Reasons why you should care about Torchlight 2
It certainly sounds promising.
Torchlight 2 is one of those Diablo 2 clones. Is this such a bad thing? As far as the hack and slash genre goes, Diablo was unsurpassed and we really need more games that can still pull of the formula. That being said, we also need some innovation and this definitely isn't it. Minus the atmosphere difference and some very minor changes to the mechanics, it's the exact same game.
Considering how Runic Games was formed by ex-Blizzard co-founders I find it both surprising, and not surprising, that they copied their biggest success title. For some, this is a godsend, for some it's an insult. Regardless, it's a highly praised and played game. It was a hit when it came out and it's still going strong. Let's see what it has to offer and then you can judge yourself whether it's worthy of your attention.
Story
Once upon a time there was Tristra-I mean Torchlight. A small town with nothing to show for itself except an endless underground labyrin-I mean mine, with all manner of demonic and otherworldly monsters. Now for the twist. The mine holds ember, a magical substance used to create enchanted items of extraordinary power. The catch? It corrupts those who use it. Of course, there has to be a catch with anything magical.
A hero is recruited by a sage named Deckard-I mean Syl. She needs help searching for her mentor, an alchemist named Alric who was corrupted by ember. With no other option, the hero kills Alric and a mysterious creature named Ordrak, who was the source of the ember's corruption.
Now, the Wander-I mean, the Alchemist, corrupted by ember, destroys Tris...you get it already. This Alchemist is the hero from the previous game, twisted by the Heart of Ordrak, the very monster he slew. Under his influence he destroys Torchlight and is off to disturb the balance of the world's six elements.
It's a bit of a letdown how similar the plot is to the Diablo games. Too bad they didn't take the idea of the cinematics too. Those were, possibly, one of the most impressive graphical achievements of their time. In Torchlight, we get a series of artsy images with text instead. This is the one aspect of the game that could've used some more work.
I'm actually a fan of the art style, but I wish there was a touch more animation.
Gameplay
That's it in a nutshell, looks fun.
The first change is that you do get some degree of character customization. Starting with gender and moving on to a few faces and hair choices, all of which are not even needed, but they exist. You do get a pet with your character, which is the biggest change from the game's inspiration.
The sheer amount of pets available in Torchlight 2 is impressive. There are panthers, wolves, tigers, the studio dog, an alpaca, a headcrab from Half-Life, a cat... Too many to list, but needless to say, I found it regrettable that I could only pick one, when there were so many I wanted to run around with. Other than appearance, there is no difference between the pets.
The last immediate change you notice is that there is a difficulty selection. Instead of the usual 3-tier fixed difficulty, you get to pick how hard you want the game and there's a new game+ after. The rest is standard hack and slash stuff. Kill monsters, gather loot, build your character and do quests. The levels are randomly generated, though it's not as noticeable as in some games.
Thank you for giving us a dragon to fight!
You and your pet
Ummm... yep... this is actually a mod.
Class choice is limited as opposed to what we've come to expect. Only 4 different classes are available, but they do cover the most important aspects: A heavy melee fighter (engineer), a ranged fighter (outlander), a fast and agile combatant (berserker) and a mage (embermage). Each character gets three skill trees with varied themes. The berserker, for example, has one for boosting damage and criticals, one for elemental based damage and one for animal-type skills with special effects.
This does give you more customization options than you'd believe. Runic Games tried to make most skills unique and effective, so it's mostly up to you how well you can craft your build. Though, as with any RPG games, certain builds just work better than others, but the gaps in power are growing smaller.
Gear options are exactly what you'd expect. Nothing new here, except that now you can buy set items from merchants. Meaning that there actually is a chance to complete a set of items even in single player! Though it does take away some sense of pride in actually completing a set, but you can't have it both ways.
The only real deviation from the standard formula is in the pets and it's a welcome addition, no matter how small of a difference it is. The pet levels with you, you can equip it, you can feed it fish to change it and you can send it to town to do your shopping for you (though that does leave you without backup for a while).
Bet you never thought he'd be a pet! Thank you modding community!
The crowning feature is the ability to teach your pet skills. Think of it like having a custom henchman. You can make him a healer, a summoner, he can cripple your foes, give you boosts, launch fireballs etc. Probably the most fun I've had with the game is making sure my character and my pet work as a team. I actually grew attached to little virtual bugger, so I guess they pulled that off nicely!
Graphics and atmosphere
I think I'm not alone in saying this is the part of the game that put me off. It's not dark, it's not bloody, I'm not even sure if the game takes itself seriously with an art style like this. It's light and cartoony. Once I've accepted that fact though, it was a nice change of pace.
I feel like a villain out of a Marvel comic. Cool!
It feels like I'm in a comic book, which turned out pretty neat. The fact that they blend steampunk elements, rugged over-the-top weapons that look like they were made by homeless guys and, heck, every armor had a unique feel to it, made it that much more colorful. There isn't really a persistent theme here. It's like several worlds meshed together. Love it or hate it, it adds variety!
You can tell that Runic Games had a blast designing the world of Torchlight 2.
"Hey, what do you think of this sword?"
"It looks like a broken piece of metal tied to a stick with rope..."
"So, it's a keeper?"
"Hells yea!"
It's thanks to that kind of approach that we can have characters as awesome as this.
They obviously decided right away for an over-the-top, humorous blend of whatever they considered amusing. No dark gothic or traditional medieval setting. That being said, the environments themselves feel like they could've used more character. Though, that might be a consequence of the engine, which is obviously more demanding.
It's more 3D-ish than the usual 2.5D games, or at least it feels that way. Clearly, it's all model-based, as opposed to the older sprite-based styles. It also has a sort of solid feel. It's hard to explain, but in most 3D modeled games, hitting an enemy doesn't feel like you've actually hit them. More like "there is now a change in the monster's life value as a result of your click". I think Dungeon Siege, Titan's Quest, Sacred 2, and even Fate had this issue. Though, I never noticed until I actually played Torchlight and something felt really right about hitting a foe.
Multiplayer
One of the biggest reasons so many players were waiting for Torchlight 2. They finally get to play with others. Of course, this opened up a whole other can of worms when it came to balancing issues, though not as much as the more competitive online games. It's an old-school approach where you scan for available games and join whichever you prefer.
You can play in network LAN with a friend in your room or you can go online, whatever floats your boat. Each player gets their own drops, so you won't feel cheated seeing another grab that shiny unique drop. A lot of hate in Diablo 2 stemmed from this and no other developer has ever had the courage to make loot drops universal...and why should they? We are in the midst of a no-player-left-behind gaming world.
Looks like quite a ride.
The PvP is optional and completely unnecessary to take part in. You may have a desire to boast about your characters exceptional killing ability, but you're not getting any reward in particular for slaying another player. Most don't even notice that there is such a thing, but some modders took it upon themselves to promote this feature by adding in an arena. Nice!
Of course, there's a huge trading economy going on in the online world. Though it's not as aggressive as it was in Diablo, since the drop rate for uniques and the possibility of purchasing set items offset their rarity quite a bit. This also means the players aren't so eager to scam one another out of potentially valuable gear.
Verdict - 8/10
There's something to be said about Torchlight 2's lack of originality. Of course, there is also a lot to be said about how good it actually is. I don't consider it a downside to copy a game, as long as you do it right. They did it right, so that's another decent hack and slash title for us. Whoopie!
I'm not going to compare it or make any comments about whether this is the "real" Diablo 3. It's not. It's a tribute to an old favorite of ours and nothing more. Though the game is well worth your time if you're a fan of the genre and you will probably be engaged enough to want to finish it at least once, it's nothing new or revolutionary, nor does it hit the nail on the head in any aspect to make it truly stand out.
You could say that what keeps it from true greatness is the same thing that makes it great in a general sense. What do you think? How does it hold up against other games in genre? What other titles would you recommend to a fan? Leave a comment and help spread awareness.
Here's a sexy treat, courtesy of the modding community. Seriously guys, mods are where it's at!
