GameLight Review - Torchlight 2

Official Site: http://www.torchlight2game.com/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/200710/
Source: Youtube Channel runicgames

Developer: Runic Games
Publisher: Runic Games
Platforms: PC
Release Date: Sep 20, 2012
Genre: Action-RPG

Pros:
+ Faster-paced gameplay with a steady progression
+ Visceral combat with great visuals, audio, and effect feedback
+ Bright, colorful and vibrant environments
+ A challenging, but gratifying experience
+ More open-world than ever before
+ Lots of skills and build customization
+ Tons of end-game content (New game+ and lots of bonus dungeons)
+ Mod tools provide an infinite amount of possibilities
+ Capable of 6 Player cooperative play Local or via Internet

Cons:
- Internet play has problems connecting to other players sometimes
- Game occasionally has trouble starting up
- Incidents of the game crashing has occurred (save often!)
- Some class skills can be incredibly useless

Recommended: Absolutely!  Point-n-Click Action-RPG fans are sure to love this game for its vast amount of content, multiplayer, and mod capabilities.

Torchlight 2 was quite a surprise for me.  I was originally reluctant to purchase the game when it had released "after" Diablo 3, but I really enjoyed the first one and decided to give the game a chance.  The first one was fun, but dragged on and became tedious and boring near the end.  The 2nd game was delayed for nearly a year and the wait had initially lost my interest as I was suspecting that it'd be similar to the first one.  Torchlight 2 took everything that was great about the first one and multiplied it several times over.  The developers found everything that was wrong about the first one and noted them in the 2nd game as its solution.  The transition to only dungeons in the first one to an open world is similar to the transition Diablo 1 had in Diablo 2.  Traversing the world and combat started to feel slow after a while in Torchlight 2, so everything in Torchlight 2 is slightly faster.  A lot of the skills in Torchlight 1 felt similar and boring, and so skills in Torchlight 2 are more diverse, unique, and dynamic (though some are still useless).  Just everything about Torchlight 2 is so much better than the first one and made for a really enjoyable experience.  Combat is satisfying, looting is addictive, exploration made me want to play more, and boss battles are really creative.  If you're asking for a comparison to Diablo 3, I'd have to say that they're different experiences and that it's still worth playing one if you've played the other.

Aesthetics
Art-Style: 3D Cel-Shaded, Cartoon-ish style
+ Vibrant environments
+ Lots of different enemies with unique models/look
+ All weapons and equipment are reflected upon the character
+ Skill effects are flashy and beautiful
+ User-Interface is clean
+ Atmospheric and easy-listening music

- Can be difficult to see certain enemies sometimes
- Can be confusing when player, items, or enemies are behind a wall
Aesthetics: 9/10

Buttons
 Controller: Keyboard/Mouse
+ Hotkeys are customizable to any layout comfortable for the player
+ Quick and tight responses to key presses
+ Menu system allows quick access to attributes, items, and skill while in combat
+ Mini-map can be place in a corner or sides with a press of the button
+ Quick and simple pause menu to access options, save, and quit the game

- There can still be more skills than hotkey bars leaving some skills unused
Buttons: 9/10

Concept & Content
Core Concept: Explore, Kill, Loot, Equip, and level-up
+ Big open world maps is a great change from constant dungeon crawling
+ Combat is a lot more engaging and dynamic with new classes and skills
+ Lots of new items, enemies, and content
+ Boss battles are varied, creative, challenging, and satisfying when beat
+ The pet system favors my desire to loot everything
+ Each class has numerous ways to build them, making lots of unique characters
+ Bonus maps at the end of the game provides more to play past the last boss
+ New Game+ is provided rather than inheritance system from the first game
+ Mod capabilities open an infinite amount of possibilities

- Connecting to friend's games have been problematic or futile
- There are still skills and even entire paths that are useless for a character
- Equipment upgrades can be rare (used some gear for over 10 levels)
- Story was forgettable and rather anti-climatic at the end
Concept and Content: 10/10

Duration

+ A full playthrough is pretty lengthy (by my standards) which is good
+ The flow of the game progressed steadily and always stayed challenging
+ Bonus maps provides a good amount of end-game content
+ New Game+, multiplayer, and other classes provide lots of replay-value
+ Modding opens up all sorts of possibilities
Durations: 10/10

Fun
+ I really liked the multi-tiered boss battles, they were difficult, but fun
+ Playing with friends was a lot of fun, but I also didn't mind playing solo
+ I liked the varied possibilities of equipment usage for my outlander
+ Each class is really unique and provides a different experience (I made all 4)
+ I was so happy to be able to pick up absolutely everything to sell with my pet
+ I think I want to try making my own class using the mod tools, sounds fun
+ The bonus maps will probably bring me back to play the game some more

- I was disappointed with the story, it could've been just as good as the gameplay
- Internet play had a lot of problems and finally deterred my friends from playing
- Some skills were useless; not enough hotkey bar space to fit all the skills
Fun: 9/10

Overall
Torchlight 2 was a pleasant surprise for me and I'm really glad I got it.  It left a really good impression on me well after completing the game.  I had so much fun with it that I stopped caring about my disappointment with the story.  There always seemed more to explore, more to loot, more to level, and more to experience within the game.  I would definitely recommend this to any point-n-click Action-RPG fans.  Overall: 9.4/10

GameLight - Torchlight 2

Low Bandwidth Page: http://torchlight2game.com/
Steam Page: http://store.steampowered.com/app/200710/
Source: Youtube Channel runicgames

Torchlight 2 has finally released yesterday.  The long awaited sequel to the dungeon crawler is finally here with new classes, more skills, tons of weapons, and the ability to play with people online.  The game is looking pretty good so far and is well received by critics and players alike.  Some minor complaints are mostly due to the confusing storyline, but in terms of aesthetics, content, and gameplay, the game seems to satisfy most players.  I have yet to try the game out myself yet and I doubt I will soon as I'm just swamped with other games and work right now; however, I plan to get the game eventually as I enjoyed the first game.  Torchlight 2 is available for digital download from their official site or Steam for $19.99 and is exclusively for PC.

VGCulture - GW2, TL2, and MOBA Tourneys, oh my

Guild Wars 2: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/

Source: http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/829

It's been a week since I've started playing Guild Wars 2 and it has gone far beyond my expectations for the game.  I didn't see myself enjoying PvP and WvW as much as I do now.  The fluidity of the game makes the progression of PvE feel seamless.  I don't pay too much attention to levels as it's not as important.  I'm able to enjoy each aspect of the game with its spontaneity.  I'm not sure how long the replay value will last, but so far it's pretty good.


Torchlight 2: http://www.torchlight2game.com/
Source: Youtube Channel TotalHalibut

Runic games finally stated a release date for Torchlight 2.  On September 20th, players will be able to download it from their choice of distributor.  To be honest, it would've been better if they had came out last year or early this year to avoid the competition from Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2.  At least then, they'd have players willing to try their game out who aren't already Torchlight fans.  It seems some mechanics have been changed from the first one, and the addition of multiplayer and mod capabilities is a plus.  For me, I'll probably wait a while before getting it as I'm already full on my play list and don't have a reason to get it right away.

League of Legends: https://tournaments.leagueoflegends.com/s2-na-regionals
DotA 2: http://www.own3d.tv/TheInternational

I haven't been keeping up with the tournament matches, but both MOBA games are holding them right now and streaming live.  Some pretty crazy stuff.  That's all for now, have a great weekend everyone!

VGCulture - Rant on Diablo 3 & Torchlight 2

Diablo 3: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/
Torchlight 2: http://www.torchlight2game.com/classes/outlander

Source: http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/04/09/diablo-iii-barbarian-spotlight-video

Source: Youtube Channel IGNentertainment

Diablo 3 fans are very excited to have a definitive release date after waiting for 5+ years.  Torchlight 2 fans and those who pre-ordered are still in the dark to whether the game will release soon or not and it has created quite a bit of tension between the communities between the fans of both games.  Torchlight 2 was set to release sometime last year and sought to buy it to feed their top-down, Action-RPG needs until Diablo 3 came out; however, the game was not released for the reason of too many "good games" coming out at the time (which I can understand since I bought at least a dozen games Q4 of 2011).  Joystiq recently reported a quote from the CEO of Runic Games explaining that they do not want to release around the same time as Diablo 3 and will release shortly after instead.  With this news, many who pre-ordered Torchlight 2 to wait for Diablo 3 has canceled their pre-orders knowing that they'll be playing Diablo 3.  Other community members on blog sites, video comments and forums took a different reaction to the news and are instead canceling their pre-orders for Diablo 3 for Torchlight 2 now that they hinted at a "month later" release from Diablo 3's launch.  Some common complaints on Diablo 3 are:
-Constant internet access needed to play, even for single-player
-All player data is stored on Blizzard servers and monitored (so no modding)
-Auction house has many skeptical about the balance and fairness of PvP

Runic games hopes to provide a different experience to avoid competition from Blizzard's highly anticipated game with these features:
-$20 retail price from the get go
-Ability to play offline
-LAN capabilities
-6 Player Online Cooperative play
-Modding support

I can understand what many of the community feels about Torchlight 2 coming out after Diablo 3, but it's too late for Runic games to try to push the game out and release it as many players will still wait for Diablo 3.  For me, I know I'll be getting both games to play; however, my priority is set to Diablo 3 as I seek a cooperative game I can play with a lot of my friends and none of them seem too interested in Torchlight 2.  Thus, I won't be getting Torchlight 2 anytime soon.  Still, I hope both games will find its audience and provide an enjoyable experience for all.

Source:
-Joystiq: Torchlight 2 will 'ideally' launch shortly after Diablo 3