Torchlight (XBLA) Review
Posted by Adam Larck on 03.05.2011
Can a Diablo-esque PC game translate well to the 360? Find out inside.
Title: Torchlight
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Runic Games
Genre: Action RPG
Players: 1
Rated: T for Teen
I'll be up front about this. This isn't my first foray into the world of Torchlight. I played it on PC, and enjoyed it there as well.
So, as I go through this review, I'll be providing an overview of the game, but will also be adding notes about differences I noticed between the two, and whether it was for the better or worse.
Before getting into the game, you choose one of three characters and a pet. The characters include the Destroyer (warrior), Alchemist (mage) and Vanquisher (thief/hunter). I've tried each of them, but I've always liked the Destroyer. Each have their own unique abilities you can put skill points into as they level (don't worry, you can buy a potion to reset your skill points later on if needed). Leveling will also give you points to put in your attributes, increasing strength, defense, dexterity or magic.
Your pet can be a dog, cat or lizard, but what you choose doesn't do anything except alter the pets appearance. Personally, I went with the dog, just like I did in the PC.
The game has a story, but it's a fairly loose one. You come to Torchlight to try and find a mentor named Aldric for the sage Syl. You find him in a crypt, already corrupted by Ember, which the town is built on. You spend the rest of the game pursuing him to stop his evil. Honestly, though, the quest is there to keep you going through each level of the dungeon, fighting a big boss every few levels.
In between every big boss, you can teleport to the city to accept a few various quests and to buy anything you may need. You can also go to the city by using a town scroll, although I seldom found myself doing this.
The dungeon crawling is where this game shines at. You'll take on hordes of enemies on each level, with most dropping cash, potions or loot. While backtracking through levels, either for a quest or to kill more things, you'll sometimes find a portal that takes you to a separate dungeon area with harder enemies to kill, but drops better loot.
If that last graph didn't intrigue you in the least, then maybe Torchlight won't be for you. That's what the entire game is, and it does it well. Fans of this genre will always want to keep pressing forward, just to see what better loot is ahead that can be equipped.
Each item that can be equipped comes in the normal color scheme (white, green, blue, purple and gold). However, most everything that's not white requires you to use an identify scroll on to see what effects it has and what its damage is. It makes you think whether or not to use a scroll to see if something is better. Thankfully, scrolls drop fairly frequently, making you more apt to see what abilities a weapon or armor has.
One thing you may worry about is the lack of space as you travel. However, as you get stuff you don't want, you can put it on your pet. When they get full, you can send them into town, where they will sell everything for its normal value and bring you back the gold, allowing you to start collecting again. You just have to wait a few minutes for your pet to return, but it's really not a big deal.
A side thing you can do as you go through floors is to fish. It may seem pointless when you first do it, but the fish can be used to give you enhancements, along with giving your pet enhancements or transforming them into a creature for a short time, giving them better attack and abilities to use.
You can also pick up gems and spells from enemies as well. Gems can be socketed to weapons and armor to give them extra abilities, while spells can be read to learn and use them. An interesting thing to note is that you can teach your pet two spells as well. I made my dog into a necromancer with a high level summon skeleton and summon zombie ability to aid me as I jumped in the frenzy.
Frenzies will happen quite frequently. You'll often find yourself surrounded, just swinging away madly at enemies while you and your pet soak up damage. One thing I want to add here is that I like the melee function a lot better here than on PC. You can hold X down and swing away at enemies. I always disliked have to try and click on each enemy to attack.
If your pet takes to much damage, it will flee, leaving you to take things out by yourself. Thankfully, health and mana potions are mapped to your bumpers, meaning health is just a click away. You can also map spells and techniques to your triggers, B and Y buttons. However, if you do end up dying, you can spawn right where you died by spending some experience and fame points, spawn at the beginning of a floor by giving up money, or spawn in the city with no penalty at all.
To accommodate not having a keyboard, Runic has added two skill sets you can map, which can be toggled using up and down on the D-Pad. One small thing I question is why not include a third skill set to make sure you aren't missing any spells. I mapped main actions I always used to my first set, while my second went to my spectral warriors and longer lasting abilities. The problem, though, is that I had to leave off a few spells I would have liked to have had access to as well.
Another small problem I had was with the misuse of the Left Stick. Clicking the RS let you change your map view, which was a good use for it. However, clicking the LS didn't do anything. Personally, I think the weapon swap ability would have been great here, as I like switching between dual swords and ranged to draw enemies in or blow up barrels.
Once you happen to go through and beat the game, you can summon portals on your own thanks to items you get, or you can go through an endless dungeon as well. Either way, the game always has you going back to find bigger and better loot, which is really what a game like this is all about.
I'll go ahead and touch upon the big thing people may complain about: no multiplayer. The PC version didn't have it and I never really noticed it to much. I never really noticed it here either. It would have been nice, but between you and your pet, you always have a good upper hand against enemies. Still, if you want multiplayer, wait for the sequel to come out, which already has multiplayer confirmed when it releases for the PC.
The graphics give the game a unique feel, with the graphics almost cartoony, but still able to give off a dark feel in the dungeons. They look great, and were always good to see. However, I did notice a tad bit of slowdown when enemies filled the screen with abilities launching anywhere.
The sound in the game is also solid. The music was good to listen to, and sound effects were nice. However, the best sound to hear was always that short effect that plays whenever you level up.
Pros
Controller layout is nice, good way to utilize the space they had.
The game is still a loot-whore's dream.
Plenty of dungeons to go through, with an endless dungeon at the end.
Cons
Game can slow down sometimes when dozens of enemies and effects are on screen at once.
Ability to cycle two weapon sets would have been helpful.
If loot's not your thing, there won't be much for you here.
The 411:
Torchlight on Xbox Live Arcade proves that the Diablo formula can be done well on consoles. Runic Games has shown how the controller can best be utilized to maximize what each button can do. While it may be missing a few things, namely, multiplayer and a weapon swap, the game will keep fans of the genre entertained for hours as they try to get the best equipment for their character.
Graphics
8.5
Everything in the game has a unique graphic style that really makes the game. Plus, I always loved seeing what my new equipment would look like.
Gameplay
9.0
Each class has a unique feel to it, and the dungeon exploration really makes this game shine. I just wish it would have had multiplayer. At least the sequel will...
Sound
8.0
Like in other action-RPGs, it's rewarding to hear the sound effect when you level. However, the sound and music in the dungeons is great to listen to as well.
Lasting Appeal
9.5
The game has a decent amount of quest to do, plus you can go through an endless dungeon and summon various other portals to go through as well.
Fun Factor
9.5
Even when getting swarmed by mob after mob, I always had fun pushing forward just to get my next piece of great equipment.
