EPT
The Game: Torchlight 2 is an isometric dungeon-crawler role-playing game for the PC, a type of game made famous by Blizzard’s Diablo franchise. In Torchlight 2, you are a Hero, charged (unsurprisingly) with the task of saving the world of Torchlight with your skills as a Wizard, Warrior, Barbarian, or Ranger (those aren’t the names of the classes, but that’s the basic idea). As you wander the realm, you battle hordes of skeletons, ogres, wolves, armored titans, and ooze monsters with weapon in hand and trusty pet by your side. You can also band together with other heroes to fight the evils of Torchlight, uniting your mouse-clicking strategies to decimate your arcane and demonic foes. Torchlight 2‘s predecessor, Torchlight, had a similar premise and gameplay, receiving critical acclaim for excelling in the genre and filling the dungeon-crawler void left between the releases of Diablo 2 and Diablo 3. But Torchlight 2 release comes in the same year as Diablo 3, putting it in close competition with the foremost series in the genre. Does Torchlight 2 burn brightly, or do its competitors cast it into shadow?
Gameplay: At the core of Torchlight 2 is the mouse-oriented gameplay familiar to anyone who knows the genre. Left click moves, right click spams attacks, and the number keys hold ability shortcuts such as healing items, extra spells, and pet-buffing fish. Click on ground to run to it and click on baddies to make ‘em die. Simple, straightforward, effective; the genre’s intent is for mechanical simplicity to allow for strategic skill building and use. Torchlight 2, unlike many games in the genre, does this spectacularly. In spite of appearances (“2 melee, 2 ranged, w/e”), each class differs vastly from the others and each player’s build can vastly differ from others without losing effectiveness. Plus, rather than restricting you to creativity-killing skill trees, abilities in Torchlight 2 are unlocked level-by-level, so you just need the experience to get the spell you want, not all the ones you dislike before it. Instead of following one “optimized” tree, you spec the skills you want most and weave them into a powerful arsenal of destruction. Your Embermage, Engineer, Berserker, or Outlander will be wildly different from anyone else’s (and it will be awesome). Which is perfect, because monsters with wildly varying strengths, abilities, and attack patterns will be arrayed against you, often at the same time. Even though I only played on Normal, there were still some difficult moments, implying the importance of build strategy on higher settings. Finally, an essential aspect of the gameplay in this genre is the ever-important loot. The treasures in Torchlight 2 are plentiful and powerful; you are frequently presented with mighty upgrades to your current gear. This is how this genre should play: I never felt as if I were grinding for better gear, but was excited to find what cool weapons would be in the next Golden Chest. I loved examining each pauldron and gauntlet I found, hoping that the next one would make me even stronger. Plus, your pet’s ability to sell your excess gear meant spending more time in dungeons and less time in town, which I greatly appreciated. Torchlight 2′s gameplay is typical for the genre, but every aspect thereof is done with finesse, demonstrating that a “point-and-click gear-fest” can present a rewarding and challenging experience.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gQwF5.png)
Presentation: A game in which the player explores gargantuan maps and uses awe-inspiring abilities to fend off ravenous monsters needs each monster, map, and spell to look and sound cool. Torchlight 2 meets these requirements and then some. Torchlight is a world of vibrant colors, a stark contrast to the tones of grey, brown, and grit used by most recent games. The heroes and monsters are vaguely cartoonish, but this doesn’t make the demons less intimidating nor the champions less badass. While some may not be fans of the colorful, cartoony style, far more will love the Torchlight 2‘s brilliant employment of it. You travel from seared desert to swampy forest, from crystalline mines to ornate, tech-y laboratories, all of which are unique and gorgeous. The heroes are aesthetically pleasing as well, having a variety of ultra-cool looks depending on the armor and weapons equipped. Each monster has its own horrifying beauty, from commonplace skeleton warriors, to bright purple nether-beings, to fungal treants of bark and mold. All of these elements, combined with ability animations that explode with color (and damage), create a screen full of frantic, spectacular chaos while maintaining high visibility of the player and his targets. Boss fights are the highlights of the presentation, when the largest and most intricate foes wield their unique abilities against your hero. Similarly, the roars of the monsters, thunderous blasts of energy, and gruesome rips of sword slashes echo clearly throughout the battlefield, punctuating the sparse, atmospheric background music of the lands of Torchlight. It makes the game a treat to listen to, not just to watch. Torchlight 2 is a feast for the eyes and ears, a tapestry of color and sound that few other games manage to create so spectacularly. Even as you rabidly search for quests and eagerly pummel monsters, you’ll constantly be aware of how good this game looks and sounds.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/JtgQy.png)
Single Player: While dungeon-crawlers like Torchlight 2 tend to be oriented towards the multiplayer experience, Torchlight 2 brings an enjoyable single-player game to the table. And when I say the genre is focused towards multiplayer, what I mean is that the plot is usually lackluster, even if the lore is interesting. Torchlight 2 is no exception with a story that is, at best, complete fantasy nonsense. Save corrupted Guardians, stop the Dark Alchemist… yeah, it wasn’t particularly engrossing. I had a hard time caring, particularly since it was all communicated through text boxes between quests. The quest rewards were where my attention was fixated, so if the developers intended for me to notice the story, then they probably shouldn’t have put the loot next to the plot progression. Yet such is the nature of the dungeon-crawler; usually, the heroes are endowed with little in the way of personality and the world simply needs to be saved from a great and scary evil. Sidequests are similarly drab: “Go collect this necklace,” “Go rescue these soldiers,” “Go climb this tower”… nothing to write home about. But while the story does little to engross the player, the game itself is enough to enjoy a solo playthrough. Completing objectives, clearing out dungeons, and discovering shiny new loot is fun in spite of solitude and lack of interest in the narrative. There’s an addictive challenge in defeating every monster by yourself (plus it means the loot is all yours). Plus, the game has lots of replay value, as A) you are not fully leveled at the end of the game, making the New Game+ feature a welcome one, B) you are presented with new challenges at the Mapworks, a hub for unexplored and incredibly difficult dungeons, when the final boss is defeated, and C) you can create a completely new character and build, even within the same class, making a total restart a tempting offer. Finally, Torchlight 2 can be played without an internet connection and any character used in local single player can also be used online. This simple feature alone gives it a strong edge over games like Diablo 3, which requires an internet connection to play at all (even Diablo 2 separated online and local characters).
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/riW4P.png)
Multiplayer: With single player functioning as a dedicated expression of the core gameplay, the Torchlight 2 experience changes significantly when new heroes join the battle. Suddenly, you are playing the game with a companion who also kicks the crap out of monsters and almost certainly does it much differently than you. It’s tons of fun to go out into the world and bash monsters alongside a comrade, then compare and trade what you’ve scavenged from the corpses of your foes. Incidentally, this tends to be the best way to get new gear, because you will almost certainly find weapons that are far better for your friend than for you and vice versa (at least that’s how it feels like these games work). Since I didn’t play multiplayer on the highest difficulty either, having another player or three along for the ride felt like a fun addition rather than a necessity for progressing. However, considering some of the difficulties I had playing on my own, I can see how tougher parts of the game might require companions with whom you could synchronize tactics. On the other hand, I did have some frustrating moments in setting up online multiplayer and LAN games. Sometimes it was impossible to join a LAN game with my friend, even though he was sitting right next to me AND our router. It was also frustrating when the game signed you out of the multiplayer service every time you left the “Game Select” screen (this led to an hour or two of confusion). In many ways, Torchlight 2‘s multiplayer is literally the single-player plus buddies, but the additional party members can create opportunities for far more strategic diversity as well as the ability to overcome the greatest challenges in the game. It would just be nice if these features were a touch easier to use.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/D9aoO.png)
Fun Factor: I love games like Torchlight 2. As a massive fan of fantasy settings and sword-and-shield adventures, exploring Torchlight 2‘s colorful and intricate world was a blast, as was defeating all of the monsters in my path. I was even excited for each piece of gear I picked up, hoping (every time) that my newest Legendary item would make me look cooler and fight stronger than moments before. Some say that this genre is just about numbers (damage per second, mana regeneration, etc.), but I actually love that about these games. Seeing the huge numbers pop up when I do critical hits is very satisfying, and checking out the stats on my latest item gives me a rush. My roommate and I laughed our way through several levels in multiplayer games, always impressed by how powerful we felt and how excited we were to get our next core items and skill choices. When I reached the end of the main quest’s storyline, I was pleased that it had managed to be a bit challenging despite the Normal setting. And I was even more psyched that my hero had the opportunity to explore more dungeons and smite more bosses. I had a blast playing Torchlight 2, moreso than with any game in this genre.
Final Verdict: If you have a PC, you must play Torchlight 2. There’s not much story to be had in the experience, but it’s less about the narrative than the thrill of discovering all the hidden corners of the map, fighting off the toughest hordes of monsters, and grabbing the best of the legendary items. You can tailor your skills and attacks to your own personal playstyle, creating the hero that is most satisfying for you, an accolade few other games can claim. You’ll love the colors and sounds of the game, a distinct look and style that isn’t comparable to other games, even games in the genre. You can even bring your friends to the party, allying with other unique adventurers to fight the toughest monsters and delve into the deepest, deadliest caverns. If you enjoy dungeon-crawlers, there’s no reason you shouldn’t already be playing Torchlight 2. And if you’ve never picked up one of these games before, Torchlight 2 is a great way to start.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/Z0MxW.png)
You can read this review and lots of other posts at the N3rd Dimension.
