Torchlight II is a very familiar game to play. By building upon recognisable dungeon-crawler archetypes, Runic Games have by no means set out to re-invent the ARPG wheel, instead deciding to focus on polishing what was already a brilliant product. Torchlight II is simply a joy to indulge in, fixing most, if not all of the problems its forebear laid down; and whilst the format itself varies little throughout its 25+ hour running time, you’ll still find the hours slipping surreptitiously away.
The setup is pretty standard fantasy fare – the world of Torchlight has once again been flung into darkness, becoming consumed by plagues and ravaged by monstrous beasts. Intriguingly, at the epicentre of this mess lies the once heroic Alchemist, a name familiar to those who have graced Torchlight with their presence before. Like many games of this ilk, the story provides context but little else, and in spite of some generally sharp writing, I rarely found myself emotionally invested with the lore, the world and its inhabitants. The best way to interact with anything in Torchlight II is by selling it, wearing it or delivering death with it …
… as you’ve come to expect, it’s all about the loot.
First though, the looter. There are four classes to choose from this time round; the wrench-wielding, steam-punk-fuelled Engineer, the heat-packing, twin-pistol-touting Outlander, the animalistic half-spirit-wolf Berserker, and the elementally charged staff-poking Embermage. Also included is a pleasingly robust character creation system which, whilst not reaching anywhere near Skyrim levels, is a nice improvement upon the original. Each class is distinct, the mage perhaps the most as her paramount attack methods are magical abilities; not just smashing something sentient with a bit of something sharp. The final piece to you character’s puzzle is the bestial companion you drag along with you, of which there are now eight to choose from. Always dreamt of being accompanied by a blue-ish bi-pedal lizard… thing? If so, you’ve won that peculiarly particular life-lottery.
Thankfully your class selection doesn’t limit you weapon-wise. The loot (outside of quest rewards) is randomly generated and, as long as you’re brandishing the right stats, you’re good to go. The snag is that your skill tree is class specific, and some special abilities are only possible with certain armaments. The Engineer’s Flame Hammer ability for example, a radius obliterating explosion of fire, is only possible with a melee weapon in hand, meaning that if you decide to go long range, you’re limiting your output potential. The depth of the skill trees is modest, providing just about enough just-out-of-reach untapped magical fire-power to keep you level grinding.
As far as mechanics beyond this are concerned, I’d forgive you for drawing comparisons with a certain Blizzard product – the HUD this time around looks to be ripped directly from Diablo II (not necessarily surprising given that ex-Diablo II developers largely make up Runic Games). Movement is controlled by clicking, attacking is controlled by clicking and specials are controlled by clicking (or hotkeys!). There’s a fair amount of clicking. Everything here seems more streamlined and accessible than Diablo though, the enemies come thicker and the rewards come faster. Levels seem to just fly by every half an hour, but even at its most heated, it’s easy to remain stoically in control of your hero.
Everything is more open this time around, with huge over-worlds providing as many beasts to quell as the deep dungeon themselves. It has to be said that the quests feel more like a means to grind enemies than they do an actual narrative motivation, but the process is so satisfying that, in the end, this isn’t to its detriment. As you complete your tasks and rack up the kill-count you gain experience and eventually level up, allowing you to increase stats and select skills. By the book stuff then. But it all means nothing if you’re not continually upgrading your gear. A new enemy is a new loot possibility, with piles of the stuff flying out of every available orifice. Once you’ve filled your pockets full of goodies (which won’t take long), you’re going to want to sell a lot of it. Luckily a trek back to town is not needed, like in the original, your pet is also a master-salesman and will happily make its way back to the nearest bazaar and flog your paraphernalia for you.
Over time it becomes less about the levels and more about the sweet gear – all of which, regardless of the combination, looks awesome:
The addiction becomes overwhelming and letting go of a beloved, but now under-levelled, hammer-of-death is a burden we all must eventually bear. Thankfully the steady stream of new equipment means it won’t be long before you’ve fallen, once again, in love with another inanimate object. The thrill of the hunt never truly dissipated, the new game + being a welcome reason to return and the perma-death-based hardcore mode providing the additional longevity for the veterans.
What’s more, Runic Games have addressed the original Torchlight’s key vice and have shovelled in some online multiplayer. It’s a liberal co-operative concept, allowing any player’s current mission to be the active goal. The net code seems solid, with little lag during even the most hectic of team battles. Jumping online is also ridiculously straightforward with a nicely organised lobby system allowing you to pick and choose difficulties and ideal partner levels.
Torchlight II is a wisely stylistic game, cashing in hardcore technical prowess for a bright, clean appearance that runs silky smooth on modest machinery. Everything from the armour decorating your hero to the hellish minions trying to rip it to shreds are of an exquisitely clear and imaginative design. Gore is sadistically thrown all over the vast and diverse terrain whilst a genuinely beautiful soundtrack hints at epic scale. It’s a frugal yet potent assault on the senses.
It won’t take long for Torchlight II to get its well-realised hooks into you. Once it has, you’re treated to a spectacular dungeon-crawling ARPG, that shows its peers how things should be done. Whilst it is certainly derivative at ground level, and not as content-rich and deep as it could be, the actual minute-to-minute gameplay process is almost a flawless one, and something that shouldn’t go unnoticed.
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