Review - Torchlight

It's a fantastical world filled with wonder and warmth. It's also a mysterious and dark abyss filled with depth and intrigue. Whenever you wander a dungeon picking up treasures and fighting endless hordes of baddies, whenever you barter with the townsfolk, and whenever you transform your pet into a giant spider, it adds to the great and addictive feeling you get from playing Runic Games' first foray into gaming, Torchlight. The brainchild of ex Blizzard developers really shows a lot of loving affection and attention, but even so, is it the next big thing in action RPG's, or is it something really forgettable?

When I hear or say Torchlight, one of the first things that comes into my mind is the word 'Diablo'. There are a few reasons why, one being that it is developed by ex Diablo developers and two, the core game play and mechanics are pretty much the exact same thing. If you have played Diablo, then when I say you know what you are getting into, you will be surprised at how accurate I am. My accuracy certainly isn't a bad thing though, oh on the contrary, it's a wonderful thing! They have taken game play that is extremely accessible and flexible, and refined it in this title to become something special in itself. 

You still have staples like monster killing, magic spells, dungeon crawling, micro managment, bartering and quests. It's all still there. But as the times have evolved, so has the game play. New additional features such as a pet companion to journey with you into the dark depths of the ember mines adds an extra comfort and battle tactic all on it's own. The pet becomes a part of you just as much as your character does, and feels more-so alive because you do not have direct control over it's actions. It follows you without fail and is always loyal. It is alot like the dog mechanic in Fable II, which I really enjoyed, except in Torchlight, this pet has equipment customization and stats, and you can change it into different creatures, so it is truly your companion. You can fish in many places, and feed them to your pet to give it stat boosts and appearance changes. Any loot you find such as rings and amulets can be put on your pet for stat boosts, and you can also make it learn spells which it uses at it's own discretion.

 One really welcome feature is the ability for your pet to take any extra equipment you have while you are dungeon crawling, and it will run back to town and sell it all for you so you do not have to stop adventuring. Really, this new addition to the game adds a lot of depth by itself and brings it above it's ancestors. But besides the pet, there are many small improvements to the tried and true game mechanics as well, such as spells that all classes can learn which adds more character depth. As well as random quests which provides extra cash and loot and provides more replayability to an already massive amount of content. All of this combines into something that is hard to put down, and can have you playing endlessly for days at a time.

I found the game to be irresistibly charming, and made it look good. It isn't exactly a graphical warhorse, but the appeal comes from the charm and warmth the game emanates. It's almost like a storybook come to life, a storybook that you don't want to put down. The character models and the world itself are all modeled and drawn wonderfully, and are really nice to look at while you are clicking your mouse endlessly on everything. Spells and equipment effects are always fun to look at no matter how many times you cast them. Really, it all blends in to become this real fantasy world that you could get lost in.

But getting lost because of the visuals would only be half of what I meant to say, having the other half be the musical aspect of the game. I won't lie, when I loaded it up and heard the whimsical tune of Torchlight's lamplit streets, I really said "Geez this sounds exactly like Diablo II's rogue encampment.". The game sounds like it's roots in every aspect, which makes it kind of hard to say anything that I wouldn't say about Diablo's music. But what I would say about Diablo's music, is that it really adds to the atmosphere perfectly, and almost tells a story all in it's own. It's mysterious, it's atmospheric... it's everything you loved about Diablo's soundtrack.

The only gripe I would have about this game, is it's complete lack of multiplayer. Torchlight becomes apparently lonely even with your pet companion as you travel on deeper into the mines. But what it does lack it also makes up for in a robust Editor program, which has a dedicated community supporting it. So in reality, all of your friends are still there, but just adding to your adventure in a different way.

I have to say I was really impressed with what Runic Games did with Torchlight, on such a small budget of $100,000 they really crafted something that may very well become one of  the best action-RPG's out there, beating out even their predecessors. It's a definite must play for any fan of Diablo or any action RPG, and also a good start for newcomers to the genre. It brings much new fresh content to the genre, and refined it to make it a definite leap in the right direction.