Zero Punctuation: Torchlight

[Supernova2000]

I completed it on easy as the warrior, which was piss easy then started again on normal as another warrior, which was fine up until the point I discovered that, on normal, the enchanter has a progressively higher chance of cancelling out weapon enchantments completely, the more you attempt to add. This didn't bother you at all? Because that dick move made me abandon the game there and then. That's like adding a random chance of being reset to level 1, sounds mad but it's just another step up that particular ladder.

 

[Aptspire]

"identify items then give them to your cat/dog so he can sell them in town"
Fate did that a while ago

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

I suppose this would be a game for John Defoe then, although even he would probably just stab at the keyboard rather than actually consciously play this game.

 

[GodofDisaster]

An interesting review Yahtzee, although this genre of game never really suited my tastes. So I'll give it a miss.

 

[Usurpurus]

A very true review, Torchlight is pretty crap (after buying it for £15), mindlessly repetitive with no challenge whatsoever.

 

[RabbitDynamite]

Although I've got to say I probably enjoyed Torchlight enough and played it long enough to justify the £12 price tag, but my enthusiasm for the game waned before the dungeon slog was over. I'd be more generous to the game - as a unabashed Diablo clone, it promised amusement by upping your stats and murdering tons of dudes and it duly delivered - but the sawdust analogy and the comment about the samey environments did hit home.

 

[Usurpurus]

Yahtzee, I think I can save you a week's worth of work with my current idea.

Simply use this same review next week, but replace every occurrence of the word "torchlight" with the word "diablo" and slightly modify a couple of segments to suit it as a diablo review.

Repetitive hordes? Excessive clicking? Gnats dropping iron helmets? Yeah, I think my idea is valid enough.

Considering the dev team of Torchlight is the Diablo 1/2 dev team, it's not suprising at all that the entire game is the EXACT same with a graphics upgrade (and no mp)

 

[PxDn Ninja]

It's official, Yahtzee does not like Torchlight, he has no soul.

While most of what he says is just his opinion and therefore neither here nor there (although the fact he didn't find the interface very intuitive amazes me), he actually got one important part of the review drastically, unforgivably wrong - you don't have to click for each attack, you can hold down the mouse button and your character will keep attacking the same enemy until it dies. Even if you're no longer hovering your mouse pointer over it. This is actually one of the most meaningful improvements the game has over Diablo - it's far less of a click-fest in so many ways. He's sure getting sloppy, gone are the days of stuff like the Bioshock review where he actually honed in very precisely on what was really wrong with the game. I guess a couple years' worth of deadlines must finally be getting to him. I think he needs a couple of months off.

Agreed. I have to say I was left unimpressed by that review, and not just because I'm a Torchlight fan.

Compared to current RPGs (that is Dragon Age: Origins, Neverwinter Nights I suppose, Borderlands, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, Drakensang, Oblivion and the swathe of MMORPGs), Torchlight is a standout title. It's got a low selling price, it's got functional graphics that aren't ridiculous, it's easy enough to understand (although I'd say the itemisation is a bit messy), and it's fun.

I have paid more for games I've played for less than Torchlight. There are no Dungeon Running games that I can think of that are as recent or as successful as Torchlight, at least not since the days of Diablo 2. It's a back-to-basics game (as Yahtzee pointed out) that manages to not suck. It's proof that indie games can do extremely well and that you don't need to stay modern to do well.

The graphics aren't ridiculous? They are a blatant rip from Warcraft (which is ridiculous as well). I'll yield that the game is pretty solid, if not boring after a few hours. Also, a game like this really should have, in my opinion, a decent story (though as this game is basically an updated Diablo, lacking a story is fitting to the design).

 

[ALKATRAZACAZ]

As always , simply brilliant.

 

[Neshel]

I have to say, this is the first time I disagree with Yahtzee. Well, maybe not entirely, but on the fun aspect definitely. Though, to be fair, I only paid for Torchlight (during a slightly less awesome Steam sale) because I was craving Diablo 2 and had no access to Diablo 2 and the gameplay was pretty much the same. Not surprising since it's made by the same people, but still fun in my opinion.

Of course, what I wanted out of the game was something I could play for an hour or two every now and then so maybe it does get dull if you're marathoning it?

 

[Random Wanderer]

Still no Borderlands? You're behind the curve, Yahtzee!

Anyway, people have already made the important responses, here. His big complaint about the interface is, in fact, completely wrong. No more needs to be said about that. Also, yeah, the game is a copy-paste of the original Diablo with certain of the better elements of Diablo 2 and a few other games thrown in, but so what? That's what it's SUPPOSED to be. They aren't exactly trying to hide it.

I do like the bit about the NPC town. Especially since the vendors in Torchlight cheat you HARDCORE on item prices. Say a weapon costs you 5000 gold to buy. Five minutes later in the dungeon you pick up a better one and go off to sell the first. You'll be lucky to get even 100 gold for it. Maybe 75, if they're feeling generous. I expect the sell prices to be less than the buy prices, but they aren't even TRYING to disguise just how badly they're ripping you off. Someone up there realized they have a monopoly, and they're milking it for all they can get.

 

[hamster mk 4]

I think Yahtzee is getting a little spoiled with getting free games from the Escapist to say Torchlight was not worth $3. While it is defiantly not a genera defining masterpiece and probably deserves the criticism he leveled at it, $3 is a small price to pay for 10+ hours of amusement.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

My primary problem with Torchlight is the same one I have with all similar click-to-attack games- the enemy detection with the mouse pointer can be incredibly irritating, meaning that the enemy will move a fraction of an inch, my pointer will no longer be positioned over whatever microscopic hitbox it has, and suddenly my "attack this fool from range" command turns into "go over there and give him a big wet sloppy kiss".

But yeah. It's basically Diablo distilled into its purest form. I'm glad that I got it on sale for five bucks, really. Picked the Vanquisher, got her dual-weilding blunderbusses as soon as possible, then went right up the Arbiter tree, which means my strategy consists of the following:

- Piss off a group of enemies with a fireball shot
- Draw them into my paired Flechette Traps (MAGICAL MACHINEGUN TURRETS)
- Watch everything die

If it's a "boss" monster then I set lightning traps and rain down that arrow-storm spell on them as well, running in circles all the while. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I do like the bit about the NPC town. Especially since the vendors in Torchlight cheat you HARDCORE on item prices. Say a weapon costs you 5000 gold to buy. Five minutes later in the dungeon you pick up a better one and go off to sell the first. You'll be lucky to get even 100 gold for it. Maybe 75, if they're feeling generous. I expect the sell prices to be less than the buy prices, but they aren't even TRYING to disguise just how badly they're ripping you off. Someone up there realized they have a monopoly, and they're milking it for all they can get.

Well, what are you going to do, run over to the next town to sell your stuff for higher prices? OH WAIT, THAT'S RIGHT, THERE ISN'T ANOTHER TOWN.

Ahhh, collusion and artificial monopolies!

 

[crimsonshrouds]

i got a free play on my computer for the game called FATE which sounds an awful lot like this one based on the "review."

You can summon minions, your dog takes things for you to the very wealthy shop keepers and you get carpal tunnel before you reach the second level. It also has the idetify objects that he mentions.

The difference is i found the game to be moderate in difficulty though im not sure if you could control the difficulty and it was only a free play.

 

[NeutralDrow]

Rather funny one this week. Nice! Granted, everything he described sounded like enough fun to be worthwhile (ice cream sandwich metaphor aside), so I might look into it.

Is it just me, or did it sound like he had to pause for breath a surprisingly long couple of times?

 

[Byers]

While Torchlight is an okay game, it's certainly not an RPG.

And I did spend more time identifying and selling loot than anything else.

 

[Byers]

This one seemed a lot shorter than usual

This game is a lot shorter than usual.

 

[foxreinard]

The game sounds suspiciously like one I had played before called Fate, which lacked character class selection, town built over dungeon, Diablo interface... You just run around killing monsters that are extremely easy and you have a cute little pet that runs back to town to sell things. Occasionally I would find a statue with gems for eyes that were sufficiently valuable that I could retire from adventuring right then and there. However, being that I was an adventurer, retirement never happens. Just more grinding.

 

[signingupforgames]

Why is it that Yahtzee is the only show without content badges?