Story
Taking place years after the original game (it’s never specified), the town of Torchlight is assaulted by a familiar figure, who’s come looking for the still beating heart of Ordrak. I won’t say who this familiar figure is, but I can say it’s someone that you’ll recognize if you player Torchlight 1. Without going into more details, this figure takes Ordrak’s heart, then proceeds to journey across the land, terrorizing it’s inhabitants, and siphoning energy from the six guardians of the elements in a mad effort to destroy the world, and to heal itself.
Ironically, Torchlight 2 doesn’t suffer as badly in the story department as the original game did. There’s a larger threat to the world (true, the threat in Torchlight 1 was big, but it didn’t feel like a big threat), and the player is thrust into a situation that he or she might fail at preventing. However, the story still takes a backseat to the gameplay, but this backseat is a bit closer to the center stage.
Setting
The setting in Torchlight 2 has been improved over the original game. While the original Torchlight had a variety of dungeons to explore, there weren’t that many, and they got repetitive quickly. With the new game, the dungeon variety increased, and introduced outdoor areas to the player. In fact, here’s a group of statistics taking from Runic Games’s website on the area differences between the two games:
Unique Areas: Torchlight 1: 7 / Torchlight 2: 44
Room Layouts: Torchlight 1: 330 / Torchlight 2: 1200
Room Pieces: Torchlight 1: 1860 / Torchlight 2: 5665
As for the areas you explore, you come across dark caves & wilderness, haunted ruins, ancient deserts, etc. Even more impressive is that the various environments feel more real & alive, thanks to the variety, and to the improved graphics (see below).
Characters
This is perhaps the only thing that Torchlight 2 & Torchlight 1 have in common. Just like the first game, T2's gallery of character have next to nothing in terms of character, and thus saving them feels like a waste of time. This time around though, there’s a sense of urgency within many of the characters, and that adds to the tension of the situation within the game, so I guess the characters are as bad as they were in the first Torchlight.
Gameplay
Thankfully, this is the one aspect that hasn’t changed. Not heavily at least.
Just like the first Torchlight, this game provides you with a small variety of classes to pick & play with. With Torchlight 2, we gain an additional class to using, adding a little more to the class variety. The four classes to choose from are:
Engineer (Melee/Summoning/Limited Spellcasting & Limited Ranged)
Outlander (Ranged/Limited Spellcasting)
Berserker (Fast Melee/Limited Summoning)
Embermage (Elemental Spellcasting (Both Melee Distance & Ranged Distance))
As you can tell, the classes do a lot more than the originals within Torchlight 1. Each of them can do a lot more than the originals, and they feel stronger as well. Another change between the classes is they skills they have: whereas the T1 classes have 11 active skills in 3 skill trees, the classes in Torchlight 2 have 7 active skills within 3 skill trees, and three passive for each tree, which are a new addition to the game. Unlike the active skills, you don’t need to put them into the skill bar to use them, and they are always on (much like the passives in Diablo 2 & 3). To sum up: Unique Player Skills: Torchlight 1: 60 / Torchlight 2: 120
You’ll need these new abilities, as the enemies you face are stronger than the ones you encountered in the first Torchlight. Not only are there new foes to fight, you also come across some more familiar beasts from the first game. If fact, here are more statistics from the Runic Games website:
Monster Models: Torchlight 1: 83 / Torchlight 2: 300
Unique Monster Variants: Torchlight 1: 52 / Torchlight 2: 183
Monster Abilities: Torchlight 1: 47 / Torchlight 2: 148
Boss Battles: Torchlight 1: 9 / Torchlight 2: 27
Just like the statistics in the setting section of this review, the ones here really show how improved Torchlight 2 is when compared to the original game. Speaking of improvements...
The collection of items in this game not only has been expanded, but new items have been added for the player to use. For melee weapons, you still have swords, axes, dagger, but you also have the addition of fist weapons, allowing the player to use fast-paced attacks. There’s also the addition of shotgonnes (that fire short-ranged cones, and replaced the rifles from the original game) and cannons (slow-firing weapons that compensate by having a chance to stun targets, and deal massive amounts of damage) in addition to the other established ranged weapons.
We still have the original items in terms of potions (both mana & health, and newer varieties), transforming fish for your pet (changing your pet into old monsters & new monsters), spells (including new spells & old favorites), and gems to put into socketed items. The gems are perhaps the only item that has changed for the worse in this game. Instead of finding multiple pieces of different qualities to upgrade into better forms, you can no longer upgrade gems, but instead you find better forms as you advance in the game. This was the only change to the gameplay that I disliked, and thought it was rather lazy.
So, here’s a quick recap of the item improvement in Torchlight 2:
Unique Wardrobe Sets: Torchlight 1: 33 / Torchlight 2: 85
Unique Weapon Models: Torchlight 1: 230 / Torchlight 2: 395
Total Item Count: Torchlight 1: 3080 / Torchlight 2: 5773
Item Affix Count: Torchlight 1: 730 / Torchlight 2: 1344
Another change, although not a big change, are the pets. In the original Torchlight, you only had a cat or dog to choose. In T2, you can choose from a wolf (redesigned from the dog), cat, bulldog, panther, papillon (modeled after Runic Games’s office dog), ferret, chakawary, and hawk (the only non-transformed pet that can fly). There’s no real mechanical difference between the pets, but the visual differences making choosing which companion to take with you adds some fun to the process.
The quests have also changed from the original game. We still have the main quest, but we also have side quests doled out like in Diablo 3. Some side quests are established, but most of the others are randomized so as to not completely repeat during subsequent playthroughs. Just like in the original Torchlight, it’s best to do all the side quests so you can gain extra gold, items, and fame, and bulk up your character more.
One final gameplay aspect I’ll talk about is the length of time it takes to beat the game. The original Torchlight will take about 8 to 10 hours, and while that’s a respectable time table, hardcore RPG fans will be able to breeze through all the content in a quicker time. With Torchlight 2, it took me about 18 to 19 hours to beat the game. This is a considerably longer time table, considering how big the game.
Graphics & Sound
The graphics have indeed improved since the original game, yet at the same time it hasn’t changed. T2 uses the same engine that Torchlight 1 did, but in this game things look smoother, and don’t quite have as much of a cartooney look that the first game had. True, Torchlight 2 still has a cartooney look, but it’s downplayed, and feels more mature than the original game. These new graphics also have the added benefit of creating more realism, and has a greater visual appeal.
The sound quality is one aspect that hasn’t changed for the worst. It basically sounds they same, but considering the newer content, there’s new sounds introduced. On top of that, We’re given an expanded selection of background music to listen to while we journey through the land. In actually, we have this nugget of info, straight from Runic Games’s website:
Musical Tracks: Torchlight 1: 15 / Torchlight 2: 62
Overall & Rating
Torchlight 2 is definitely more improved than the original game. It’s got a bigger story, the setting has been expanded, we have expanded & stronger classes, there’s more monsters with more abilities, a greater selection of items & treasure, improved graphics, more background music, and even increased playtime. The only things that are still bad are the characters, and the fact that you can’t upgrade gems, but they’re minor when you compare them to what’s been changed.
Torchlight 2 gets a 8 out of 10.
See you all next week, when I’ll unleash horror upon you! Until then, stay Otaku!
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