Runic games are often viewed as the darling developer of
ARPGs. The studio was founded from former Blizzard North staff, who practically
defined the genre with Diablo and Diablo 2. Torchlight 2 is Runic’s second release;
aimed to go head-to-head with Diablo 3, the beast that they helped create and
got special thanks for in the credits.
And there is no way of reviewing this game without
constantly comparing it to Diablo 3. Each game represents a different design
philosophy and yet also fighting to attract the same customers. That being
said, it’s important to judge Torchlight 2 on the improvements made over the
first title as well.
If you’ve played Torchlight or Diablo, you’ll immediately
find a lot of similarities here; too many similarities. I’m beginning to think
the Runic staff got stuck in the year 2000, as Torchlight 2 clings to a lot of
awkward mechanics which really should have been dropped by now. The actual
design improvements could be compared to the small iterative changes between
Call of Duty titles.
So what should they have axed by now? Well, the way skills
and the mana bar interact really needs some improvement. It’s a basic system
that dates back to the first Diablo. You earn your skill points and then invest
them in abilities to spam to your heart’s content. This leads to one very large
problem. You can beat the game with a starting skill of your choice and almost
nothing will force you to change. The difficulty setting only served the
purpose of being a frustration slider.
And it’s a shame they haven’t moved on from this idea. The
skill tree itself has had a great revamp from the first game. In fact it’s not
really a tree anymore. You’re allowed to choose from all the skills available
when you reach the required level. But the only reason to use the variety being
offered is to mix up your gameplay. Passive skills have also had a much needed
rework. Instead of being flat percentage bonuses like the first game, they now
provide more random or situational bonuses that open up new play-styles when
combined with other skills.
However you are still shackled by the old idea of once
you’ve made a skill choice, you have to stick with it. If you picked a skill
you don’t like with that skill point you just earned; well tough! Runic did
make a small concession to this idea with a new NPC. For a pricey amount of
gold, you can undo your last three choices, but only the last three! It still
baffles me as to why you are still so limited?
The way skills are handled is one of the areas that Diablo 3
really outshines Torchlight 2. Blizzard brought a lot of new ideas to the table
which improved the standard gameplay of the genre. Having access to a full set
of skills that interact with each other through a character’s resource mechanic
added a much needed layer of strategy; especially when it came to boss battles
and harder difficulty settings. Also, being able to change decisions and
redesign characters opens up a lot of gameplay possibilities and therefore, a
great deal more entertainment.
And gameplay is key to ARPG titles. You’ll be spending hours
fighting the same enemies or replaying areas on new characters. Skill system
issues aside, Torchlight 2 does deliver on this front. It provides are great
mix of battling through swarms of enemies to dealing with tougher elite packs.
Spells and physical attacks are given a good feeling of heft
and impact through well thought out animations and sound effects. There are a
number of options to customise the controls and HUD to your liking so that
you’re only presented with the information you want. Spending some time with
the options will help you quickly sift your way through the piles of loot
you’ll acquire.
The world of Torchlight is expanded only enormously with a
range of new environments and locations to explore though. Diablo 3 received a
lot of criticism for having a large amount of linear and fixed areas.
Torchlight 2 has gone firmly in the opposite direction with plenty of large
randomised areas populated with side quests and bonus dungeons to explore.
Surprisingly, the story is probably the weakest element of
the game. Considering how low the bar was set by Diablo 3, Runic still managed
to limbo under it. The story can be summarised as follows. Bad guy from
previous game returns and runs off to cause havoc. Now you must fight your way
to him to stop his evil plans, because he’s evil! To get there, you must
complete a set of arbitrary quests for random people presented to you in
thrilling text boxes! It wasn’t long before I stopped caring about the story
and just followed the waypoints on the map. Story has never really been a
strong point of ARPGs, but it would be nice to have a plot that makes your
actions and adventure more meaningful.
To draw to a conclusion in comparing Diablo 3 and Torchlight
2; I have to say that Diablo 3 takes the award for best gameplay. As I said in
my review, it has a core nugget of great gameplay surrounded by crap always
online systems. And this is where Torchlight 2 really shines. Instead of
forcing always online play for a number of silly reasons, it provides a full
choice of offline single player, LAN and online multiplayer.
Runic also designed the game to allow for modding and are
actively trying to encourage it as they know what a great asset a modding scene
for your game can be. There’s already a massive of selection of mods that have
been made for the game. I even found one that allows you to completely redo
your skill choices, although that doesn’t mean I’ll let Runic off the hook.
Torchlight 2 also has a number of extra features over Diablo
3 such as character appearance customisation and a pet companion who’ll
faithfully blast opponents with any spells you teach it. And your pet can make
all your shopping trips for you, although realistically it means you’re simply
interacting with your pet’s inventory instead of a shop keeper’s.
Another advantage for Torchlight 2 is price. As a budget
title, you should be able to pick it up on the cheap and get a lot of entertainment
for you money, whereas Diablo 3 seems to be holding its value better than solid
gold bars nearly a year after release. It’s difficult to recommend one over the
other as Diablo 3’s always online requirement will be an instant no for many
people. If I was forced to choose, I would still pick Diablo 3. But if I hadn’t
spent as much time as I already have with the genre, I would pick Torchlight 2.
It gives a full ARPG experience for a fraction of the price, so if you don’t
enjoy it, you won’t be left with buyer’s remorse.
