Arena of Valor (AoV) - Nintendo Switch Closed Beta Underway

The Arena of Valor Nintendo Switch closed beta seems to be underway in Europe, despite no announcement from the Arena of Valor team itself. So far, all functionality seems to have been transferred to the physical buttons on the Switch.

Nintendo Switch Closed Beta Underway

Arena of Valor’s Nintendo Switch closed beta is apparently underway in Europe, as multiple users have posted to Reddit to share their experiences. User Warst3iner posted a video of himself playing the game yesterday:

The footage seems to be real, which is perplexing because we haven’t seen any announcements from Arena of Valor, whether on their Facebook, Twitter, or main page. The lack of any notification could be due to the fact that a separate team is handling the Nintendo Switch version of Arena of Valor.

In any case, the button settings can be seen at the 1:00 mark:
Arena of Valor Nintendo Switch Settings Menu
To use abilities, press and hold L, R, or LZ while aiming with the right joystick, or simply press and release without aiming to auto-aim. The distance of your ability is dependent on how far you have tilted the joystick, similar to the mechanics on a mobile device. Pressing B while holding L, R, or LZ will cancel the ability.

Both Warst3iner and user CaptainCalv noted the improved graphics on the Nintendo Switch, with CaptainCalv remarking that “auto aim feels better on switch than mobile, so I’m catching myself auto aiming skills much.” He mentioned, however, that switching back and forth between attacking with A and aiming with the right joystick is difficult, particularly for heroes that often weave in attacks between abilities like Lu Bu.

Warst3iner also commented that users can’t import their mobile accounts, there is no Arcana, and that there are very few settings and options. Finally, players are forced to use buttons, which leads to unfortunate situations like the one below:
Arena of Valor Nintendo Switch Gameplay Screenshot
In order to upgrade abilities or purchase items, players have to hold down buttons, which Arena of Valor players will immediately recognize is very restricting in team fights where snap-buying an item can change the outcome. Further, we assumed that partially moving functions over to the buttons would make it easier to, say, access the mini map with your right thumb, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

That all said, there’s still time to implement new functionality before Arena of Valor is officially released on the Nintendo Switch, so perhaps it’s best to stay patient. In the meantime, we can marvel at the possibilities of playing Arena of Valor on a television with a docked Nintendo Switch.

Update: There is apparently a non-disclosure agreement for those in the closed beta – users were instructed not to record any gameplay – which is why the video that was previously here was taken down.

Playing a MOBA on a TV with a controller is all we ever dreamed of, so maybe it’s worth the wait. Now if only we can get some sort of announcement from Arena of Valor when that happens.

Follow Us

Follow us on TwitterFacebook, and YouTube for updates on Arena of Valor, or head to our Arena of Valor main page for game information and gameplay guides.

Arena of Valor (AoV) Recommended Article List

Leave a Reply



Be the first to comment