I played Diablo, but it didn't consume me. When Torchlight was released late in 2009 the art style pulled me in, but I didn't understand the gameplay from the videos. I downloaded the demo, played two levels of the dungeon and knew this was going to be something fun!
I'm writing this review after having just beat the final boss with my first character, and immediately continued to play. Playing after I've beaten the game is a litmus test of quality for me, and in the last few years the only other game I've continued playing after beating is Mass Effect 2; not bad company for Torchlight to keep.
You've probably seen videos and read some material, so I'll be concise and list some ups and downs:
Ups:
- Addictive gameplay.
- Beautiful art style.
- Mucho replayability.
- Interesting weapon effects.
Downs:
- Almost TOO much loot. I was constantly using identity scrolls and sending my pooch to the surface. That was a lot of micromanaging inventory, but I guess that's also the core draw for a lot of people.
- Rare items are too rare. After a full play through I managed to collect some set pieces, but at most two items from the same set. How many play throughs until I can get a full set? Five?
- Slow down. Frame rate dropped when a large group of enemies would arrive from portals. Only happened in the last few floors, and it didn't cause me to die, but frustrating none the less.
