The thing about modding an action RPG - a game that's already designed to throw massed varieties of crazy stuff at you every few seconds - is that it can be tough to disentangle what's new and what's just glorious randomised business as usual. On my most recent playthrough, I've been exploring Torchlight 2 alongside SynergiesMOD, a total conversion that makes quite a difference to the way that the action RPG unfolds.Īt first, though, I had a hard time pinning down exactly what had changed. Or rather, something funny had been installed. Torchlight 2's a generous game, of course, but something funny was up. Shoulders, hats, trousers and various wonderfully nasty weapons potions, spells, piles of glittering gold. More loot than I'd ever seen in Torchlight 2 before: full knee-buckling inventories of the stuff. Mordrox had been hammered into oblivion, his skeleton guards were blasted into powdery white gravel, and, looking about, I noticed the floor was knee-high with loot. It made more of an impact on my latest playthrough, mind, and that's because of the aftermath of that final battle. Meet a shady character near Skull Hollow, chat for a bit, and then head deep inside the catacombs of the Bone Gallery to fight Mordrox, a giant zombie troll. It's a side-quest tucked snugly into the game's first act, and it's typically pulpy stuff. I won’t come out and say that you must buy this game, but I highly recommend it, especially if you’re looking for a something to keep you occupied over the next few months.I didn't really notice Bring Out Your Dead on my first few playthroughs of Torchlight 2. I could easily sink hundreds of hours into this game…twenty bucks is almost a steal when you compare it to sixty dollar games that offer a three-hour campaign. The co-op functionality, the user-friendly game mechanics, and diverse character classes serve to increase this game’s replayability to levels even higher than its predecessor. It’s certainly one of the better games I’ve played this year. It’s a classic example of a company taking a successful game (Torchlight I) and adding even more bells and whistles to make the sequel even better. In the grand scheme of things, Torchlight II is worth its price tag of $19.99 (as of 10/5/12) and then some. I find myself afraid to spend skill points for fear of wasting them, which is sad.
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Hardcore players who want to stick to their guns can simply choose not to use it. It just makes more sense to me that this game should continue to be user-friendly and implement a full respec option so that all players can be satisfied. Unless you know what skills you want from the get-go, which I can tell you now that most casual players won’t, you’ll be stuck with skills you won’t end up using. I don’t see how removing the ability to respec the points in their entirety will benefit the casual players (like Jennifer). I can see a more hardcore game implementing a mechanic like that, however, this game is designed to be friendly to the casual gamer. While I understand that this design forces players to live with the consequences of their actions, I must point out that the Torchlight series has always been a casual game, at least to me. If you dump a whole bunch of points into one skill that you discover won’t be using anymore later on…it’s too bad, so sad. My sole complaint, and it is fairly relevent, is that the game only allows you to respec the last three skill points you’ve spent. You can store items you find for your other characters in the “shared stash.” Torchlight allowed me to play from start to finish without any hiccups and so far, Torchlight II is proving to be the same experience…which to me, is a good thing. I shouldn’t have to rely on an auction house to progress further and see endgame content…but that’s a different beast that I won’t go into here.
I’ll be honest, I haven’t touched Diablo III in months because of how insanely difficult Inferno mode is and how grindy it can be when it comes to finding gear. Diablo III is a rather large contender, but I am finding myself drawn to Torchlight II more because of its casual atmosphere. Having played all of the games in the Diablo series and having put countless hours into Torchlight I, I’m pleased to report that wading my way through monsters in Torchlight II was both satisfying and fun. This is a welcome addition to the Torchlight series and I commend Runic for making this incredibly easy to manage.Īlright, so we know that logistically, everything is stable and relatively seamless, but how does it play? You could progress a few levels solo one day, then jump into some co-op with the same character the next. As you progress, quit, and resume playing, you’ll be able to choose each time what mode you’d like to play in.
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There’s a few more options to choose from this time around.Īfter choosing a difficulty, you’ll have the option to play single player or multiplayer via network or LAN.