharp as the other versions, missing that detail from Blizzard’s great artwork
