Zero Punctuation: Torchlight

[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?

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

You don't have to click for every attack...At least I never had to.

 

[Houmand]

Actually one doesn't have to keep clicking to keep hitting, you could just have held the mousebutton down...

 

[CuddlyCombine]

School for dolphin telegraph operators had me rolling on the floor. Fantastic.

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

Because absolutely everybody who is somebody in the games industry (and everybody who is nobody) watches Yahtzee. If he had a content badge, we'd all have it.

 

[Lemon Of Life]

Agree with Yahtzee on this one. The game's cool at first, and then you realised that that's all you're getting. Shmeh.

 

[f0re1gn]

small game = small review I actually liked the game. And well yeah, it does get tedious after a while (still haven't finished it), but I think it's actually worth your time (especially for 3 bucks or even 10) if you enjoyed D2.

 

[supermike6]

You can hold the mouse button instead of clicking it a lot to kill enemies.

 

[VMerken]

So... right... gravely goodness for Croshaw? Confused.

 

[ItsAPaul]

For you people who somehow haven't heard of Torchlight, that laser attack he's referring to is called Ember Lance. I'm surprised he didn't like it, but I guess we've never heard him review Diablo 2 now have we? Spoiler alert: this game plays exactly like diablo 2, down to the same music guy and everything.

 

[Irridium]

He raises a good point.
Why does every RPG village seem to be built next to some horrid evil?

Its like they want to be attacked by demons or something...

 

[UnravThreads]

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).

I should have clarified that I meant they're not your usual Swathes of "Ultra-Realistic" Brown like most modern games, with their life like graphics. Torchlight's graphics aren't ridiculous in the fact they're functional, they don't need to look life like nor overly cartoony.

And a blatant rip from Warcraft? Oh, God forbid any game ever using cartoony graphics. Torchlight uses exaggerated proportions and less realism than Warcraft, it doesn't make it a "blatant rip" in any way. Chances are it's inspired by Warcraft, don't forget the makers of Torchlight have worked on Diablo and other games.

There is a story to Torchlight, but it's not story heavy and that's something I enjoy about it.