What is it: Torchlight is a Diablo style game released in 2009, created by several of the people who created Diablo II. You can choose one of three classes in the unmodded version of the game, and you descend through a massive dungeon, hunting down the bad guys and grabbing all the epic loot you can find as you go. With several different environments (underground caverns, abandoned temples, and all kinds of neat places), as well as some interesting enemies, it's well worth checking out.
Pros: It's fun. You get to run around zapping, shooting, or smashing your way through enemies and environments. You can choose something to hopefully fit your playstyle, since each class also has its own talent trees. I played through the game the first time as the Alchemist, a sort of mage and summoner, who can throw bolts of various sorts of energy and summon minions. Mine has a steampunk looking robot. There's also the Vanquisher, a sort of Amazon/Hunter hybrid with traps and dual ranged weapons. And finally the Destroyer, a barbarian with a Norse feel to it in having ancestor spirits to draw on. You can also learn spells that you find all around, with lots of interesting abilities that add to your own.
You have a pet. The pet fights with you, stores loot, learns its own spells, and can be sent back to town to clear your inventory space. It's crazy useful. You can also fish up different kinds of fish to either temporarily or permanently change your pet's creature type.
The modding community for Torchlight is awesome. They have created useful tools, entirely new classes, changes to pets, prices, and all manner of things. What I really like is you don't HAVE to play with mods. My first playthrough was without any mods, and I did just fine. But they do add a useful dimension to the game, and the Torchlight team seems to actively support the people adding to their game.
The music and graphic design. It's certainly a unique style, and one I had no problems staring at for hours on end while I was playing. The music is wonderful, you can hear hints of Diablo II coming through, which is no accident since Matt Uelmen was composer and sound designer. I personally loved his work in both this and Diablo II.
Cons: You have to chug potions. Constantly. On the upside, there are a ton of them laying around. Everywhere. The vendors will be able to fill their swimming pools with how much you'll be bringing them... There are limited means to heal yourself, that being potions, and the spells you can learn. Finding a heal spell can be rather difficult.
The classes are limited, unless you choose to mod. Which is a small detail.
Clicking. Lots of clicking. In my mind, the interface leaves a little to be desired, with 10 hotkey slots. Two of these will be taken by potions, most likely 4 by the spells you can learn, leaving you with 4 keys and 4 slots activated by clicking the mouse.
No multiplayer. It would be a much better game with this feature, which they added in its sequel.
Overall opinion: I would say this is totally worth getting, especially if you like Diablo style games. The price tag of only $15 makes it attractive (I'm writing this from the US perspective, not totally familiar with how much it costs elsewhere), and the modding community keeps things interesting.
If you've got questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to leave me a comment, and thanks for reading!
