[PC] Torchlight - Why haven't you bought this yet

Torchlight is a Diablo clone.

There. I've laid it out. It is a Diablo clone. But it is really, REALLY sharp. The game is of low hardware demand and is only about 800mb to install. You can find it on Steam for shy of $20, and it is money well-spent.

There is a multiplayer mode on the way, but it is a year or so away. This was made by a tiny group of folks, but it is still awesome and nicely polished. A few things:

1) Three classes. Your typical bruiser, a markswoman of sorts, and then your mage build.
2) Each build has three skill trees. For example, the warrior has one that favors all-out smashy-smashy, whereas the others are for minion-usage, or AoE attacking in conjunction with tanking.
3) You have a pet! Dog, cat, whichever. You can feed them stuff and they temporarily turn in to monstrosities that tear things apart. Adding to it, they are lovely pack mules of sorts. Full up on loot and don't want to use a town portal scroll (Diablo clone I said~)? Throw your stuff on to your dog/cat, hit the money-bag icon above their stats, and they run to town to sell your stuff for ya.
4) The weapons are awesome from the get-go. You don't start off with a wooden sword and grind for a mystical fly-swatter of pissing-off. No. You find staves early on that can make fucking lightning bolts. Guns that will one-shot uber mobs. Things get flashy from the word go on the awesome weaponry front. Adding to this, there are gag weapons lying around. Supposedly there is a sword that screams whenever you swing it around D:
5) On the same token, skills look incredible. My first skill I learned by choice? Drop a lightning sword down on the enemy's head. Looks awesome and is great for taking down uber mobs.

Just a quick run-down of things. Sockets exist for gemstones (for stat buffs), the armor system is just like Diablo, as is the inventory system and such.

However, it has a nice charm to it that I downright adore. Some clones make me go "ugh. Bored." However, I'm hooked on this. It just came out on Steam, and the albeit small dev team is pretty active. They are already about to kick out a patch in spite of it coming out just yesterday.

Anyhow, it's worth a look. I already have Borderlands in addition to this, but L4D2 demo hits online sometime soon (Valve is having issues). Definitely a blitz of games. And Dragon Age? Good lord

ANYhow. Give this game a shot if you are a fan of the Diablo-type hack and slashing or all-out mayhem. It is quite nice

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The only critique would probably be difficulty. I am playing on Normal, and I haven't needed to use potions too often. Folks recommend starting on Hard or Very Hard if you want true Diablo cruelty.

I love nothing more, though, than to come across a narrow walk-way chock full of monsters. Charge is a skill I love spamming

Deni --
Mac doesn't seem doable in the near future. Pretty tight group of guys operating on a budget, bear in mind. Anyhow, a semi-decent laptop could run the game easily. It isn't like we're talking Fallout 3 here.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by The Dopefish

Played through the demo. I was pretty impressed with the amount of polish. It's like Diablo 2.5 with a slightly cartoonish look. I was also surprised by how quickly the game lets you forget about white items (of course, assuming the demo isn't just leading me on to believe that you get blue and gold items within your first three levels). It doesn't seem on the surface that this is a waste of $20 by any means.

You slip past white items rather fast. There are still some really freakin' rare pieces of gear, of course. If I read proper, the demo simply caps you on a certain amount of time (ie: an hour or two). The demo is supposedly rather indicative of how the game is as a whole.

Once again, I recommend playing on Hard if you want a challenge. I'm still on Normal, and the only time I've had issues was doing a special quest chain wherein you head in to some dude's portal and clear a floor or two to get to a special item. I went in to one and was about two levels lower than the monsters initially. I didn't get a gold until the fifth or sixth floor, personally. My only balance gripe is that two-hander weapons are pretty underpowered. I have yet to find one worth bothering with. Adding to item rarity, higher difficulties supposedly constrict the loot-drop rate. This is all from what I have read, bear in mind. Item drops are much rarer on Very Hard, evidently.

And I fucking love charge. Nothing says badass like ramming through a crowd of trash mobs <3

Also, Diablo's composer helped? Well crap. No wonder the music was so perfect.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.