Torchlight II Review

By Kevin Mitchell  |  Posted: October 1, 2012

The addicting loot game series that began in 2009 from developer Runic Games is back with even more clicking and looting. The first and most important improvement from Torchlight is the inclusion of six-player cooperative multiplayer. Of course, you have the option to play the entire game solo without ever having to connect to any online server, as well as the option to set up a LAN server. For me, though, the game becomes more enjoyable when playing with others, especially when trying to tackle the higher difficulties. I won't even begin to explain the need for help if you decide to try your luck at Hardcore mode – which features perma-death.

The main narrative revolves around you being the one person who can save the world. It's nothing new, and I guarantee there will be plenty of people who don't even read anything in-game as their only concern is clicking and looting. As you progress, you'll explore beautifully crafted, stylized, and colorful environments creating an atmospheric world. Spread throughout are side-quests that will force you to scour every inch of the map to discover their location. Trust me, you'll want to seek these quests out to uncover some of the sickest loot as well as some of the coolest dungeons and boss battles. This is where the risk to explore truly pans out in favor of the player.

Worried about looting too many items? Your pet has its own inventory, allowing you to transfer trash loot that you were planning to sell to the vendor instantly – clearing your inventory. Taking it a step further, you can also send your pet into town to sell the items it's carrying as well as purchase potions and scrolls in a matter of minutes.

The four new classes, as seen in our gameplay videos, each have a distinct playstyle that can be tailored to how you want to play. The Engineer is a hard-hitting tank, the Berserker can utilize animal spirits to augment his strength, the Outlander is the master of ranged weapons including the "Boomstick," and the Embermage will light a fire under any creature and laugh as it explodes. Each class has three different skill sets for you to invest your points in. Make sure to plan ahead when developing your characters, as you're only allowed to respec the last 3 skill points spent. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this design choice, as the only way to experiment with a different build for a class is to level up a brand new character. Whether Runic patches this or someone develops a mod for it, I don't see it staying this way for too long. The overall pace of the gameplay is faster than in the first game, which will lead to acquiring new equipment and leveling up much faster than before.

As you place points in specific skills, you'll notice that they can become maxed out with a level requirement to advance them further. This prevents you from focusing on just a single skill for the entire game, especially at the beginning. Each skill also has different powered tiers. When enough points are pumped into a specific skill, you'll reach the next tier that will increase the duration, range, or radius of the skill.

Speaking of the mod system, once implemented, there's the possibility for brand new maps, items, skills, and anything you can think of. I've already seen requests for new weapon skins as well as an infinite amount of cash – not that it's needed.

Simply Put

Torchlight 2 captures every aspect of the original and expands upon it by creating a randomly generated open world and simply making everything better. Even the fishing feels improved. With the possibility of a never-ending supply of fresh content due to TorchED, Runic Games has created the action RPG game that will still be talked about for years to come. I really hope that the movie and cultural references in the game aren't missed by today's gamers. It would be a real shame if no one picked up on The Goonies references in Act I. Did I also mention the game is only $20?