Game Review: Torchlight 2 [Slashdot]

[DP ServBot]

CowboyNeal writes: "Last week was a big week for gamers, with the release of bothBorderlands 2 as well as Torchlight 2. I already shared my thoughtson the former last week, so I got to playing the latter over the weekend.Torchlight 2 is the follow-up to Torchlight, the 2009point-and-click ARPG created by Runic Games. What's new that the first gamedidn't have? And, the big question, how does it stack up against Diablo3? Click the link below to learn my impressions of the game."

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[Damaniel]

As a huge fan of the original Torchlight (I beat it four times!) I may be biased, but Torchlight 2 is everything I wished the first one could have been, and I'm liking it more than I liked Diablo 3.

Diablo 3 isn't a bad game at all, but the auction house (not specifically the RMAH) ruined the one primary motivation to play an ARPG - the sense of excitement that the next thing you kill might drop an exceptional piece of loot. Besides the fact that legendary items were practically no-shows in D3, even in Inferno, the ability to buy items on the auction house (most of which were far better than anything you were likely to find yourself) killed my motivation to do the grinding that I did in Diablo 2.

Torchlight 2 manages to get the balance of loot mostly right, and I'm always looking forward to what might drop from the next thing I kill. On top of that, the gameplay in general is very polished and fast-paced, and as I pump more points into skills on my skill tree, those skills feel much more useful. Everything is very well paced, so between gaining levels and gear, you always feel like you're being rewarded (but not too much).

For $20, it's a steal. Runic could have easily asked more than that, and I would have paid it.

[Zthun]

As a huge fan of the original Torchlight (I beat it four times!) I may be biased, but Torchlight 2 is everything I wished the first one could have been, and I'm liking it more than I liked Diablo 3.

That's really good to hear. I'm still playing the original Torchlight, and it's probably my favorite game in my steam library. Looking forward to playing the second one. Torchlight is what Diablo 3 should have been.

Diablo 3 isn't a bad game at all, but the auction house (not specifically the RMAH) ruined the one primary motivation to play an ARPG - the sense of excitement that the next thing you kill might drop an exceptional piece of loot. Besides the fact that legendary items were practically no-shows in D3, even in Inferno, the ability to buy items on the auction house (most of which were far better than anything you were likely to find yourself) killed my motivation to do the grinding that I did in Diablo 2.

The RMAH drives the nail in the coffin for that game; unless you're hardcore of the hardcore and only care about the game and can completely ignore the AH, it's hard to justify using an item in game when you can put it up on the RMAH and make anywhere between $50-$200. That amount can pay a big chunk of my food bill every month.

For $20, it's a steal. Runic could have easily asked more than that, and I would have paid it.

And by the time I get to the 2nd game, it'll be 75% off on steam =) This game could have easily gotten a $50-$60 price tag and it would be worth it.