Torchlight 2 will also offer much more variety in the environments you’ll be visiting. Even in the first hour of the game, I encountered a number of different world environments and two distinct types of dungeon. A number of options for playing will be available to you as well, with offline single player, LAN and internet as your options when firing up a game.

What I got to see of Torchlight 2 left me feeling very optimistic about the final product. Runic games didn’t dumb anything down or leave anything out while creating a broader experience than the original. Look for Torchlight 2 to be available for download sometime in the Summer of 2012 and we will keep you posted with any further details.

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The combat system’s mechanics have been slightly improved upon, but the emphasis is more on a better interface which gives players an easier way to sift through their huge inventory of weapons, potions and accessories . As far as the combat itself goes and the amount of action you see, it’s definitely is a bump in the excitement factor. Occasionally we came across a few stragglers hanging around that could be killed rather easily, but when walking into a new area we were suddenly attacked by many foes which actually was a good sign. The action in the beta was well-balanced this time around allowing us not to be bored with repetitive enemies. One the major additions to the on-screen combat meters is the charge bar. With the charge bar, players who hack themselves into a frenzy at a more frequent pace will see their characters perform at a higher level. Yes, your character turns into a mad man with a purpose. All four have distinctive abilities when their bars are maxed out, but more importantly all four deliver critical hits on their opponents. Seeking out enemies and forcing the action is the best way to take advantage of your charge bar because as you rack up the kills with it maxed out you’ll be rewarded with class bonuses that help you gain experience and skill points. It’s a nice addition to keep the player always in the mix no matter where they are in the game.

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It's hard to tell from a few hours of beta playtime, but monotony could still be an issue with Torchlight II. All quests from what I've seen involve killing hordes of monsters and/or a boss, then nabbing some artifact or whatever. I know it's typical for the genre, but it holds it back some nonetheless: even a little variety could go a long way. Fortunately, this doesn't again extend to environments, which now range from snow capped mountains to dungeons to lush open fields and more, and definitely do their part to keep you enticed.

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Now, be sure you’re understanding this inquiry in the correct context. I am not suggesting that Torchlight II is a bad game. Heaven’s no, quite the contrary! In fact, the game is so good that I frankly could not find a single fault with it, and that blows my mind. I intentionally gave myself a “day of rest,” so to speak, to remove any emotional highs that could be clouding my judgment. But today, poring over my notes and memories generated nearly two full days ago, I still cannot point to a solitary complaint with Torchlight’s successor. There is nothing more that I want from this pinnacle dungeon-crawling experience, no missing features or subpar execution leaving me less that amazed. Within this genre, Torchlight II is purely perfection.

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