Torchlight II Beta Impressions - Action RPG Done Right?

Error 37 getting you down? Constant online connections bugging your life? Need freedom to play single player in your action RPG? Are you annoyed by this opening line of this impressions article that sounds like a sales pitch? Runic Games recently had a beta weekend(that was still invite only) for Torchlight II and I had the pleasure of trying the game out. Runic went all out for Torchlight II; 4 player co-op, a bigger hub world with a tonne of random dungeons, offline single player, 4 new classes, new skills, new pets.... the list goes on.

Right... you can still pick where you want to invest your attribute points into

Torchlight II takes place after the first game and a new mysterious evil force is using the essence of power of Ordrak to cause chaos in Torchlight and its surrounding areas. There is a much bigger threat now and with Torchlight II, the game opens you up to the world outside of the town of Torchlight and onto the wider world. There are three acts that will showcase a wide range of environments from the Torchlight greenery to even deserts. The best way I could put it is... if Torchlight was Diablo, Torchlight II is Diablo II. There are multiple hub towns with overland areas that you travel in between them and dungeons strewn across the map.

Torchlight was merely the sneak peak to what Runic could do quite frankly, because Torchlight II blows it out of the water. The randomised dungeons here are a step above the first game. Expect the dungeons to be more randomised, even the overland paths would have new areas and nooks and crannies that you will surprisingly see if you play it the second time. It's as if Runic were adamant to prove a point that, they can do things better than Diablo III, and they should... since they are the creators of that series(Max and Eric Shaefer and many at Runic were formerly Blizzard North).

The new classes don't look like fantasy game clichés. All four of them could potentially use a wide variety of weapons that are not restricted to class

Say hello to my little friend!

Even the combat feels a lot more punchy(literally the new Berserker classes punches enemies to a pulp). There's something I can't quite put my finger on... compared to Torchlight, the sequel feels a lot smoother and a lot better. The new classes don't look like fantasy game clichés. All four of them could potentially use a wide variety of weapons that are not restricted to class(and there are a tonne of weapons). The ember mage could sport the staff or a magic wand. The outlander could dual wield pistols, fire off from a boomstick(a shotgun basically) or hold onto to a hand canon. It has to be noted how powerful all the classes feel even at the start of Torchlight II.

Outlander

The Outlander is a dual wielding gun slinger type. A dexterity focused ranged class, he(or she) wields pistols and at the start has a cool glaive that he can throw, bouncing off of enemies dishing damage. The boomstick, which is a shotgun weapon, deals a spread of damage at shorter ranges and is a bit slow to react(in terms of firing). The hand canon is even slower but has longer range and does more damage.

Ember Mage

The Ember Mage is your mage class in Torchlight II. Use a staff or a magic wand and bludgeon enemies(or use magic) to death. Secondary fire uses her burst of fireball spell that blasts away like a machinegun… rapidly. A huge improvement from the first Torchlight. But she’s going to deplete her mana pool fast. Keep lots of mana potion for backup.

Berserker

The ‘Wolverine’ of Torchlight II classes, the adrenaline filled Berserker pounds enemies with his bare fists. Like all classes, he gets a charge meter that when fully charged, can unleash a volley of critical hits every time. Pretty damn badass! I didn't play much of the berserker during the beta, not a big fan of melee classes in action RPG's. By the looks of it, the berserker is certainly no slouch of a class.

Engineer

The oddest of the classes, the Engineer runs around with a giant wrench that he uses to whack enemies with. A strength and vitality(endurance, adds armour, blocking proficiency and more health points) heavy class, the Engineer is a close range melee class that has skills to build some pretty cool gadgets. One of his frist abilities is building a healing bot(building stuff is like using any other skill and uses mana) that will follow you around like a pet healing you when you’re in his radius of heal.

You can zoom in real close...

All classes have a charge bar that fills up as you keep on attacking or dishing damage to enemies. Once fully charged, you get bonuses to your attacks and deal out significantly more damage. Some classes like the Engineer and Ember Mage have a more ‘special’ charge bar mechanic that has pips on them that give different level of charge bonuses. The charge bar mechanic encourages you to constantly be killing baddies and doing damage to keep charging and getting more powerful attacks which give the repetitious clicking on enemy… death scenario a bit more… difference.

All skills look cool and elicit a “Wow that is cool!” moment when you use it for the first time

The skill tree has had quite a bit of a change. Firstly, it is no longer a tree. All skills are learnable from the very beginning with one caveat… a lot of skills are level restricted, which essentially means you’ll have to reach a certain level to be able to invest one skill point in them. All classes have three different sets of skill categories. Runic Games have done an awesome job with a whole bunch of skills that is unlike the generic ‘magic missile’ fantasy trope magic. All skills look cool and elicit a “Wow that is cool!” moment when you use it for the first time. Skills can be pinned to the skill bar that can be numbered or you can use a primary and secondary skill which can be switched using the tab key just like in Torchlight.

New skills, all of them very interesting and add more strategy to the way you play

Since the first game was noted for introducing a pet to the game, Torchlight II has improved on the pet system significantly. You get to pick from a wide variety of pets; my personal favourite, the Papilon dog that I call Fifi… awwww what a cute lil fella. Ahem, you now can have a hawk, panther, a bulldog, a wolf, cat, ferret, and even some miniature dragon like creature called the Chakawary. The pet system was known for its ingenious mechanic of being able to send your pet back to town to sell the junk you’ve accumulated. Earning you gold and more importantly… more space for new junk… ermm I mean loot. They’ve improved on this system in Torchlight II by actually allowing your pets to buy you potions back in town. You set in your pets shopping list how many potions you want them to buy and off he (or she) goes. Pretty damn smart I must say.

I haven’t even gone into the amount of content available in this USD$20 game; the variety of enemies, maps, environments, weapons, and much more. We’ll all have to wait for the full game when it’s released to get our  final verdict on the game, but seriously though, why haven’t you pre-ordered this game yet? I had a tonne of fun playing Torchlight II just in this 2 day beta and it seems like Runic Games has addressed much of the criticism of the game being a bit too repetitive by adding just so much more variety.

Looking Forward To: Spending endless hours in co-op(and the game actually working)

Not Looking Forward To: Talking Diablo 3 after this has been released