Torchlight

Title: Torchlight
Platform Played On: Xbox 360
Release Date: March 9, 2011
Date Played: July, 2011
Time Played: 27 Hours
Completed (Y/N): Y
Score: 4/5


Opinion:
Torchlight was released on PC in late 2009, 1.5 years before it was ported to Xbox 360. It so happened that I have not played it yet and this seemed like a great time to give it a shot. I have heard a lot of great things about it. To sum up everything Ive heard about Torchlight... It is the greatest thing since Diablo 2.

For the first attempt they did a good job, however other than having updated graphics and an innovation or two it does not hold a candle to Diablo 2. It was at this point that I realized that this whole time when people were saying how it is the greatest thing since Dialbo 2 I misunderstood them entirely. I thought (perhaps I wished) that they were saying that this is the next step, that it raises the bar. However what they really have been saying is that if you compare everything that has come out since Diablo 2 (your Titan Quests, Sacreds and Divine Divinitys) this is the best one of them. And yes, I agree.


Diablo 2's story, and classes outshine Torchlight's counterparts in every respect. When boiled down, Torchlight is remarkably similar to Diablo 1, Town on the surface and infinite number of floors below it.  The biggest  new and welcomed feature is, your companion which can run to town and sell your junk.  The portal system and skill trees are taken from Diablo 2/World of Warcraft and mashed together.


The game controls well on the 360, although there are times (rarely) that the framerate dips below 15FPS. One major complaint about the game is the inventory system, you are limited to 50 items (100 if you count pet's inventory). If you subtract equipped items then you have under 40 slots. By the end of the game you have so much valuable loot that you simply have to sell it or drop it, which is unfortunate.  


I played as the Alchemist (Mage), I used dual wielding wands all the way through the game. The combat was pretty satisfying, although the whole thing got pretty repetitive and mundane about 75% through the game. 


I expect much more from Torchlight 2, especially with Diablo 3 on the horizon.