Publisher Ubisoft, and developers Ubisoft Montreal and Virtuous, offer a unique Nintendo Switch experience with Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection. Aside from a few minor performance issues, each game in Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection runs smoothly with fluid transitions between cutscenes and gameplay. The loading times are minimal for completing each sequence or traveling to a new area, which makes the games feel fast-paced and easy to play for hours at a time.
There are some exclusive features offered with the Nintendo Switch version that serve to enhance the overall gameplay experience. Having the HD Rumble active creates an additional immersive element that feels natural compared to other games of the same genre regardless of the console. The optimized HUD and touch-screen capabilities are also exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version. However, touch-screen options are only available in the menus, so the feature doesn't add much to the game.
Visually, the games in Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection are vibrant with detailed character models when the Nintendo Switch is docked. The distant characters and crowds are a lower resolution when playing handheld, but it isn't too noticeable while running through the streets or across rooftops. Along with solid visuals, the audio is clear and crisp for both the docked and handheld experiences. While The Ezio Collection is higher-quality with the Nintendo Switch docked, the games can be thoroughly enjoyed with either option.
Using Nintendo Switch's Joy-Cons or a pro controller is very easy to switch between. It's simple to get used to the attached Joy-Cons while playing handheld, and using a pro controller will be familiar to anyone that's played an Assassin's Creed game before. For those that played the Ezio Assassin's Creed games when they were originally released, the transition to playing on Nintendo Switch won't be difficult. Overall, the controls are very natural for older Assassin's Creed games despite how different the Joy-Cons can feel at times.
There are a few performance issues that affect each of the three games in Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection. During cutscenes, some of the characters will occasionally glitch across the screen or cut into other character models. While this doesn't affect gameplay, it can be somewhat distracting at times and take away from the story. The glitching issue during cutscenes is most prominent in Assassin's Creed 2.
The most disruptive issue with Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection is the input lag that affects all three games. It's more noticeable while the Nintendo Switch is docked, but it also occurs while playing handheld. Although infrequent, having input lag even slightly can cause Ezio to fall off of buildings or take damage when failing to counter an enemy. Most of the time, the lag is very minor or nonexistent, but when it does happen it can be very frustrating, especially if it results in desynchronization causing players to repeat sections of the game.
The biggest draw for replaying Ezio's story in Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection on Nintendo Switch is having the option to play on the go. There are only a few minor sacrifices that come with playing the handheld versions of each game, but these are acceptable changes for being able to take The Ezio Collection anywhere. For anyone new to Ezio's story, or those that want to relive his three adventures, Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection is a great set of games that have been optimized for the Nintendo Switch.
Assassin's Creed: The Ezio Collection is available for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. Screen Rant was provided a digital Nintendo Switch download code for the purpose of this review.
