Blizzard Entertainment’s Diablo III: Eternal Collection, a compilation of Diablo III and its expansions, underscores how far the gothic hack n’ slash series has fallen. The first two Diablo titles helped popularize the randomization of map layouts, item drops, and enemy encounters in gaming and were notoriously challenging, especially on higher difficulty settings. Diablo II stands as one of the better video game sequels in history, with its supercharged player move speed, more varied environments, and intimidating gallery of adversaries. Given that legacy, it’s hard to be that impressed by this definitive edition of Diablo III, as the game, originally released in 2012, is slower, safer, and less exciting than its immediate predecessor. Show As in previous Diablo games, you select a character class before embarking on a series of straightforward missions that center on slaughtering throngs of foes and collecting innumerable items that range from the worthless to the incredibly powerful. As usual, the hackneyed storytelling—about needing to save this person, attain this artifact, stop this cult, and so forth—takes a backseat to the ever-frequent killing, equipment management, and skill development. The whole point of playing this game is to build the most decked-out badass that you can, a purpose that’s fueled by the thrill of discovery: Because items are procedurally generated, you never know what kind of stat-boosting weapon or piece of armor you might happen upon after opening a treasure chest or taking down a particularly resilient threat. It’s easy to get sucked into Diablo III’s cycle of item fetishization. Just when you think you’ve obtained the necessary gear for combating the hordes of hell, a rare or legendary type of equipment will fall into your lap. And even though there are probably too many different types of things that one can wear, the game’s menu system allows players to conveniently compare the status effects of their current equipped stuff with those of newly acquired helmets, breastplates, shields, rings, maces, wands, greaves, and so on. The monster-snuffing action is where Diablo III falters significantly compared to its predecessors and other similar games. If the original Diablo excelled at stoking our fears throughout its dimly lit settings, and Diablo II made you feel like a ferocious yet vulnerable bat out of hell, Diablo III is akin to going on a moderately paced rampage through swarms of enemies. In this regard, the game recalls the rather leisurely combat of such Diablo-inspired titles as Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. In other words, there’s little that sets Diablo III’s violence apart from its own franchise’s legion of imitators. It doesn’t help that the game’s default difficulty setting is a cakewalk, but even when you kick up the challenge a couple of notches, it’s still far too simple to survive a skirmish. Diablo III showers you with an array of special moves that, despite having cooldown times, render the opposition irrelevant outside of chance encounters with foes who’re invulnerable to certain types of damage and status effects. The game also fails to provide greater suspense by oversimplifying the series’s healing system. Thanks to a health-restoring item that automatically regenerates and countless different types of equipment that constantly refill your hit points, you no longer have to worry about whether you have enough potions or if, when used, the potions will heal you fast enough as you sustain numerous blows from a horde. Diablo III attempts to make combat more interesting by letting you enlist allies. But these computer-controlled friends rarely do anything as dynamic as the companions in 2004’s Diablo-influenced X-Men Legends, whose scuffles revolve around multi-character attack bonuses, air combinations, and different types of enemy-stunning melee techniques. You know your beloved action franchise is in a state of mediocrity when it struggles to kinetically and strategically compete with games that it helped give birth to. Score: Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment Platform: Switch Release Date: November 2, 2018 ESRB: M ESRB Descriptions: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Violence Buy: Game If you can, please consider supporting Slant Magazine. Since 2001, we've brought you uncompromising, candid takes on the world of film, music, television, video games, theater, and more. Independently owned and operated publications like Slant have been hit hard in recent years, but we’re committed to keeping our content free and accessible—meaning no paywalls or fees. By now most gamers have probably had some exposure to the Diablo series. At its core it plays similar to Gauntlet, where up to four players can team up and adventure together, slaying the evil beasts in search of loot. The story and monsters are more serious in tone and the blood and gore is punched up a notch, but thanks to the game’s zoomed out viewpoint it never seems too over the top. If you’re hoping to become immersed in the game world and its story, you might want to go alone to take it in at your own pace without distractions. If, however, you just want to have fun slaying monsters and leveling up with friends, the multiplayer mode is the way to go. Luckily you can create multiple playable characters, which is what my friends and I did. I used one solely for single player and the others for multiplayer, that way we stayed at similar levels and it was more fun. Speaking of characters, you’ll be able to choose from seven different classes: Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Monk, Wizard, Demon Hunter, Crusader, and Necromancer. Each of them has different stats and will learn unique abilities, attacks, and powers. I obsessed over which one I wanted to play and was told over and over again by those in the know that you really can’t go wrong with any of them. After messing around with several I came to the same conclusion: they’re all fun! For my multiplayer run with reviewer Jay Kittelson, I was the Necromancer and he was a Wizard. My character has the ability to raise the dead and have them fight alongside me. Some of my attacks were ranged, meaning I didn’t have to get too close to the enemies to deal damage. Jay was similar, with spells that would lay waste to enemies from afar.  Part of what makes Diablo III so much damn fun is that the progression loop never wears out. As you progress through the game world and defeat countless enemies, you’ll constantly be picking up new equipment to bolster your attack and defense. On top of that, you’re always earning experience points that level your character up, and when this happens you unlock new attacks as well as passive skills. There are multiple skills to learn and within those multiple secondary traits to equip, and at some point in the game you can even mix and match at will to truly customize your version of the ultimate badass! The cynics out there will look at Diablo III: Eternal Collection and bring up that it’s yet another old as dirt port that has appeared on every other platform under the sun. Sure, they’d be semi-correct in their assessment, but this isn’t just the base game that released on PS4/Xbox One four years ago. This version contains the Reaper of Souls and Rise of the Necromancer expansion packs (sold as a collection in 2017 for the aforementioned consoles), so when looked at through that lens this isn’t quite as late of a port as some would have you believe. There are some extras and slight tweaks to consider with the Switch version as well. The game contains special bonuses from the Zelda series, like the Triforce portrait frame, the Cucco pet, Echoes of the Mask wings, and the Legend of Ganondorf cosmetic armor set. In addition, Adventure Mode is available right away and doesn’t need to be unlocked. Also the Seasons are in place, creating special challenges and objectives to complete to unlock better loot. You can even scan an amiibo in (doesn’t matter which one) once a day to open a portal to fight a higher-end beast and potentially collect some rare loot. There are many ways to play the game with friends. You can do four player co-op on one system for TV play, or if you get together with friends you can wirelessly sync your Switches (assuming each has a copy of the game) for some handheld fun, or a combination of TV and handheld – it’s up to you! Of course the game fully supports online, so you can game with friends or strangers as well. The downside here, and one of the problems with the Switch version, is that there is no voice chat. Now, in today’s day and age there’s really no excuse for this. Luckily most gamers I know have easy workarounds, like Skype or (in my case) using the PS4 party chat to talk with my friends while I play the Switch. It’s a minor inconvenience that shouldn’t be an issue in 2018. As far as control methods are concerned it’s open season. You can use a Pro Controller, two Joy-Con controllers, or even a single Joy-Con if you like. I primarily utilized the Pro Controller thanks to its comfort and full range of buttons, but the game is fully playable with any of the configurations. Part of Diablo III: Eternal Collection’s appeal for me is its setting and the dark and brooding environments I was able to explore. I’m a huge fan of horror movies and games, and the world of Diablo is enveloped with supernatural creatures and scares that go bump in the night. Whether you’re ransacking a crypt or exploring a haunted mansion littered with torture chambers, there’s plenty of spooky stuff to discover. The game looks beautiful docked and in handheld mode. The framerate is a solid 60 fps and I never saw the game stutter once even with dozens of enemies and allies on the screen at once. The handheld screen worked better than I anticipated, although the reduction in resolution makes some things appear a bit muddy in places. Still, don’t let that deter you from playing this on the go – I know Jay has done so every day on his way to and from work and has loved every second of it. Really the only negative thing I can say about the game’s visuals is that sometimes there’s simply too much going on at once that I’d lose track of what enemies to target, and as a result just mash my attack buttons hoping I was doing damage. Blizzard have always been the masters of audio, with spot-on voice acting and fantastic background music and it’s no different with this game. If you’re playing in TV mode and have your Switch hooked up to a decent surround sound system, you’ll definitely appreciate the sounds coming from every direction. The soundtrack is superb, often quietly playing in the background, but occasionally swelling to great effect when something extraordinary is playing out on-screen. If you’re playing portably you’ll definitely want to use headphones to fully appreciate the ambient noises and wonderful music. Diablo III: Eternal Collection is a packed game with hours and hours of content to play through. There’s plenty of replayability with various characters and the Seasons change, adding new challenges and loot to collect. There are multiple difficulty settings to choose from (we had to bump our multiplayer game up a notch because we were just steamrolling the enemies and killing bosses in like 15 seconds) and you get more experience and better rewards if you do. There’s not much incentive for players who already own this game on competing platforms to double dip with the Switch version, unless you really want to play the game on the go. Having said that, this is a fantastic addition to the Switch library and comes highly recommended, especially for newcomers or those that haven’t played the expansions. Diablo III: Eternal Collection Review
9/10 Final Thoughts: EXCELLENT Diablo III: Eternal Collection is a fantastic game for the Nintendo Switch. It combines gorgeous visuals, haunting music, a great story, and exceptionally fun gameplay mechanics to create one of the best titles on the system. With solo and multiplayer options this one shouldn’t be missed.
Craig has been covering the video game industry since 1995. His work has been published across a wide spectrum of media sites. He’s currently the Editor-In-Chief of Nintendo Times and contributes to Gaming Age. Does Diablo 3 Eternal Collection include everything?The Eternal Collection provides the definitive Diablo III experience with the unholy trinity of Diablo III, the Reaper of Souls expansion, and the Rise of the Necromancer pack. This includes the Necromancer class, additional character slots and stash tabs, the Half-Formed Golem pet, and additional cosmetic items. What is the difference between Diablo 3 Eternal Collection and Ultimate Evil Collection?Diablo III: Eternal Collection is a console exclusive version of Diablo III It combines the Ultimate Evil Edition and Rise of the Necromancer pack into a single bundle. It cost $39.99 USD at launch, but rose to $60 USD later. How many hours is Diablo 3 Eternal Collection?When focusing on the main objectives, Diablo III: Eternal Collection is about 20½ Hours in length. If you're a gamer that strives to see all aspects of the game, you are likely to spend around 197 Hours to obtain 100% completion. Is Diablo 3 good to play with friends?It's not too bad if you make a rule not to go into inventory or skills until after you beat a quest, then each of you can do it in town before moving into the next quest. I would recommend couch co-op personally, I had a lot of fun playing this way. Very fun. |
