Jerich's Ginormous Torchlight Review

[Jerich]

My Torchlight Review - The Must Buy Game of 2009-2010

Overview:
I have been following Torchlight off and on since Runic games announced that they were going to make a MMO ARPG. I love MMOs and love ARPGs and so was immediately interested. This interest caused me to seek them out at PAX and see what they had been able to put together in 11 months. What I saw there floored me. I think I spent more time at the Torchlight booth than I did at the Diablo III, Dragon Age Origins and Guildwars combined. I both enjoyed playing it and chatting with the developers. I was so excited in fact, that I came home and stayed up to 4:00 in the morning writing a huge review of my PAX gameplay experience. Now, two months later, I have had the chance to play through the main quest line. Does Torchlight live up to its promise and hype? I believe so. I have had more fun playing Torchlight, than I have from any game in the past five years. I posted this to my blog, but for the link shy, here is the full review:

Audio / Visuals
Graphics:
I have heard complaints about the Torchlight graphics on forums like dii.net. Some people complain they are too cartoony or that there is not enough of the dark realism in this game that made the Diablo series great. It is my belief that most of these people have never actually played the game. Once you actually get your hands on it, you will notice that the graphics work in a way I haven't experienced in any other 3D game. The combination of watercolor background and bold colors on the characters and monsters makes the important players pop off the background reminiscent to the great 2D games of the past. The artwork quality is so strong in fact, that the developers were able to scale down the technology to the point that the game runs smoothly on even an old laptop. Overall, I think this game has the strongest graphics of any game I have played since the 1990s. (Score 10 out of 10)

Animation / Particle Effects:
Skill animations are tremendously important to generating the sense of immediacy that an ARPG needs. They make skills and effects pop at the user and create the illusion of epicness that we expect from the ARPG genre. Torchlight does well in this regard. The animations are all smooth and make the characters feel believably overpowered. The particle effects are gorgeous, but do not hinder the ability to see the action on the screen. (10 out of 10)

Music / Sound Effects:
The music and sound effects were created by none other than Matt Uelmen of Diablo, Diablo II, and World of Warcraft the Burning Crusade fame. He is among the most well known and talented composers in the video game field and his expertise shows in Torchlight. When I first got the press release, I spent over six hours in town taking screen shots of individual skills so that the Torchlight forum members could see a skill tree and plan their characters while they waited for the game. During this time, I was listening to the same track loop over and over. The fact that I still enjoy listening to it when I go to town says something about the quality of the music. Some of the dungeon themes (section four in particular) are among the best musical tracks I have ever listened to. They are as good if not better than the tracks from Final Fantasy VII, Diablo I and II and even WoW. As far as sound effects, they create a visceral feel to all of the skills and none have annoyed me so far. (10 out of 10)

Style:
Torchlight oozes with style through every pore. They have successfully branded a art style of their own that diverges sufficiently from the Diablo franchise to make their game stand out. The world is fabulously detailed and every detail fits into their artistic style perfectly. Amazingly, they have not copied any popular brand, like anime style characters, the Gothic feel of the Diablo series, or the ultra-realism of games like Dragon Age Origins. Their art style feels like a cross between Dragons Lair and a Pixar movie. (10 out of 10)

User Interface:
The user interface is fully functional. There are 10 hot keys as well as a mouse tab. Inventory is sufficiently spacious and the overlay is well presented. I do have some complaints here though. The first is that you cannot remap the hot keys directly from the interface. You have to modify them in the settings text file. Since this is the first thing I typically do when I install a new game, I was disappointed. The second is that pet numbers and buffs to not show on the top of the screen. This makes keeping track of pets and buffs fairly difficult. Third, I would like to be able to map more than 12 keys. With the rich skill set and spells, I found I ran out of hot key real estate. Fourth, picking up loot is a chore. It stacks all in one group so it can be difficult to pick up after a particularly long fight. That being said, the massive inventory space slightly mitigates this issue. I only found it really annoying a couple times. (7 out of 10)

ARPG Gameplay Elements
Combat / Fight System:
Combat in Torchlight is fast and furious like an action RPG should be. You are an overpowered god of war who wades through hordes of swarming fodder with period breaks to fight a difficult boss. There are traps and triggered events as well as extremely difficult bonus rooms. Torchlight has delivered where countless Diablo clones have fallen short. This is ARPG combat at its finest. (10 out of 10)

Level Design:
The developers of Torchlight decided to use bigger set pieces for the Torchlight random dungeons. They work, beautifully. The levels combine the best of a hand crafted feel with randomness to provide the user a truly unique experience each time. While sometimes you recognize an individual set piece, you never completely know what will happen next. The only complaint I have of level design is that the levels are somewhat linear. This is the general rule in games like this nowadays, however and it is not a big deal. There are always some interesting side passages to take in every dungeon. (10 out of 10)

Challenge:
There are five difficulty levels in Torchlight: easy, normal, hard, very hard and very hard with a destroyer. In addition, you can select to make your character hardcore which means they will be permanently killed if they die. All difficulty levels start out easier in the beginning levels and then ramp up in difficulty quickly by the end. I found normal to be completely easy in the beginning and very hard to be slightly more difficult than Diablo. Near the end, however, normal was close to the difficulty of Diablo II and I have heard that very hard ramps up to be much harder than Diablo II. People who want a particular challenge can try very hard mode with the destroyer since he cannot kite monsters. Overall, difficulty is pleasingly varied and will be even more varied when Runic releases their TorchED modding package later this week. That being said, there are too many places in the game where you are portal swarmed. I believe that this is slightly unfair because it requires all very hard characters to invest it point blank area of effect knock back skills. Luckily each class has one. (9 out of 10)

Replayability:
Like any good ARPG, replayability is where Torchlight shines. After you finish the main story, you can continue on in an endless dungeon that has its own quests. You can also do a series of random one shot levels that are opened via quest and buy maps from the vendor that open levels that you can explore. In addition, to this you can retire your character and then bequeath some of your fame and an heirloom item to your next character. Add in the variety of difficulty levels, hardcore mode, a multitude of player builds, randomized dungeons and loot, and you have a game that has a nearly limitless replayability. If that were not all, the developers are soon to release a game editor package that is full featured enough that someone could make a complete game overhaul. A strong and talented contingent of mod creators has already gathered around the game and we soon should have more player created content than original content. (10 out of 10)

ARPG Character Development and Story
Skills / Spells:
Torchlight has a robust skills system with over 15 unique and 15 shared skills for each character. Since the maximum number of attainable skill points is 155, no one will truly be able to max out their character the first go. While unique skills per character may not seem like a huge number, the attention to detail for each skill is enormous. The vanquisher character I played used traps and one of the skills, flechette trap, was the most fun skill I have ever used in any game. It is like throwing down your own ricocheting machine gun to annihilate the enemy. Added to the normal skill system, are a variety of spells like summon zombie, heal all, fireball, web, etc. You can memorize four skills yourself and your pet can memorize two. Overall, character development is more deep than any other ARPG I have played. (10 out of 10)

Loot:
Loot is well balanced in this game, with a pleasing mix of normal, magic, rare, set and unique items dropping (for the single player, for the MMO it would be too much). The attributes are interesting and there is enough of a variety in mods to make each purple or better item worth identifying. Add to this an enchanting system and a socket system, and we have a robust deep loot game. I have two complaints about loot however. First, I do not see enough items that proc abilities. I would like to see a weapon that periodically casts heal all, or summons a pet. Second, picking up loot can sometimes be tedious do to the way the alt key stacks loot. That being said, your ability to store a lot of items and the fact that your pet can grab loot and go sell it in town while you continue your adventuring are positive aspects. (8 out of 10)

Quests / Events / Lore:
This is where Torchlight, unfortunately falls somewhat short of its potential. The main story, while decent is too short and all the quests are of the kill monster or gather item types. I would have liked to see some more unique quests in the game like escorts, branched choices etc. While questing is not a primary focus in an ARPG game, one of Runic's main goals in this game was to introduce their world to us from the MMO. A good quest system would have been one way to introduce that to the player. I would also have liked to see some lore drops in the form of books, character backstory etc.

That being said, there are three things that keep this category from being a dismal failure. First, Runic did a great job making sure the quest interface did not interrupt people's game play. There are no 20 minute dialogs which point you down the hall to listen to another 20 minute dialog. Action RPGs are about action and Torchlight follows this formula well. Runic games was also able to put out this game in only 11 months. I believe that the elements they focused on were good. Second, the boss fights are truly epic encounters. They feel more like you are soloing a World of Warcraft raid encounter than standard MMO fare. Third, the modding tools have a robust quest system. Players will be able to add in more quests to the game over time. (7 out of 10)

Other
Bugs:
I did not experience any show stopping bugs in my entire play experience. This was on an unpatched game... a true rarity these days. While some users in the forums are experiencing some bugs, they are the exception, not the rule. (10 out of 10)

Developer and Player Community:
If you ever stop by the Torchlight forums, you will notice something unique about the community. The developers communicate with the players and answer questions. I have received numerous responses to questions I have asked on the forums and the developer excitement is plain to see. They are a talented crew who are interested in making quality video games and not focused entirely on the bottom line. This is a true rarity these days. They also program with lightning speed and are good at not overreaching. I had the pleasure to meet several of the developers at PAX. They were all gracious, humble, and friendly people who were willing to take time out to show me their game and listened intently to any feedback they offered. These are a group of people who make you want to suport them and their general attitude has spilled over into the community forums which ooze with creative ideas, politeness and helpful people. (10 out of 10)

Value:
A game this fun with nearly endless replayablity and fantastic modding tools would be a steal at the $60 price point. At $20, it may well be the best video game deal ever released. This is the must have game purchase of 2009-2010. (10 out of 10)

Multiplayer?:
As many people have griped about, there is no multiplayer mode to the single player game. The developers are now working on an MMO. While multiplayer would be nice, this has never been their intent from the beginning and there will be a free multiplayer upgrade in about 2 years (the MMO). (NA)

Spin:
Torchlight is an action RPG game that is about as good as a single player action RPG can be. It oozes quality from every pore. That fact that it was developed in less than a year and half that time was developing the concept and art style makes me tremendously excited to see what they can do with their MMO in 2 years time. (10 out of 10)

Overall Score: 9.4 out of 10
Overall Score Adjusted for Value: 9.8 out of 10

Phew that was longer than I thought it would be when I started typing.=P Thanks for reading!

- Jerich

[mediumheadboy]

Thanks, Jerich! Of course I like it because it's pretty damn positive, but I'm really glad we didn't disappoint you after all your enthusiasm in the lead up to launch!

[Chameleon]

Comprehensive review there Jerich. Nicely done.

One thing to everyone complaining about the lack of Quests / Events / Lore:...think of Torchlight as the precursor or Foreward to the Torchlight: MMO.

Runic didnt have to make this game for us, they did it because they wanted us to have a small taste of the "real" game they were making in the form of the MMO. For a "small" forerunner release I think it is beyond exceptional.

[LtgCrabfish]

You should given the review for Developer and Player Community a rank of 9000 of 10. lol!

"It is my belief that most of these people have never actually played the game." I believe in that as well.

Nice review overall. (+9000 of 10) ;D

[prestige]

Jerich! Your old PAX review probably was responsible for selling a lot of copies of the game. Now you're working overtime. I enjoyed your review.

[Jerich]

Thanks guys!=P I am glad you liked it.

- Jerich

[McKertis]

While some users in the forums are experiencing some bugs, they are the exception, not the rule. (10 out of 10)

*groan*
Yeah, right...exception...shows what you know. This game is probably the buggiest piece of crap i had played this year.

[Alcovitch]

While some users in the forums are experiencing some bugs, they are the exception, not the rule. (10 out of 10)

*groan*
Yeah, right...exception...shows what you know. This game is probably the buggiest piece of crap i had played this year.

Speak for yourself. The game runs smooth and apart from a few oversights (label stacking and debuffs anyone?) the game runs completely bug free. I haven't encountered a single bug in the 30 levels I've played so far. If you are having major issues, I'm willing to bet it's to do with your system, cuse if it was the game, it would be wide spread.

[Blinkwing]

If I didn't actually spend the last few hours playing torchlight, I'd have to say you were biased

Well written review!

[Jerich]

While some users in the forums are experiencing some bugs, they are the exception, not the rule. (10 out of 10)

*groan*
Yeah, right...exception...shows what you know. This game is probably the buggiest piece of crap i had played this year.

I am sorry to hear the game is having problems on your machine. I will say from personal experience that most games I have played on my machine (even games that have already released multiple patches) have had at least one show stopping bug. The fact that I was able to play the entire main questline without seeing a single bug says something. This has been one of the most bug free launches of any games I have played before the first patch comes out.

If you look at the bug forums, you will see that a lot of the bugs people are experiencing are caused by the third party distribution sites. For instance, it looks like Gamer's Gate released the wrong version. If you have ever been a part of forums for a truly buggy game... the single player forum is inundated with bug reports faster than the developers can move them to the technical support forum. As for the technical support forum, have you seen how fast the developers are responding to it? I just looked at it and a few posts had over 10 developer responses.... this is from a team of 20 developers.

I think the vast majority of players are having a but free experience, but if you are someone who is unable to play the game, that does probably feel reassuring at all. Maybe I should have given this category an 8 out of 10 or 9 out of 10. As of the time I was writing the review, however, there were only about 40 posts in the tech support forum. I hope that your problems get resolved soon.

That being said, the developers were adding features to the game as of one week ago. The fact that it is bug free for the majority of users (minus some minor issues I have already taken points away for) is quite an achievement.

- Jerich

[arsonist88]

Jerich, I know in your heart this game is 10/10

[Jerich]

Jerich, I know in your heart this game is 10/10

You are right.=P I tried to be as objective as possible however, with this review. If I curved for how fast the developers brought this game to market, I would give them an 11/10 for talent.=P

In fact... I think most of the criticisms I have just point out to their ability to focus on the big issues and not get mired down in the small ones. I think this team is really good at prioritizing and I am assured that the MMO will be able to be developed in 2 years and not drag on forever like some other companies development cycles.

- Jerich

[Pontifex]

You mention that the graphics stand out compared to the Diablo series but don't mention that they are pretty much a direct copy of World of Warcraft.
While this isn't a problem to me (I like the art style and graphics used in WoW and Torchlight), its not exactly unique and not something that Runic (at least as a company) has created.

I'm not intending to put down the game or Runic, just wanted to mention the similarities.

[Shiroitsuki]

You mention that the graphics stand out compared to the Diablo series but don't mention that they are pretty much a direct copy of World of Warcraft.
While this isn't a problem to me (I like the art style and graphics used in WoW and Torchlight), its not exactly unique and not something that Runic (at least as a company) has created.

I'm not intending to put down the game or Runic, just wanted to mention the similarities.

Have you played wow? Different as night and day... in cartoon world.. but still..

[Tyronetasty]

There are five difficulty levels in Torchlight: easy, normal, hard, very hard and very hard with a destroyer.

Oh so true. I'm on the last levels of VH with my Destroyer now and I am seriously grinding out every inch toward the final boss. It's epic.

[SirioB]

Thanks for the review Jerich!

[Shadou]

You mention that the graphics stand out compared to the Diablo series but don't mention that they are pretty much a direct copy of World of Warcraft.
While this isn't a problem to me (I like the art style and graphics used in WoW and Torchlight), its not exactly unique and not something that Runic (at least as a company) has created.

I'm not intending to put down the game or Runic, just wanted to mention the similarities.

Umm... You might want to do a little (more?) research next time.

[Pontifex]

You mention that the graphics stand out compared to the Diablo series but don't mention that they are pretty much a direct copy of World of Warcraft.
While this isn't a problem to me (I like the art style and graphics used in WoW and Torchlight), its not exactly unique and not something that Runic (at least as a company) has created.

I'm not intending to put down the game or Runic, just wanted to mention the similarities.

Have you played wow? Different as night and day... in cartoon world.. but still..

yes, i played WoW for about 7 months, started playing at launch.
you are talking about world of warcraft when you say WoW, right? i have to ask you if you played WoW and Torchlight because night and day? WTF are you smoking?

I haven't played WoW recently so maybe the graphics and art style have changed since I last played (highly doubtful), but this is almost an exact copy of WoW's art style.

[TiberiusAudley]

There are five difficulty levels in Torchlight: easy, normal, hard, very hard and very hard with a destroyer.

Oh so true. I'm on the last levels of VH with my Destroyer now and I am seriously grinding out every inch toward the final boss. It's epic.

You left off "Very Hard with an Alchemist that doesn't use any active skills except summons."

Imagine Very Hard with a Destroyer.
Now take away your ability to survive 5 hits and block 5 more...reduce it to a maximum of 2 with 0% block chance.

Alchemist.

[Jerich]

You mention that the graphics stand out compared to the Diablo series but don't mention that they are pretty much a direct copy of World of Warcraft.
While this isn't a problem to me (I like the art style and graphics used in WoW and Torchlight), its not exactly unique and not something that Runic (at least as a company) has created.

I'm not intending to put down the game or Runic, just wanted to mention the similarities.

Have you played wow? Different as night and day... in cartoon world.. but still..

yes, i played WoW for about 7 months, started playing at launch.
you are talking about world of warcraft when you say WoW, right? i have to ask you if you played WoW and Torchlight because night and day? WTF are you smoking?

I haven't played WoW recently so maybe the graphics and art style have changed since I last played (highly doubtful), but this is almost an exact copy of WoW's art style.

I just spent about 10 minutes flipping through screenshots of Wow and Torchlight and comparing them side by side. I have played WoW quite a bit and I love blizzards style of graphics. While I think there are definitely some similarities (both are cartoony and use oversized proportions, I think there are some major differences differences):

• Proportions - Torchlight uses more exaggerated proportions than WoW. Believe it or not, Wow is more realistic.
• Textures - Torchlight player textures are crisp and clean wheras their backgrounds are faux watercolor. Wow uses similar texture style for both character and background.
• Character - WoW art takes itself slightly more seriously than Torchlight. In Torchlight, most things have a quirkiness about them.

Here is a link to a great Gamasutra article by Jason Beck, one of the artists at Torchlight where he describes how they created the art... http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4123/from_the_ashes_of_mythos_the_art_.php.

There are five difficulty levels in Torchlight: easy, normal, hard, very hard and very hard with a destroyer.

Oh so true. I'm on the last levels of VH with my Destroyer now and I am seriously grinding out every inch toward the final boss. It's epic.

You left off "Very Hard with an Alchemist that doesn't use any active skills except summons."

Imagine Very Hard with a Destroyer.
Now take away your ability to survive 5 hits and block 5 more...reduce it to a maximum of 2 with 0% block chance.

Alchemist.

That sounds painful.=P I will have to try it some time, but with 10 points in the fear skill.=P

- Jerich