Torchlight - Review @ Gamespot

I have played the demo, and I has to say that is actual quite good and I would have bought it, if it was out fore one month ago. Its a real bad time to come out, as Bordeland and Dragon Age is stealing all the spot light, and in my case, Demon's Soul just came by the mail.
 
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Good online multi-player would have been awesome for this. I wanted to get this two days ago (only 16 euro on Steam), but then my copy of Brutal Legend arrived. It might appeal to my loot whoring side. But is there any sort of campaign, story or progression? I don't like the idea of just an endless collection of random dungeons.
 
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Is it? And if we just ignore numeric nonsense, which parts of the game drag it down in your opinion?

Well, I'd have given it a lower score - but it's too subjective to expect from a review.

But I think it's strange that people are so gushing over this, and I strongly suspect the price is what it's really all about.

Sure, it's neat and competent - but a month from now it'll be all but forgotten because it has no depth or any kind of longevity, which is at the core of this genre.

Cute little game with an EXCELLENT price - but really, that's about it.
 
I think it depends ... there is something to be said for having a design choice, deciding what you WILL BE as a game and absolutely nailing it. Torchlight isn't trying to be Risen or Borderlands or Dragon Age ... it is trying to be Fate ++. And in my opinion it really does well at that. And since I loved Fate, then why wouldn't I love Torchlight?

And isn't that what a review should do - review Torchlight in the context of Torchlight, not in the context of Risen et al?
 
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txa1265

But did you play FATE as much as your favorites of the genre? Wasn't it just pretty cute for a while and then mostly remembered fondly?

I could be wrong, but I really don't think these games have much in the way of longevity without multiplayer or deep character building. It's basically just randomly generated grinding - and that was brilliant in 1997, but today?

Well, to each his own and all.
 
I definitely didn't play fate like I do my fave RPG's ... and that is true for ALL action RPG's. My fondness is also impacted by the fact that it was the first RPG I shared with my kids.

But is there really more depth in Borderlands? In Dungeon Siege?

I'm not defending the 8/10 score ... nor am I saying it is wrong - I've not played enough to judge. What I'm saying is that the review of a budget casual action RPG should reflect an appraisal of the game as a budget casual action-RPG ...

And in that way price DOES matter: a game tells us something about itself by pricing, and so if this game was $50 it would be saying 'skip Dragon Age and Borderlands and Modern Warfare 2 and play ME'.
 
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I definitely didn't play fate like I do my fave RPG's … and that is true for ALL action RPG's. My fondness is also impacted by the fact that it was the first RPG I shared with my kids.

But is there really more depth in Borderlands? In Dungeon Siege?

I'm not defending the 8/10 score … nor am I saying it is wrong - I've not played enough to judge. What I'm saying is that the review of a budget casual action RPG should reflect an appraisal of the game as a budget casual action-RPG …

And in that way price DOES matter: a game tells us something about itself by pricing, and so if this game was $50 it would be saying 'skip Dragon Age and Borderlands and Modern Warfare 2 and play ME'.

I'm talking about this specific subgenre, sorry.

Haven't tried Borderlands, but at least it has multiplayer.

Dungeon Siege is about the worst of the genre, so I think Torchlight is MUCH better.

But do you have any favorite in the genre and do you really love the genre?

I love the genre and always did love it, so maybe that's why I require more from it.

In any case, it's back to price again. I don't really think about price when I evaluate a game, because it's never a concern for me - as I just pay if it's good and I don't if it's not. Except when I make a mistake and buy before thinking.
 
In what aspects is this game an advancement over Fate?
 
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Is it? And if we just ignore numeric nonsense, which parts of the game drag it down in your opinion?


Well first off, I'm definitely a bit biased against this type of game, I've never been a big fan of simple hack&slash, or the so called "Diablo clones".

That being said, I do think Torchlight is a good game, just not a "great" one, as Gamespot labeled it. It seems incredibly easy (I never came close to dying in 3-4 hours of playing on "hard" difficulty), and I found it annoying that everything was magically restocked every time I exited the dungeon, without explanation. I have no problem with respawning in most games, but I find it immersion breaking when even sub-bosses are wonderously reincarnated every time I return to a level.

The amount of loot was also just redundant to me, although I guess fans of this sub-genre actually enjoy collecting such a plethora of useless crap. ;)
 
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In what aspects is this game an advancement over Fate?

You could say that FATE was a "cute" Diablo, and Torchlight is a "cute" Diablo 2.

Fewer classes, less depth in character building, and zero multiplayer.
 
It scored higher than Titan's Quest that had a lot more features but a few bugs and technical problems. I guess after Hellgate they just wanted to keep the game tight, then build on solid foundations, rather than being feature rich.
 
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This game is pretty much fate; titan quest was better but both games are kind of bleh (imho). I really don't know why titan quest was panned most of the 'technical' issues are really quite minor. (I'd give this game a 7; there is nothing original - as a comparison I would give titan quest an 8 and fate a 6.7).

Anwyways DA should be good as should King's bounty Princess :)
 
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My honest opinion about torchlight is that it was clearly build with "fun for the casual masses" in mind.

It doesnt have a complicated leveling/stat system, nor complicated set-rules, nor an extremely elaborated gear-stat system. Its all entuitive, already seen in previous games, with an extremely acessible UI (nothing easier than pressing 1,2,3,4,5 for diferent spells).

Equaly, it has a very low system requirements so everyone can play it, and has a VERY low price. All in all it was created as a game that would please everyone, but more towards the casual/action people out there.

In a way, it reminds me of WOW in its acessability and that everyone can play with little hassle.

All in all, for me, a dire RPG player from the time of baldurs' gate, dont realy consider torchlight as a "true RPG", its more of an "action game with some progress character management", but that doesnt prevent it from being a heckload of fun.

Making an alchemist, hot-key 4 spells, dual weild wands and kill a million mobs after a hard-day work sometimes it just beats doing important quests in a "true RPG", its called variety.

Torchlight all in all, is a simple fun game. No complicated stuff, just an acessible fun game, with enough eye candy to go along and superb music.

Even though i'm a dire RPG player, i dont hesitate for a second to pick up torchlight when i want more mindless fun, and thus i dont hesitate to recommend it with a 84% score.
 
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A game with clicky combat and very little else but loot.I do not get it.
 
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Looks like a fun casual lunchtime game.

On another note, Gamespot is really slipping w/ their content lately. It used to be that I could get any demo, or patch, whatever at any time. They always had the full 411 on everything. First, the other day i was looking for the Vampire:Bloodlines patches, and they didnt have them. That's inexcusable, for a game that old. They used to have pretty much every patch and demo file known, for every game listed (which is most of them), in that respect they were really dependable.

Now, they dont have this demo hosted. wtf????

I'm seriously going to have to reconsider re-subscription this time around, that's why I have it in the first place. Game files, at high speed, right away. I shouldnt have to hunt around the net for stuff, and dl at 87k off some crappy server after supposedly "waiting in line".
 
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