Torchlight 2: Beta

I'll be honest, I was so turned off by the design decisions of the Diablo 3 design team that I lost interest. This was a long time ago, and I've been looking for something to take its place as the rightful successor to the Diablo throne. There're a whole bunch of games clamouring to usurp that throne (such as Path of Exile and Grim Dawn), but the most promising looks to be Torchlight 2.

It doesn't completely revolutionise the genre of monster-smashing, loot-grabbing action RPG's, but that isn't what fans of the genre want. The simple formula is instead tweaked and streamlined at every possible opportunity to make sure you're focussing on taking down hordes of enemies, instead of playing inventory Tetris and continually rushing back to camp to sell your items (after all, your pet will do that for you). Gems drop all the time, so you're never saving them for later just in case you pick up a rare item along the way. Speaking of items, the stats requirement system gives you a two distinct options when trying to equip gear. You either have to meet the level requirement or you can meet the stat requirement. E.G. [Boots of Much Leaping]: Requires level 20 or 20 Dexterity  & 40 Strength. This means that if your character is focussing on two particular stats, he/she will be able to get items that exceed their own level. It also gives you reason to question pumping points into certain stats over others. Do you sacrifice 3 Vitality to pick up the extra Strength to wear those boots, or do you stick to your 'character plan' (if you have one) and continue regardless. It makes the progression feel less linear, which is always a good thing. The linearity of the skills tree is also reduced, though not completely. The only thing stopping you from purchasing skills with the points gained each level is the level requirement. This is probably for balance purposes. You can dip into any of the three skill trees, or panels, and cherry-pick the skills and passives that you want. I'm reluctant to call them 'trees' simply because there aren't any instances of needing one skill to get another. You take skills because you want them, not because you need them to fill in the gaps to get to the next branch.

Now we get down to the good bit... the fighting. It's simplistic and familiar, but crafted to near perfection. I played as a Berserker on Veteran difficulty. I would use [Shadow Rush] to dive through enemies, inflicting minor damage and healing my character. This allowed me to instantly break shields, and pick off the stragglers that got left behind by the minion ball of death. The combat was sufficiently challenging, and I found myself having to use potions. A major complaint about Torchlight was that you hardly ever had to use health potions to stay alive, so it's good to see this fixed. The enemies are varied, and can hit you like a silverback gorilla wielding a truck, if you're not careful. I had to time my dash carefully to make sure to dodge attacks, without sacrificing too much of my damage.

(The lightning enchanted claw... So very 40K.)

The boss fights feel extremely rewarding. It shows just how far the genre has come since the early days of 'Spank Diablo with your sword and board while drinking potions until he drops dead'. Taking the beta's final boss as an example: Standing still and damaging the boss while he's near the centre will get you tentacle-stomped. Attempting to clear the summoned minions in melee will leave you wishing you hadn't. Not dodging the ghostly rhino thing will kill you. Standing in melee range of the boss when he does a certain animation will kill you instantly. Needless to say, I died a few times figuring the boss out, but it was worth it when I finally made that killing blow after I'd spent half an hour trying. The piles of gold kept spilling forth, the items wouldn't fit in my bag alone, and that rhino thing I'd been dodging turned out to be something to do with the main plot. I took the next quest and Town Portalled, feeling like I had accomplished something.

The design team behind Torchlight 2 has a fair number of Blizzard North guys. These are the people who brought you Diablo 2, and it shows. The game is fast paced, relentless, and is in my opinion the successor to the throne of action RPGs.