TorchlightInsider’s First Official Review

Hi, TiberiusAudley of TorchlightInsider here.  Welcome to my review of Torchlight.  This review is based on a single playthrough of 12 hours, 46 minutes on the Hard Difficulty level.  So without further ado, let’s jump into the most important part of a video game.

Gameplay: 10/10

The gameplay in this game is spot-on for an Action/RPG.  From minute 1, I felt just as at home in this game as I ever did in the highly addicting Diablo 2.  I played one of the three playable classes, the caster-oriented Alchemist.

As usual in this genre, the itemization is a big part of the game, but don’t worry about it being single player.  The drop rate for rares and uniques is fluid enough that you’ll find yourself well-stocked in a single playthrough, as well as starting to get a compilation of set items.  There is a shared stash, so any items you find in your quest can be transferred to other characters if you find something that you like that doesn’t quite fit your class.  Items cannot be transferred between Hardcore and Softcore characters.  The inventory is easy to navigate and easy to manage, without any inventory tetris.  Although for OCD players, there is room for inventory management in terms of color-coding any socketable items you find.  Not that I do that *cough*.

The part that impressed me the most in this game, which I find to be the bread and butter of an A/RPG was the monsters.  Difficulty was slowly ramped up throughout the game by monsters becoming more and more interactive with one another, smarter in their attacks on my hero, and trickier in their skills and abilities.  The boss battles were well-designed.

Because of the good monster design, combat was very interactive.  While most games of the genre end up degrading into a “kite and rightclick, kite and rightclick” or “summon and watch them destroy stuff” style of gameplay, the summoner Alchemist I played was very active, requiring me to resummon while also casting crowd control and buffing my minions with an AoE buff.  I never felt like I wasn’t involved nor in danger when playing my summoner.

The level design was very well done, although there was a bit of repetition in one of the tilesets, with a few of the pre-designed “chunks” coming up on consecutive floors.  The flow from tileset to tileset was just right, with a new scenery change coming just as you start to get used to the first.

The skill and spell system is mostly intuitive.  There could potentially be some confusion for players who don’t immediately recognize the difference between “skills” and “spells” when it comes to some of their skill investment, but overall it’s an easily understood system.  I didn’t try out all the skills, as there is a limit on hotkeys and I ran into that limit when I started getting a lot of summoning SPELLS (which are an equippable item slot that give you more combat ability or some utility).

The pet system is also very well done.  It will be very familiar to anyone who played Fate.  Your pet follows you around and can’t die, but if its health is reduced to 0 it will cease assisting you in battle.  You can equip you pet with 2 rings, an amulet, and two spells.  Also, you can send your pet to town to sell unneeded items in order to clear up inventory space without having to leave the dungeon.  There are fishing holes throughout the game that allow you to play a small minigame to catch Fish, which are used to transform your pet into various creatures for 2 minutes or an hour (big fish are fairly rare, but very rewarding to catch!)

All in all, the game is extremely fun on a gameplay front.

Graphics: 9/10

I love the graphical style of Torchlight.  The stylized characters and monsters combined with the soft, watercolor painting makes for a pleasant visual scene.  The in-game tilesets are all unique from one another, ranging from a crypt, to a purple cavern with green fog and lizardman huts, to an ancient dwarven fortress, to a fiery, lava-filled land, to a dark and foreboding lair.

Monster models are all easy to distinguish from one another, so you’re never confused on what’s what (except when it’s intended, such as with masses of Tu’Tara or Dwarves).  Even then, however, the SPECIAL types are color-coded to let you know what you should probably target first.

Spell effects are all viscerally done; they’re not overly cumbersome and it’s easy to tell what’s happening by watching the on-screen graphics.

Overall, the graphics are good.  I didn’t feel they were 10/10 quality, but nothing really stood out for a complaint to knock it down below a well-deserved 9.

Music: 10/10

So, have you ever played Diablo 2?  Did you like the music?

If yes, you’ll feel perfectly at home here.  Matt Uelmen has definitely found his niche in life.  Each melody fits its dungeon beautifully, and gives an even more immersive feel to the dungeons.  When a game’s music is good enough that you can leave it on full volume and not wish you were listening to classic rock, you know you’ve got good music.

Sound: 7/10

Overall, the sounds all made sense.  I had a few complaints with certain sounds flooding my ears, such as the clanking of a golem summon (which has already been changed for the release version!  Runic’s devs are always quick to respond to fix/change things within their power.  You have to love it.)  Apart from the golem, it can get annoying quickly if your pet is having trouble staying alive.

Your pet is fleeing, your pet has fled, your pet is hurt, your pet is fleeing.  Okay, I get it.  Just let him go sit in a corner.  Or do I need to get a frickin’ leash?

Still, these are complaints you’ll likely find with any game where repition is the driving force, so I couldn’t punish the score too much.

Story: 7/10

The story isn’t the main focus of a game like this, where the gameplay is the selling point.  That said, delving deeper and deeper into past civilizations felt very immersive into the game’s world.  The story was a basic “power corrupts” storyline, and there weren’t any ZOMGWTF surprise twists along the way.

The best part of the game’s storytelling comes in the slow shift in tilesets as you descend deeper and deeper into madne–er, I mean the mines beneath Torchlight.

Difficulty: 8/10

Note: I played the game on the 3rd of 4 Difficulty levels and did NOT play Hardcore mode.

The game was fairly easy early on, even for my skweeeshy little caster, the Alchemist.  The game’s difficulty ramps up quickly around the third tileset, where monsters become increasingly stronger and smarter.  As you progress further, they work together for a common goal and aren’t afraid to put a hurtin’ on you.

Some areas were difficult to the point of frustration or tedium (hence the docked two points), where one or two monsters would bypass my minions and come straight for me, where I would die in just a few hits.  Even with a heal spell to supplement my potions, I had trouble keeping myself alive, dying a total of 101 times in the course of my 13 hour journey.  Death penalties are up to the player, where you can choose to resurrect in town (no penalty), at the entrance of the floor (gold penalty), or on the spot (exp/fame penalty).  Of course, if you think you can do it without dying, there’s always the choice of Hardcore mode, where a single death is the end of your character.

The bosses in this game had varying degrees of difficulty, but I must say the final boss was QUITE a chore.  I can’t wait to fight him on difficulty level 4…on Hardcore mode.

Replayability: 9/10

The -1 is just because of the lack of multiplayer — but the gameplay more than makes up for it.  After you beat the game, you unlock the Endless Dungeon.  Alternatively, you can retire your character and pass on an item as an heirloom to a child character, reducing the item’s requirements and giving it a buff.

Overall: 9.5/10 (Note: Not a composite score)

Overall, the game is simply amazing.  If you enjoy Diablo, Diablo 2, Fate, or Mythos, you will love Torchlight.  If you’ve never played the games, Torchlight is worth a try.  The game is the most involving, immersive Action/RPG of its kind that I’ve played, and I HIGHLY recommend you at least pick it up.  If not, you’re missing out.

Mega thumbs up to the Runic Games team for developing this game in a year and making such a polished game.  There have been a few reports of crashes, but one crash in 12 hours of gaming with no breaks for your computer isn’t always the game’s fault.  Sometimes bosses will try to hide in corners or escape their main chambers to cause some problems, but again, this is a minor/non-issue.

And final note, I did not get to do any playing with TorchED, the editor being released shortly after the game (formerly known as PrEditor, but that’s changed due to copyright issues).  If you’re a modder, or a mod-player, Torchlight is going to be VERY mod-friendly to give it even more replayability down the road as players add more content, more quests, more items, more classes, or more monsters.  So another boon to an already great game.

Thanks for reading!