While Diablo 3 is fully playable offline on the Switch, you can also take advantage of Nintendo’s upcoming Online Service – which Blizzard confirmed will utilize cloud saves and Nintendo’s Voice Chat app. All controller styles appear to be viable as well, and we were even told using a single Joy-Con works, letting you perform dodge rolls with a flick of the controller. Up to 4 players can team up in a local co-op game, which can fit any combination of up to four separate Switch consoles, or up to four people playing on one screen. You can see for yourself with 7 minutes of demon-destroying gameplay in the video above.īeyond just looking and feeling like a proper Diablo game (which is one of the best things you can say), Blizzard has taken advantage of the Switch’s portable nature in the best possible way. The UI is as reliable on the Nintendo Switch as it is on other consoles, and the stylish presentation was never too muddy. I kept waiting for a stutter or slowdown, or to get lost in handheld mode amid the calamity, but it never happened.

Watch 7 Minutes of Diablo 3 on Nintendo Switch Blizzard told us that it’s worked closely with Iron Galaxy – the team responsible for Bethesda’s Skyrim port to Switch – and that optimization was a core focus. But what we did see was a consistent 60 frames per second – or close to it – which is no easy feat when a Necromancer’s swarm of skeletons get blown apart by fireballs blasting in every direction.

While I was initially wary of how things might look, especially playing the game undocked at 720p resolution, Diablo 3 looked great, even on the Switch’s smaller screen, though we didn’t get a chance to run it docked at the 960p target resolution. The Diablo 3 Eternal Collection – which includes all of the DLC and updates to date – felt exactly as it should when we sat down with Blizzard to go hands-on. Yet, the dungeon crawler has been so refined for console accessibility over the years that not only does it feel right at home in the Switch library, but its portable nature and ease of use for cooperative play might just be its best console home yet. With the announcement of Blizzard’s first Nintendo port in 15 years, and one that is already 6 years old itself, you have to wonder if Diablo 3 is the right fit on Nintendo Switch.

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