Torchlight

[Stabwound]

Shit is way too easy. I started on the hardest difficulty and it's still easy.

I don't know why they'd go with a system like this rather than the tried and true system in Diablo 1 and 2, where you can finish a game and then play in a harder difficulty where you get better drops. In Torchlight, you can play the hardest difficulty from the beginning, and all it seems to do is make the enemies harder and no affect anything else.

Start is understandably easy but I can see the difficulty going higher as I go down and I wonder what will happen next, and I have yet to try Very Hard.

Only Diablo 2 allows you to replay the game at higher difficulty. Diablo has only one difficulty level, and while you can replay the game with the same character, and maybe get different quests and loot this time around, the difficulty is the same, unless you use the controversial Hellfire expansion.

I prefer the Torchlight system of having all difficulties unlocked right away, because the tried and true system of Diablo 2 is a bit retarded.

Nah dude, Diablo 1 definitely has multiple difficulty levels, you just had to start a "multiplayer" game and just play by yourself.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Playing an Alchemist (big surprise!). I'm having good fun with the game, but..

The pet is well done. He's helpful and it's fun how you can give him two spells to fiddle around with and equip him some rings and amulets. The dog and cat selection is pretty lousy though, especially so since both of them look rather unappealing. The fishing is a nice touch since you can change the appearance of your pet into something more fantastical, but it only lasts for 2 minutes. I wish it was a permanent change.

The skill selection (at least for my Alchemist) is rather disappointing. There really isn't much to it. A few generic spells, passive buffs that increase my weapon damage, crit chance, armor etc. the usual. Generic wouldn't be that bad if there was some actual depth to the skills, but in this case there isn't. There hardly is any synenergy between the skills. I just pick the baddest blaster and shoot everything at sight. As soon as I get a new skill, the older ones become slightly redundant.

And those are my complaints for now.

Huh, good stuff? Well, the music is damn awesome. Yeah. And the game looks good/is very fluid and consistent.

 

[Gragt]

Stabwound: Looks like it, but you kind of need to go out of the way to find it.

Also I just found out that there is a big drawback to this method: multiplayer mode greatly limits the number of quests available. Only 4 are available and two of those are the ones required to complete the game, and the other two will always make you encounter Leoric and The Butcher. Even then the quests are simplified because these guys do not have special levels and are met in the main dungeon itself.

 

[Satori (original)]

So what's the ranged character like (the girl)? Seems like there's not a significant amount of difference between the three classes.

 

[Grunker]

I paid 20$ for this game. So far it seems I'll get 20$ worth of entertainment. Not a bad deal, not a good deal. Just a deal.

It's fun enough. Little variation, and it's extremely easy (punch me for being an idiot - I started the game on normal). Its biggest shortcoming is the lack of a multiplayer. Normally, I wouldn't care, but this game just screams for it.

The music is by far the best part.

 

[1eyedking]

Way too easy.

Way too cartoony.

Way too...casual.

Verdict? Banal. Shit. Boring. I'll extract the music and let this piece of crap rest in peace. The Codex is seriously declining in taste and standards if this game is satisfying this forum's demand.

PS: I ended up reinstalling Diablo 1. Better graphics, better music, better gameplay, better atmosphere, etc. ...

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Its biggest shortcoming is the lack of a multiplayer. Normally, I wouldn't care, but this game just screams for it.

Multiplayer is comming.

In a week or so, they're releasing the full development kit too. Apparently it's awsome and the exact same toolset the devs used. <- This is what excites me the most, it will be a modders dream.

Remember this is a budget priced casual game - a sort of Diablo lite. It was never ment to compete with Diablo or any other full-priced AAA title for that matter. As such, they have accomplished what they set out to do.

Taking all that into consideration - I'm having a blast with it, no matter how short lived. Worth every cent! :D

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Way too easy.

Way too cartoony.

Way too...casual.

Verdict? Banal. Shit. Boring. I'll extract the music and let this piece of crap rest in peace. The Codex is seriously declining in taste and standards if this game is satisfying this forum's demand.

PS: I ended up reinstalling Diablo 1. Better graphics, better music, better gameplay, better atmosphere, etc. ...

Yes, you are obviously way too hardcore for this game. Congratulations, more codex points for you - *salute*

 

[WDeranged]

I'm still waiting for the damn thing to download, another three hours to go...

 

[Gragt]

Ah! I thought that this thread was missing baaaaaawing.

 

[Michael Ellis]

10/27 article
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/article ... Torchlight

 

[1eyedking]

Yes, you are obviously way too hardcore for this game. Congratulations, more codex points for you - *salute*

It's not about Codex points. Quite the contrary.

Most recent games suck massive multi-headed dongs. Majesty 2, Tropico 3, Torchlight, Trine, etc. Others don't suck so much (read: Risen, ). I know I'll earn the enmity of a few, but if I don't voice myself maybe that other basement-dwelling, raging Codexer might feel alone.

So that was my way of saying to him*: "You're not alone, man*."

*: no feminine version required for obvious reasons

 

[phanboy_iv]

I'm enjoying it, and yeah, nobody who has two fully functioning appendages should pick anything lower than Hard mode.

That being said, the game is comfortably difficult. The first 3-4 dungeon levels are a cakewalk, but after the first story boss it ramps up somewhat. If you pick a suitable difficulty you'll probably die occasionally. It's not attempting to be a hardcore death/respawn/death kind of experience anyway.

It's not the perfect OMG HARDCOAR!1!1 experience, it is however *very* enjoyable.

There is actually a permadeath option though, for what little that's worth.

 

[WDeranged]

I ended up getting it from the torrents after waiting five fucking hours for a failed download, still I've got a valid code so I'll get around to legalising myself eventually.

The game is good fun so far though, I only played for half an hour as it's 5am here but nice music, nice style, addictive barrel smashing and pretty good value for money

If you buy it that is

 

[Gragt]

If you got the game directly from Runic, you can download it fast from http://www.torchlightgame.com/download.

 

[A user named cat]

Liking this so far too, finding it more enjoyable than Fate. Guess it's just the little touches and better atmosphere/music.

Biggest complaint is the fucking load times. I mean seriously, what is with this? They're awful for a casual game you just wanna fire up and waste some time with.

 

[Gragt]

I think Travis said in a forum post that they will look into the loading time. While annoying, they aren't that bad and it still takes some time to finish a level.

So far I like it. Despite every reviewer out there denouncing the lack of multiplayer as a flaw, I'm glad they decided to focus on single player. Still have to see how it goes until the end, but so far they somehow managed to get most of the good parts of the first two Diablo and added a few small but welcome features to the mix.

My nights will be long ...

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

I'm getting quite a kick out of this too. I'm a bit iffy on enemy variety, but we'll see what happens when modders get their hands on the toolset.

 

[vazquez595654]

How long before the first Diablo III Total Conversion is announced? It would be awesome to see all the known features for Diablo 3 go into a Torchlight total conversion. I wonder if Blizzard would/could do anything about it.

 

[Heresiarch]

Man, the game art is just too Warcraft 3 ish, I thought I was playing an RPG map of WC3.

 

[A user named cat]

I think Travis said in a forum post that they will look into the loading time. While annoying, they aren't that bad and it still takes some time to finish a level.

That's good then, no idea why the game would take so long to load up. Not like it has a bunch of hi-res textures and huge areas. They aren't like Gothic 3 bad, yeah, but for a more casual Diablo clone they are quite long and shouldn't be.

Speaking of the visuals though, I quite like them. If you ask me, there aren't nearly enough cel-shaded games out there on PC.

 

[Zhuangzi]

Shit, it took until page 8 for people to start criticising this game. Maybe action rpgs aren't for me, but this is EXACTLY like Diablo 2 with slightly better graphics and a pet thing. You don't have to think at all. No strategy whatsover. No story. Linear dungeons. What's so great about that?

Trine was better, and Trine was only decent.

 

[AlaCarcuss]

Shit, it took until page 8 for people to start criticising this game. Maybe action rpgs aren't for me, but this is EXACTLY like Diablo 2 with slightly better graphics and a pet thing. You don't have to think at all. No strategy whatsover. No story. Linear dungeons. What's so great about that?

Character progression and most of all - PHAT LLEEEEWWWTTT!

You are correct though - it's all just mindless fun. A nice simple diversion.

 

[Zed]

PS: I ended up reinstalling Diablo 1. Better graphics, better music, better gameplay, better atmosphere, etc. ...

Diablo had a lot better atmosphere, yeah.

But the gameplay was shit.

 

[Kingston]

Way too...casual.

The game is exactly like Diablo 2, mechanics-wise, with some extra stuff added in. It's very much old-school. I certainly can't see anything dumbed-down about it. The game is easier than D2, but you can't just breeze through it. The main gameplay is very satisfying, it has that arcade feel that all games should have. It's not weighed down with stupid bullshit. The game doesn't have cover systems, CoD-style regenerating health, long cutscenes or any stupid gimmicks. It doesn't need any of them. It doesn't even have bloom!

Where you get this claim from is beyond me.