I’ve been playing “Torchlight”, and I think I might be in love.
- By Scott Johnson on October 26th, 2009
REALLY having a good time. A little back story:
Runic Games, the makers of Torchlight, is made up of a bunch of old Blizzard folk, many of whom worked on the Diablo franchise. It will surprise none of you that Torchlight is a Diablo inspired game, and unabashedly so. Runic has made no secret about the fact that this is a love letter to those of us who love action RPG’s, loved Diablo, but might want just a little bit more.
Enter Torchlight. I’ve been lucky enough to be playing a early press build over the last few days, and I’ve sunk quite a bit of time into it already. Here’s a list of things that jump out at me at the moment:
VERY much a Diablo lovers game. While the art-style is a definite departure, and things are very 3D and pretty here, the overall experience feels very much like the big D. Music, sound design, various effects..all wonderful nods to Diablo.
This game sheds much of what made Diablo feel, especially in later years, more like a chore. A great multiple choice death penalty system, the pet system, saving and continuing mechanic, etc…all of these things are big improvements to this now familiar genre. Did I mention the pet system? More on that later.
In Diablo, it took a considerable amount of time to ramp up and feel like a bad ass. Torchlight lets you hit the ground running with a full dose of badassery right off the bat. When people hear there are only three classes to choose from, they need to hold their tongue till they play. As it turns out, you have incredible creative freedom regarding how your character progresses, and most importantly, fights. Picture a level 10 magic user, duel-wielding, with a high powered pistol in one hand, an devastating ice throwing wand in the other, firing on all cylinders, all while you are throwing fireballs down the hallway with an Imp & and mechanical golem at your side. Did I mention the pets? It’s coming.
I love how the inventory space is not based on the “Tetris Method” that Diablo incorporated in past games. Have a big axe? Fits in a single slot. Have 20 health potions? One slot. Letting you focus more on fighting and progressing rather than swapping junk around every three feet is a huge improvement.
Which brings me to pets. Turns out, your dog or cat (i have a dog named Henry) has additional inventory. Plus usable slots for fighting bonuses. More on that later. But let’s say that you’ve filled up your inventory, and don’t feel like porting back to town to sell crap…you just load up your dog, and send him to town. He leaves for a time, which can be reduced with skills, and comes back with the cash, all while you kept fighting and having fun. Awesome. Your bags are full, but he’s empty? You can use modifier key while clicking on loot that will send the dog around gathering it up for you, using his open inventory slots.
The pet also has the ability to eat different fish you catch in fishing holes in the world, that give it special powers, transformations, abilities, etc. Comes in handy big time with certain bosses and mob types. Need a spider to fight with? Feed him the right fish! BAM! Henry’s a spider for 3 minutes.
On top of all that, your pet constantly fights by your side, providing measurable damage all the while. Plus now, if you’re smart, he’s wearing two rings you found in a fight that improve his damage output, magic finding ability, etc.
Tack onto all of this a much improved UI, an incredibility fun set of skills, spells, and upgrades, and the constant “just one more kill, just one more quest” factor, you have a game that totally scratches my action RPG itch.
The best part is that you can get it on Steam today for $17 bucks! Total steal at that price. They have a free editor coming very soon as well, and some cool plans for a free MMO followup down the road, but as it stands, it’s awesome. (Wish there was multiplayer, but not really. I always preferred Diablo alone anyway.)
Saw it at PAX and have been itching to play it. I pre-purchased it via Steam as soon as it was available.
Glad to hear it is living up to the pedigree!
Somehow, this completely flew in under my radar. Now I’m seeing it everywhere! Great review, got me so psyched to play it now.
I was pretty sold until you said no multiplayer… oh well. At $17 I don’t think I’ll be able to pass it up.
I think they didn’t do the multiplayer so that they could get it out quicker and cheaper and then focus on the MMO version.
Runic has said the MMO will be the same gameplay, but with all the stuff you’d expect to be added (crafting, PVP, etc.)
I just ordered a copy on Steam. Sounds awesome.
Looks super nice. What platform will it be on?
I understand its a pc-game but it looks so console like.
The pet mechanic sounds a lot like Fate: Undiscovered Realms. Supisciously so, in fact. I’d go so far as to say identical from your description…
That’s because one of the main guys behind this project also was a big part of Fate.
I don’t want to rain on this parade, but this sounds and looks so much like Fate that it turns me off. The problem with Fate that it was just Level Up: The Game, and didn’t have any real point to it. There was no story. There was no character development. There was just “get the next +3 sword and add a crystal to give it fire” mentality.
But isn’t that what Diablo and its clones are all about ?
Both, Torchlight and Fate where developed by the same person (Travis Baldree). So yes, there are similarities. If your unsure if you should buy Torchlight you can download the demo tomorrow. If you like it you can upgrade the demo to the full version and continue your save.
I love the look of this game but.. i have to wait for mac version… they have said coming soon.
that is one thing i love about Blizz. they always have mac and PC same time.
I liked Fate, but like Jason, I was a bit put off by how random and generated it was. Does Torchlight have any set storyline to it? Either way, I’m going to grab the demo tomorrow as the videos make it look like a game engine upgrade compared to Fate.
Actually Travis posts on the forums a lot and in one post he essentially listed on a point by point basis the same problems you did regarding the flaws in Fate. Needless to say these flaws are NOT present in this game. It has a back story, there is a purpose to going into the dungeons, y’know…lore. Though let’s not kid ourselves we just want some good loot, right? :p Also the dungeons aren’t designed like giant “crossword puzzles” as he put it in regards to Fates dungeon design.
How the heck did you manage to get it… it’s no out yet?! /jealous
“early press build”. Not that I’m jealous. No, really.
I’ve been playing the press release for the past 4 days (http://www.runicgamesfansite.com) and I played Fate. Let me put your fears to rest: I got bored of Fate in about a day and a half. Everything that drove me crazy in fate, including the overly random parts of it, are fixed in Torchlight. Even the pets are better – so much better than using them actually becomes a natural strategy changer when playing. Try giving your pet a pack of 6 skeleton archer summons and a heal all spell – you’ll be amazed how different your experience will be as a melee character.
Arg! I’ve got no work to do today. Wow is down for maintenance, Torchlight is sitting in my Steam account mocking me for a few more hours. Maybe I’ll go load up Diablo II.
There’s a DEMO on Steam. Got me hooked. Everyone who hasn’t already, play it!
I’m going to wait and see if there’s a small discount (right now it’s at full price on Steam). Why wait Mostly cuz I want to be productive right now.
I’ll certainly be looking forward to buying it sometime soon.
After readin’ this, I went straight away and bought it! (well not straight away…I had to wait for a few hours until it was released ^^ )
But ay, it is really fun. thanks for the great tip Scott
Really havin’ a blast with it.
Played it all evening.
Absolutely love it!
I downloaded the Demo off of Steam and played it all the way through, until i hit the end of the demo. It was AMAZING! I love this game and plan on buying it asap!
But Scott, Henry is the tiger, right? Look at your print
Back on topic: The game is really good, played a “summoner” till level 11 so far…
Mentioned you in the Wikipedia entry for Torchlight…not sure why…. @_@
I probably will get it. Don’t know whether i should i get it or the new fate game.