Backhand of Justice

Torchlight shouldn’t just be a blip on your radar, it should be a massive unidentified mass that will grab hold of you and never let go. I realize those unidentified radar targets are usually Godzilla, or a Russian submarine. In this case, it’s Torchlight.

Do the names Max and Erich Schaefer mean anything to you? They should. While Jay Wilson and the rest of Blizzard North continued onward to glory after the release of Diablo II, the Schaefer brothers departed to follow their vision for what an action-RPG game could be.
 
Did I mention they were Diablo’s original designers? They were into Diablo before Diablo was cool, man. Imagine if Diablo’s addictive mechanics were refined for a decade and the distracting fat was stripped away. What are you left with? No, not Diablo 3; Torchlight.
 
Runic Games will finally release Torchlight on October 27th. Its budget price and low profile will likely result in the game being criminally underplayed, but I’m here to do a few of you a favor and convince you to give it a shot.

Phat Lewtz
 
Whether it’s stamps, baseball cards or Xbox Live Gamerscore, people enjoy collecting stuff. It appeals to our most basic reptile brains, like Cosby sweaters and the electric slide (just me?). So when I say Torchlight has an extensive loot collection, I mean it uses a procedural generation system much like Diablo II or Borderlands.
 
This is not a new mechanic, but once again, innovation is overrated. The infatuation with finding that next item while trawling through a dungeon is potent. Of course, if you want to do that, you can play Diablo 2, right? Of course you can. I’m not saying that Torchlight somehow improves upon procedural generation, but it matches Diablo in this respect. The improvement comes in other areas. 

I feel like I've seen this before. Where did you learn to make games? *Blizzard North?* Ahh ...

Are you a dog person or a cat person?
 
So what’s the best refinement in Torchlight? Are you sure you’re ready? You get a pet: a dog or a cat (technically a wolf dog or a lynx). This is significant because your pet isn’t just a vanity addition, it’s a pack animal. I don’t know where your cat is carrying all your loot (it’s probably for the best that we don’t know), but they function as a walking inventory.
 
That’s not all, though. If you order now, they’re also a fully stocked traveling store! Your pet can take your vendor trash, run it back to town, sell it, and return, all while you continue adventuring. The worst part of any action-RPG is trying to manage inventory, especially in games with procedurally generated loot. A simple side effect of that mechanic is that you’ll be picking up truckloads of crap, but Runic Games has streamlined the whole process. Inventory management is something you do in the real world, not in Torchlight. 
 
I’m not even going to touch on the way you can feed certain fish to your pet and transform them into an enraged mutant beast. (Yes you read that correctly. Once again: fish, pet, mutant beast). This is a landmark in videogames: the first mobile fighting storefront™.

This game has serious style. His greaves match his breastplate. Although that sword is so last season

 
Community focus
 
Although the dungeons in Torchlight are different for every game, they’re still created in the same style and the story remains static. A game like Neverwinter Nights, on the other hand, had legs because the community got involved. With the exception of MMOs, games rarely have a lifespan that can be measured in years unless the community works to introduce fresh content.
 
Runic is releasing the full Preditor toolset used to develop the game as a free download. The art style is simple enough that crafting innovative environments won’t be overly laborious. The user can iterate their own creations as the editor allows dynamic switching between designing and playing. In addition, Runic will continue to focus on the game as their plan is to expand it to a full MMO within 18 months.

Procedurally generated loot: videogame crack cocaine

 
Can you spare $20?
 
It’s tough to justify risking the purchase of an unknown and untested game these days. $60 isn’t pocket change, and while a sure fire hit like Modern Warfare 2 is guaranteed to last you dozens if not hundreds of hours, an unheard of action-RPG could be a complete bust. That $60 could be better spent on cheap hookers and booze.
 
Fortunately, Torchlight is a relative steal at $20, and its system requirements are so lenient that my calculator can run the game. This is an all-access experience and if the single player game offers anywhere close to the 10-20 hours of gameplay Runic suggests it’s the deal of the year. That doesn’t even touch on the option to leave heirloom equipment for your ‘ancestors’ (yourself in a second playthrough) in a new game plus mode. For a non-multiplayer game, content and replayability appears substantial.

The three classes are Destroyer, Alchemist and Vanquisher. Runic nicknamed them 'Barbarian,' 'Witch Doctor,' and 'Monk'

 
Torchlight is a budget game, but it’s not going to be a budget experience. There are traditional RPG tropes like mimic chests and ability trees. There is a level cap at 100. The developers have a pedigree of the highest quality. They are the progenitors of the action-RPG genre, and they’re saying that they’ve taken the greatest one ever released (Diablo II), a game they developed, and improved upon it. Who am I to doubt them?
 
Runic is brutally honest about this game. They’re not trying to spin it as anything but a Diablo clone with minor improvements. They specifically say ‘if you know Diablo, you know our game.’ If you don’t want more Diablo, look elsewhere, but if, like me, Diablo III inspires substantial enthusiasm, Torchlight is worth a look. It’s cheap, it is refined and most importantly, it’s out on Tuesday and not in 2020.
 
Think of it this way: worst case scenario you waste $20 on Torchlight instead of $60 for a full priced game, and you still have $40 left over for drugs. Play your cards right, and you still may get those 10-20 hours of entertainment.

If you’re still not sold, check out videos of the 3 character classes:

The Alchemist:

The Vanquisher:

The Destroyer: