People have been obsessed with the Diablo franchise since the original Diablo was released on PC in 1996. I am no exception. I spent many nights, sacrificing sleep, trying to take down the Lord of Hell after my toddler went to bed. I couldn’t help myself.

I rushed to pick up the sequel, Diablo II when it was released in 2000, pouring hours into it. Though, it was Diablo III that convinced me I needed the expansion pack and DLC. It also is the series entry that has taken and is continuing to take, the most hours of my playtime. I still play both the story and the latest Season quite often.

Diablo III was released with 4 story acts and 5 classes for players to enjoy. The Reaper of Souls expansion pack added an additional story act, the Crusader class, Adventure mode, Bounties, Nephalem Rifts, higher level cap (70), improvements to loot drops, the Paragon (account-wide) leveling system, and transmogrification.

Patch 2.1 added Seasons, which allowed players to complete challenges and rifts to earn legendary loot. The Rise of the Necromancer DLC added the Necromancer class, Challenge Rifts, new bounties, and new zones. These additions not only made the game more fun, but they also improved the replayability too.  This is all included in the Diablo III: Eternal Collection on Nintendo Switch.

The game takes place 20 years after the events of Diablo II. You must return to Tristram and investigate rumors of a fallen star. This fallen star is the first sign of Diablo’s rebirth and an omen that the End Times have begun. Diablo cannot be allowed to return, so it’s up to you to stop this prophecy from occurring.

So how does Diablo III Eternal Collection differ from the original? Honestly, it doesn’t. This is not a poorly done port of a fan-favorite game that will make you want to scream profanities at your screen. If you’ve played Diablo III on PC or PS4, you’ll be happy to discover the Switch port plays exactly the same. The only difference is that Eternal Collection comes with the Reaper of Souls expansion pack and Rise of the Necromancer DLC.

If you’ve never played Diablo III you’re in for a treat. It’s a 3^rd person, dungeon crawling, action RPG full of areas to explore, quests to complete, and loot to gather. After choosing a class from, Barbarian, Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Necromancer, Witch Doctor, or Wizard, you choose a mode and jump right into the action.

In Campaign mode, you traverse procedurally generated maps, decimating the undead and other monstrous entities to advance the story. In doing so, you collect weapons, armor, and other equipment to make your character stronger and deadlier. You also collect gold with which to buy the aforementioned items.

As you level, you unlock new Skills to use in battle, as well as Runes that enhance your Skills. Finding the right balance of skills and runes for your class and playstyle is pretty easy. Everything is explained quite well in the tooltips.

Adventure Mode is an open-world experience without any story elements. You can move freely between the acts and jump between areas at whim, without ever returning to town. All of the bosses are available from the beginning, and you can skip from area to area killing just the bosses, grind through all the levels in order, clear out just your favorite levels, and complete Bounties or Nephalem Rifts.

Bounties are small objectives that offer big rewards of items, gold, and XP. There are 5 bounties per act for a total of 25 for each Adventure mode game. Bounties take place in small pieces of the Campaign’s procedurally generated maps. Complete all 5 bounties in an act, and you get a special reward from the Archangel Tyrael.

Nephalem Rifts are special dungeons entered through yellow portals opened at a special obelisk in town. To open a Nephalem Rift you need a Rift Keystone which is always a part of the reward for completing Bounties. Nephalem Rifts are completely unique random dungeons, between 1 and 10 levels long, with tons of assorted monsters to kill. The goal is to kill enough monsters to summon the Rift Guardian, a boss with special powers and a really bad attitude. Nephalem Rifts reward you with a lot of high-level or rare gear.

If you subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, you can participate in the Seasons. Seasons run for a limited amount of time. Basically, you make a new “Seasonal Hero” character and try to complete unique objectives to earn rewards, defeat greater rifts, and reach the top of the leaderboards. At the end of the season, your hero, stash inventory, and Paragon experience transfers to your non-seasonal profile.

I was honestly surprised to find out that Diablo III Eternal Collection has Amiibo support. Unfortunately, the Amiibo support has limited usefulness. Each character gets a Stash item called “Amiibo Portal” which, when used outside of town, will open up a portal that will spawn enemies. These elite enemies will drop loot based on the Amiibo you used. Although, depending on your difficulty level, this may or may not be useful. You can use a single Amiibo per player, per day.

Next, let’s talk about multiplayer since that seems to be popular. I’m not normally a fan of multiplayer modes or games, but multiplayer in the Diablo III Eternal Collection is a multi-layered and interesting mechanic. You can either play locally with up to three friends, play online with other players (Nintendo Switch Online is required), or you can utilize the Wireless LAN feature and connect up to four Nintendo Switch consoles together to take on Diablo’s minions.

Remember that toddler I mentioned at the beginning? Well, he’s 28 now and is also a Diablo III fan. We played a bit of local multiplayer, and I found that while it was nice to not have a split-screen thing going on, inventory management was annoying. We couldn’t manage our inventories at the same time and were forced to take turns. This got annoying due to the sheer volume of gear you get, requiring us to stop and start fairly regularly.

Other than that though, multiplayer is a smooth experience. He jumped into Campaign mode with me and we had a blast destroying the undead together. Each player gets their own loot drops, and both players receive gold when it drops. No fighting over that cool sword or armor piece is necessary! It is important to note that all players can utilize Amiibo in a multiplayer game, not just the first player.

If you’ve never played Diablo III, this is the perfect opportunity. Dive in and save mankind from the Ultimate Evil! You’ll have a blast no matter which mode you try and you’ll keep going back to play again and again. If you are already a Diablo III fan, then you already know it’s a great time. What are you waiting for?

Phenixx Gaming is everywhere you are. Follow us on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Also, if you’d like to join the Phenixx Gaming team, check out our recruitment article for details on working with us.

Phenixx Gaming is proud to be a Humble Partner! Purchases made through our affiliate links support our writers and charity!

Diablo III: Eternal Collection

$59.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Smooth Controls
• Fun and Engaging
• High Replayability
• Lots of Exploration
• Really Fun Multiplayer

Cons

• Inventory Management is a Pain in Multiplayer