Torchlight is a new entry into the Diablo-style hack'n'slash genre of
games. While it may seem derivitave, it bears mentioning that some of
the team behind this game also worked on the actual Diablo games, and
one of them is the guy behind Fate.
Customization:
Not much here to start with--three class archetypes to choose from
(melee, ranged, or mage). Each character has their own brief backstory.
I played as the melee class; my wife is playing as the ranged class,
which involves both bows and guns. More customization comes in
upgrading your character--each one has three different skill tracks to
upgrade. Personally, though, I would argue that this game's REAL
customization potential is in the loot. This game is loot-heavy. Some
items have slots that you can upgrade with runes. In town, there is an
enchanter (which as another reviewer mentioned is the real money-sink in
this game), and also an NPC who can combine duplicate runes into better
ones. Some loot is in "sets" that provide bonuses the more pieces you
have equipped, though I've found mish-mashing stuff I find to be the
best way to go.
Graphics:
Colorful. Vivid. Confusing. The enemies will swarm you (load up
on AoE skills!) and it can often be hard to tell exactly what's going
on, but a few clicks of said AoE skill can usually clear them out fairly
easily. For those playing on non-gaming netbooks, there is a "Netbook"
option under settings that makes it much more playable (we tried this
with the demo on my wife's computer before I bought it on mine, and it
seems to work well).
Pet:
The pet is an interesting mechanic. The fish you can find
throughout the game (via, well, an easy-to-grasp fishing mini-game) can
be fed to your pet for temporary transformations or stat boosts. These
will greatly increase your pets HP, and bestow temporary abilities
depending upon the type of fish consumed. They generally last for 120
seconds, though there are variations. Perhaps the most useful aspect is
the ability of the pet to run to town and sell stuff in its inventory,
which is just as big as yours. Due to the decently high drop rate of
potions, the only thing that really might make you go back to town in
the middle of a dungeon is using up identify scrolls. You CAN learn an
ID spell, though it takes up one of your 4 spell slots.
Gameplay:
The real measure of a game. The gameplay here is not deep,
thoughtful, or difficult. The enemies--even most bosses--are pretty
easy to kill. This is not a criticism per se--I downloaded the demo
before purchasing this game, so I knew exactly what to expect. When it
comes to games, I'll play a certain game for weeks on end, tire of it
for a while, then play something else in a different genre. This is a
simple game, but the dungeons go on for a VERY long time. I played
through and "beat" the story (which ends on about level 35-40, I can't
recall exactly). I'm playing other things now, but I still bring this
game up when I want some mindless loot-grinding. It's a good game to
kill some time while waiting for my wife to get ready if we're going out
(she feels the same away about when I'm getting ready!). Even though
the main quest is completed, there are still NPCs outside of a
secondary, more difficult dungeon (the Shadow Vault) that are giving me
quests.
Bug, Glitches, Issues:
A relatively common one I've found is enemies and the loot they drop
getting stuck in walls or behind objects that appear traversable but
are not. To my knowledge, no patch has been released addressing this,
though if I am mistaken, please let me know. Occasionally your pet will
get stuck and trail behind you, though this is easily fixed by doubling
back and running in a little circle usually (though it is rather
annoying). The save mechanic uses (in the Steam version, and when
connected) the Steam Cloud. HOWEVER: The game does NOT require an
internet connection to play, or save. I've found the best thing to do
when done a session is open a town portal, and go into town. The game
saves, will reload you into town the next time you open it, and your
portal back into the dungeon will remain there. I've had several
game-killing crashes (which on reloading means I start at the beginning
of a dungeon floor), though this is not prevalent enough to make the
game unplayable.
All in all, for a game that had a development-to-market cycle of 11
months, with an engine built from the ground up in this time, Torchlight
is still surprisingly well-done. The cost is a definite positive point of this game. This game can
definitely cause the "just one more turn!" (or dungeon level, or boss,
in this case) mentality, but it is also easy to pick up and play for an
hour without having to invest much thought or effort in it. If you
liked Diablo, Fate, or just the dungeon crawling, loot-grinding genre in
general, this game is a can't-miss.
