Torchlight II

[Lord Glenn]

So, with Diablo III having released just over a week ago and with Steam's pre-purchase up for Torchlight II, I figure that now is a pretty good time to make a topic about this. Arguably one of the main "contenders" (like how BF3 is a "contender" to CoD in terms of sales) against D3 in its genre, TL2 is shaping up to be significantly better than its predecessor. I pre-purchased TL2 just the other day and, luckily, managed to get an invite into their prolonged weekend stress-test beta. (I got in on Tuesday and the beta ended on Thursday at 7 PM Eastern, for reference; the beta started like last Friday and was only supposed to go until Tuesday, but they extended it.)

There are four classes, increased by one from the original Torchlight: Berserker (fast melee DPS), Engineer (jack-of-all-trades (DPS/Tank/"Summoner")), Embermage (self-explanatory), and Outlander (Ranged/Trapper/Hybrid Mage). Of course, like TL1, you aren't forced to stick to the class' intended builds. Each class also has a "Charge Bar" which convey various effects. I only got to play as the Outlander and Engineer during my short time with the beta, but the Outlander's adds Attack Speed and Critical Chance as its fills up by doing damage and the Engineer's stocks up to 5 charges as you do damage and can burn one to improve the usage of a skill. The main characters from TL1 do appear in TL2 (Syl/Destroyer/Vanquisher/Alchemist), though they aren't playable. For the most part, weapon types carried over, though there were new things like claws, cannons, and more 2H greatweapons. The basic engine that powered TL1 is carried over to TL2, though the graphic style has been refined and the visuals flow very nicely.

Unlike TL1 where your character is endlessly descending into the mines below the town, TL2 features a wide variety of locales throughout the portion of Act 1 that was available in the beta. There are generally field areas that take you from place to place and have dungeons in them that you'll have to venture into for quests. But, the field areas can ranged from a regular grassy path to a vast, snow-covered landscape, complete with harsh gusting wind effects and snow falling. These areas really showcase just how beautiful the engine can make stuff appear.

Of course, there have been other improvements too; the skill area has undergone somewhat of a change (and is going to be changed further now that the beta is done), there are now multiple types of enchanters, most of which are found as you're exploring areas/dungeons (the enchanters no longer have a chance of wiping all enchants; this is a separate feature if you decide you want to reenchant something because the enchants were bad - also, certain enchanters will only add specific enchants (like all electric-based enchants, for instance) and there are varying degrees of enchanters (apprentice/master/etc.) that have differing limits on the number of enchants they can bestow), there's multiplayer support, there are around 10 different options for pets this time instead of 2 (or 3 if you bought TL1 at retail), etc.

All-in-all, it's shaping up to be a pretty fun game, especially at the significantly cheaper price point of only $20.

(So, now it's you guys' turn to talk about the game (and TL1 too if you want, I suppose); whether you're interested, what you hope to see, etc. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go goof around in TL1 a bit before going to bed. Playing the beta made me want to boot up the old game and play around with some mods and just have some fun.)

[AstraLunaSol]

Got all my friends to pre-purchase it.

Must have a ferret named Furet.

Probably will be an Outlander because I'm a Vanquisher in TL1 (Which I'm playing right now since I got it about 4 days ago) since i like the long range and trapping skills.

[Primefusion]

Being a Diablo II veteran I decided to give TL1 a try a while back. While the gameplay was fine, the story, or more specifically, how it was presented, was a real turn off. I didn't like the voice acting and the dialogue felt sparse and bland. But, the fact that TL1 came with an editor was a big plus for me. Do you know if TL2 will have an editor? I seem to recall something about it, but only vaguely.

I may or may not pick up TL2 depending on how story and dialogue are handled. For now, though, back to D3.

[AstraLunaSol]

TL2 will have an editor as well.

[Integrity]

I'll be grabbing TL2 probably shortly after release. I don't trust it enough to pre-order :(

[Lord Glenn]

Being a Diablo II veteran I decided to give TL1 a try a while back. While the gameplay was fine, the story, or more specifically, how it was presented, was a real turn off. I didn't like the voice acting and the dialogue felt sparse and bland. But, the fact that TL1 came with an editor was a big plus for me. Do you know if TL2 will have an editor? I seem to recall something about it, but only vaguely.

I may or may not pick up TL2 depending on how story and dialogue are handled. For now, though, back to D3.

From what I was actually paying attention to (didn't want to pay too much attention so that it's still fresh when the game actually releases), the presentation is similar, though maybe slightly improved. It's still mainly find NPC, get a brief blurb of text, accept quest, finish quest, go back to NPC for another small blurb of text. I went back and played a little bit of TL1 last night and today, and, honestly, I feel like I had more fun with TL2, if that means anything. Even adding in mods for the first time, I still feel like TL2 is a definite improvement over the original.

And, as Dan mentioned, TL2 will eventually have a new version of the TorchED editor available.

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Depending on what changes the dev staff make in regards to skills (and anything else), I may end up changing my initial thoughts, but for right now, I'll probably end up rolling an Engineer (Tank/Off-tank build) to complement Dan's choice of a ranged character. (Even though I totally enjoyed my time running the whole way through the beta as an Outlander... )