Torchlight II

[Jarhead0331]

Damn it.  Hooked.

[Gusington]

You all like it better than Diablo III?

[Bison]

I liked D3's darker setting, but TL2 is without question a better game at least that's my first impression.

[Bison]

Here are some screenshots:
My Ferret and I prepare to take on the world


Me killing something or other.


How about some pop culture:


And of course a reference to one of the greatest movies of all freaking time:

[Nefaro]

And of course a reference to one of the greatest movies of all freaking time:

But..  are you referring to the "Bring Out Yer Dead" reference, or the "One-Eyed Willy" reference?? 

Too many references!  :P

[Nefaro]

This is a great game, especially for $20. 

I'm still not sure about the dungeon/wilderness layout situation, however, because I've not seen a big dungeon yet in my first six character levels (albeit I still think the randomness is better in this one).  It's still too early for me to tell how deep it goes.

I'm happier with the graphics in this one, compared to the first.  It's not quite as goofy and childish, even though it uses the same style.  It's just a bit more grim, perhaps.   Anyway.. it's an improvement too. 

Interface is better.  I still have some problems trying to steadily target monsters with ranged weapons, just like the original, I just use a liberal amount of the 'Hold Position' hotkey.  I remap that to one closer to the ability hotkeys so I can hammer it regularly to stand still while attacking.  Note that the secondary hotkey setting for Hold Position is bugged and doesn't work so change the original if you need to do so.

I'm already seeing a lot more item variety yet they've managed to lower the hordes of scrolls and such loot, it seems, so you'll have to horde your ID and portal scrolls more than before.  I think that's a good thing because I had been getting so many of those, in the first Torchlight, that I'd be selling them constantly (made it too easy). 

There are more regular quests than before, I think, but don't expect some fancy storyline.  This is still an hack & slash which is exactly what I want.   It's also isometric (not 1st-person!) which is how I like 'em.

Overall it's a nice improvement and barring a short playtime (such as D3's 18hour campaign!) it's very much worth the $20 price for anyone with an action RPG itch.

[Gusington]

Hmm...a little cartoony, I agree.

[Nefaro]

I'd like to subtract a point just because Steam's buggy software regularly infuriates me.

Like the numerous games in which it tries installing DirectX drivers every f'ing time you start a game.   Between that, and a couple other bugs I've seen, I still loathe Steam.  I don't think they'll ever properly fix these issues if they haven't by now.  >:(

[Arctic Blast]

I'd like to subtract a point just because Steam's buggy software regularly infuriates me.

Like the numerous games in which it tries installing DirectX drivers every f'ing time you start a game.   Between that, and a couple other bugs I've seen, I still loathe Steam.  I don't think they'll ever properly fix these issues if they haven't by now.  >:(

If it's trying to do the pre-install stuff every time, shut it down and restart the client. If that doesn't fix it, verify local file integrity.

My big question with the game : is it as repetitive as the first was? It became a bit of a slog through the exact same environments fairly quickly in the original.

[Bison]

Well I'll need to log a few more hours, but 4 hours in and its all good.  I haven't even really begun to do the numbers with skills and such.  Just having fun killing baddies and getting loot.  I'll be interested to see how much a second play through varies monsters/dungeons/loot from the first one.

[Nefaro]

If it's trying to do the pre-install stuff every time, shut it down and restart the client. If that doesn't fix it, very local file integrity.

My big question with the game : is it as repetitive as the first was? It became a bit of a slog through the exact same environments fairly quickly in the original.

Thanks, I'll try "shaking the handle" a bit.

The first Torchlight was pretty repetitive for me, too.  It seemed to have all the pieces for me to enjoy it (minus the proper graphics style I suppose) but there just wasn't a lot of variety added in to the mix.  So my play sessions would only be maybe 30 minutes to an hour before I got sick of it.

This one, however, has a different feel to it.  The two sessions I've had with TL2 were two and three hours, respectively, and they would've ran longer if I had the time.  ;D  It's a big difference from the first. 

And the graphic style is just a bit better in this one too, even.  The most concrete example I can see is in the armor styles.  The ones my embermage character have found often sport skulls, claws, and hides along with helmets that look like aforementioned skulls or something you might see a mass murderer wear in a B-film.   It feels just a bit darker despite still having the cartoony textures.  Probably another overwhelming fan request.

Since my (earlier) early impressions, I've become more satisfied with the procedural maps.  They feel bigger, and definitely more labyrinthine, than D3s.  And also looks to have more randomness all the way around, including mob, boss, and dungeon placement.  After the first 'area', the outdoor maps start getting quite large and regularly packed with random dungeons (about 2 levels plus a boss level is the biggest I've hit thus far) and groups of monsters and/or bosses.    Only time (and some replays) will tell just how much more random content is in this one but it's looking good thus far and, frankly, D3's biggest issue is it's limited content.

They've managed to keep all the good stuff from the original, and add more to it in every way, yet not try to re-invent the damn thing like so many companies do with sequels by ditching old likeable features and adding new ones that aren't so good.  I could be saying this early (depending on campaign life-span mostly, I think) but I get the impression that the devs pretty much just listened to their customer base about features they wanted in #2 and used that as the main plan of attack.  It's certainly made the game more enjoyable to me than the original and I'm hooked whereas I wasn't with the first. 

[Arctic Blast]

Okay, sounds like it isn't the 'been there, done that' monotony that the first game was. And since that was my only real complaint about the original, that settles the fact that this game will get it's hooks in to me at some point.  ;D

[Nefaro]

I also forgot to mention that the available abilities are different from the first, too. 

There is still no tree, so your only limitation is level-based.  Lots to mix & match into a skill set, even between each classes' three different styles.  Each individual ability also has 3 tiers so you'll get some extra bonus (or bigger) effects on the each one you concetrate in.  The classes and their abilities differ enough to be interesting, and there is plenty reason to make multiple characters of the same class due to all the combinations.

I'm not sure what the level cap is.  Anyone?

LOTS of friggin' loot.  I've noticed an interesting weapon property too, with the implication that you can level it up by killing so many of a specific monster type.  Dunno the details of that, though.

The random map generation is very good.  I'd compare it to D2.. only larger and with more random dungeon entrances once you get past the first zone.  LOTS of mini-bosses.  8)

It feels kinda like I'm playing Diablo 2 again, but with a number improvements but minus the diablo-esque bloody art style.   I did just see some man-like things with tentacles coming out of their heads/hands/feet which was kinda cool.  A little of that "Antedeluvian" Lovecraft style (he certainly loved using that word).  And with the tentacles.

[Bison]

I love this game.   Just started a bezerker on my laptop to play while watching football.  I'm finding the melee slightly easier to control than the ranged combat.  Its not that ranged is bad, but really more of a need for me to rekey hotkeys to make them more convient.

[Gusington]

Nefaro I like that 'hunting' dynamic you describe above...getting certain weapons for killing certain baddies. Sounds cool.

Damn you all now I am growing interested...