Torchlight II PC Preview - PAGE 1

Way back in 2009, a little action RPG by the name of Torchlight made waves in the independent gaming scene. I was one of many who loved it, though noted in my review it wears thin after so many hours. Torchlight II is now on the horizon, boasting online co-op, a revamped art style, and a whole lot more. I dove into the beta last evening and some today for a good few hours, and I'm pleased to say it's shaping up nicely.

Art design

While I enjoyed the cartoon art style of Torchlight, ultimately I found myself not being able to take it as seriously as I'd like. The sequel continues in a similar vein, but feels a lot more like a stylization choice than an accessibility one. To put it another way, it's not trying (at least not hard) to appeal to your ten year-old nephew anymore, though he'll still probably dig the game anyway for its solid design and mechanics.

Gameplay & co-op

Gameplay itself is wonderfully addictive, though a little boring on anything below Elite difficulty. Veteran proves a bit of a challenge, but mostly only in the sense that if you forget to keep an eye on your HP now and then, you might get roasted. Elite forces you to use actual tactics a bit, albeit simple ones.

The server browser is easy enough to use, and pairing up with partners is done via the use of portals, which works well enough. Lack of voice chat is kind of a downer, but text is there and helps some.

Monotony & variety

It's hard to tell from a few hours of beta playtime, but monotony could still be an issue with Torchlight II. All quests from what I've seen involve killing hordes of monsters and/or a boss, then nabbing some artifact or whatever. I know it's typical for the genre, but it holds it back some nonetheless: even a little variety could go a long way. Fortunately, this doesn't again extend to environments, which now range from snow capped mountains to dungeons to lush open fields and more, and definitely do their part to keep you enticed.

Conclusion

At this point, Torchlight II feels pretty polished and immediately superior to its predecessor; it's blatant developer Runic Games thought long and hard, took in lots of feedback, and did a ton of playtesting to determine how to make this sequel genuinely better and not just a minor update. Keep an eye out for it when it launches (possibly sometime in summer).