Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Platform: PS4, Xbox one, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Diablo III: Eternal Collection – Review
Some people may wonder how much more iterations of Diablo III will be released. With the game having two major expansions and console ports to both previous and current generations, the Eternal Collection might be the ultimate final edition. It bundles everything into one affordable package, which is ideal for those who haven’t played the game yet. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One version already came out in the summer, and now, finally, the Nintendo Switch version came out. This is the one we got our hands on.
Story
Diablo III: Eternal Collection follows the story of Diablo III and Reaper of Souls. For the detailed story information, please read our Diablo III review here and Reaper of Souls here. In a nutshell: the battle between good and evil wages on and the world of Sanctuary is under siege by the forces of evil. You are an aspiring hero who comes to save the world but must grow stronger as the minions of hell won’t go down without a fight.
The story is told to you by fully-voiced dialogues and beautifully made cut-scenes. These are highly animated and make you feel like you are watching a movie. Overall flow is wonderful with the right amount of story brought to you in each act.
Graphics
One of the most astonishing things about Diablo III on the Switch is how the graphics play out. You will notice a difference between handheld and docked mode. On both modes the graphics look superb, but the screen of the Switch may not be a worthy equivalent to your pricy 4K television. However, we must say that the quality of the Switch screen is very good for a handheld device. Furthermore, although Diablo III is a heavy game that can be either empty on rare occasions but is mostly filled to the edges with enemies, magic and blood. There never was any slowdown or frame-skipping discovered while playing this game.
Sound
This is a game all audiophiles out there must have played in their lifetime. Diablo not only looks good but also sounds great. Each character is fully narrated, giving you a very strong sense of immersion. Even the different character classes and genders have their own dialogues and unique voices. A lot of effort has also been put into combat: fighting sounds impressive with weapons clinging and arrows flying around, magic spells being cast and enemies dying.
Another impressive feat is the soundtrack. The world you are in is in great danger, and this is amplified by the dark music that is played throughout
Gameplay
Diablo III: Eternal Collection is a hack ‘n’ slash game that utilizes RPG elements to level your character and improve on combat abilities. What makes the game unique and fun in its own way is its wide range of classes and skills to choose from. It all starts with creating a hero. There are seven classes to work with, divided into three Primary Attributes, so different types of players can create a character to their liking. Strength-based are mainly focused on frontline tactics: Barbarians will take on large crowds of enemies while the Crusader is a holy warrior that tanks his way through. Dexterity-based characters will rely on their nimbleness and have high damage outputs towards the undead horde. The classes with intelligence as their primary attribute will have strong spells that have great utility and diversity but are limited to their Mana Pool.
Now that you have created a character, you can select what type of hero it will be: Normal, Hardcore, Seasonal or Hardcore Seasonal. Normal characters will let you play the game as it is, whereas Seasonal characters get exclusive rewards based on progression. Hardcore characters are for the veteran players or those who love a big challenge because when they die, they stay dead. It is advised to always create a Seasonal character if you have an internet connection on your Switch. When the season ends, this will turn into a normal character, but you have all the cool bonuses that lie ahead. Season journey consists of nine branches that each grant special items such as pets, sets and portrait frames.
When you are ready to step into the dark world that Diablo is taking over, you must battle your way through hordes of enemies to get to the king himself. The game starts off quite easily and more skilled players are quick to ramp up the difficulty and reap bigger rewards. To get some real challenge, you first must reach level 70 to unlock the torment difficulty and the ability to level further than the original level cap, which are called Paragon levels. Paragon levels are there to keep you going after you reach max level, on each level you get a random point in one of four slots: Core, Offense, Utility and Defense. Spending these points can allow you to gain passive perks, such as more HP, better stats and other useful boosts. You can always reset the points you spent, to place them in one of the other options.
After you’ve beaten the game and reached the level cap, there are Rifts and Greater Rifts, which are dungeon-like arenas that the player must kill a certain amount of enemies before the Rift guardian makes an appearance. These guardians are the leaders of said Rift and must be taken out in order to destroy the Rift. Greater Rifts pose a higher difficulty with an added time limit as well but give better rewards. Each time you run a Greater Rift, a new special gem drops so it is worth to grind this mode for some time to get some powerful items and experience in the progress.
When you truly want to dig in the endgame content of Diablo III, it’s vital that you fetch Kanai’s Cube, which can always be found in the same location in Act 3. This cube allows for the extraction of legendary powers from items to your character, reforge legendaries, upgrade rare items, convert set items, remove level requirements, convert gems, augment Ancient Items and convert all kinds of crafting materials. While this might sound like a lot of options, it is best noticed that the cube is mainly used to get legendary equipment through the upgrading of rares and completing armor sets. To complete sets, you can use double set items by inserting them in Kanai’s cube in combination with certain crafting materials. While converting set items will never give you Ancient pieces (best stats), they can make sure you get that set bonus you’ve been craving for.
What is cool about these Rift stages is that each one of them is unique with different backdrops and enemies. While fighting there, you will also pick up blood shards that can be used to buy mystery gear at Kadala. Ranging from normal to set pieces and legendary items, she is a bet worth taking, and since this currency is only used at her shop, you have nothing to lose. Another great way to get some gear and gold is by completing bounties. These are marked on the map, so no real search is needed, you just kill the enemy and walk away with some extras. Each act has five bounties and upon completion per act another bonus is granted. If you prefer to skip the story altogether, you can simply start playing the adventure mode and do bounties right off the bat, or simply kill monsters in your favorite areas.
Now that you are all set to adventure forth, there are still some essentials to known. First is the gear: Diablo is known for its immense wide range of gear and characters that are not strictly class-prohibited to use certain items. While some of the main skills do require a certain weapon to be equipped, this is not mandatory if you decide to build your character otherwise. Skills can be selected freely when unlocked if you enable Elective mode in the options menu, so that you are not limited to the preset buttons. This mode makes controlling the game very easy: you can set whatever skill to any button of your liking, making it perfect for your playing style. Controlling the heroes proves to be quite easy with a perfect response and the controller also allows for dodging, which is good to get out of a pinch. If you want to play with friends, this can be done on the same console with up to four players, locally between different Switches or online. This will increase the difficulty just like in other games, so be prepared if you and your friends are taking up the journey.
Conclusion
Diablo III: Eternal Collection is the combination of all the content available for Diablo III. The game has been released over two console generations and while it might be getting a bit milked dry, it still is a game that fans of the genre should look into, if they have not already. With its strong Hack ‘n’ Slash gameplay, exciting way of getting new gear, rich endgame content and endless replay value, this is a title everyone should have at least once in their collection. Nonetheless, we hope the sequel is not too far away, but for the time being it seems that only Diablo Immortal is on the horizon.
Diablo III: Eternal Collection – Review,
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