Torchlight is an isometric point and
Runic Games was formed by Travis Baldree (creator of Fate), Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer (co-founders of Blizzard North and creators of Diablo 1&2), Peter Hu, and the Flagship Studios Seattle team (responsible for Mythos).
We don’t know why the Schaefers left Blizzard North or why they were not the ones to create Diablo 3 but from a gameplay perspective, it seems like the company is trying to recreate the feel of the Diablo games but owned wholly by themselves.
The Dawn of the First Game
Torchlight is very similar to Diablo you come to a distant town built atop a gaping maw that descends into the earth. There is something sinister going on and monsters are attacking the town. You must descend into the heart of evil to overcome a god-like being at the end.
You have 3 base classes in Torchlight:
- The destroyer – Warrior
- The Vanquisher -Rogue
- The Alchemist – Mage
Each class has its own unique skill tree as well as many multiclass spells they can learn from spell scrolls.
In place of the demon hordes of Sanctuary, Torchlight features the ember blight: a magic disease caused by using the ember that empowers magic use. Effects of this blight can drive people mad, raise the dead, and create monsters of great power.
Improvements on the base concept
Torchlight uses a newer variant of the shortcut system found in Diablo featuring portals in place of the different area entrances placed around town. Naturally, identify and town portal scrolls also exist for the player’s convenience.
Pickin up, managing, and selling loot is far superior in Torchlight compared to Diablo. Gold is automatically picked up as you run over to it and you have not just your own inventory but an equal sized inventory on your pet to take advantage of as well.
Oh did I forget to mention that no matter which class you choose you may select a pet to travel with you throughout your journey? They can equip limited gear and carry extra items for you. Pets can also go back to town on their own and sell your extraneous equipment without you needing to pause your murder spree. You can set your pet to aggressive where it attacks everything, defensive where it only attacks things that hurt you, or passive to just be a luggage carrier.
Best part for last
While Diablo ended up more interested in competition and ladder rankings Torchlight fully embraced the single-player experience. You can mod nearly every aspect of the game and even today torchlight has a fairly healthy modding community. Texture packs, alternate pets, classes, weapons, you name it someone made a mod of it. It gives Torchlight more replayability than diablo because depending on the mods you use you can create a completely different experience.
Despite Torchlight’s brighter colours and more cartoony aesthetic its story is nearly as dark as the story of Diablo and is much more clear despite still being easy to skip past if so desired. It gives more replayability options through mods and offers a more robust skill system than Diablo’s skill books. Torchlight shows what the developers learned from their previous games and is very good quality for a studio on the smaller side.