I was originally going to say some thoughts on Diablo 3, but because just about everything has already been said about that game I have decided to instead address my time with Torchlight 2. One of my favorite things about Torchlight 2 is the diversity it has. This diversity is what I believe will set the game apart from others in its genre. One minute I am running around some grassy hillsides complete with ruins and huts fighting goblins and other creatures, the next I am transported to a pirates cove because of a quest I just took to find and kill a giant pirate skeleton. It is really great to see such diversity and atmosphere lend themselves so well to the core experience of the game.
Since we are talking about the presentation of Torchlight 2 lets discuss its graphics. The game itself has a very simple and cartoony style which even though gets the job done quite well, can be lacking in detail at times.The reason I believe they were able to offer so much variety is because of this relatively simple engine. I must say though is that the game looks a lot better in motion then it usually does in stills. Before I move onto the UI let me briefly talk about the voice acting and dialog in the game. The voice acting for main characters seems good enough so far, but all npc's outside of the main characters have one line dialog unique to their race. This of course as you can imagine can get very annoying very fast, especially if you want to talk to 10 friendly npc's and read what their comments are. I really hope in the full release you can turn this off in the full release.
I can not really give an accurate opinion of the UI because I am only playing the beta and have played the game for two hours but from what I have seen so far it is pretty good, I do have some minor annoyances with how the UI presents some information but from what I have read the developers will be addressing most of these issues I have. Finally lets talk about what really matters in an Action-RPG like Torchlight 2. That would be the combat and loot. The combat in the game is rewarding and fun, but there are some serious issues with the difficulty in the first hour, which makes the combat unenjoyable and predicting. This is because for the first hour you will probably not have to use 1 health potion and will 1 shot everything. Of course this causes the game to just be boring and leaves a very bad first impression. The good thing is that it does get a lot harder after this first hour. For reference I was only playing on normal.
Now lets discuss the loot. The loot in the game does have some ups and downs. On one hand it is varied and generally unique. It is also great when you find some fantastic loot. My main issue though is the loot spawn rate. I feel that it is just too high and really detracts when you do find that amazing drop. You will regularly fill your inventory within 15 minutes after you go into a new area. What is even worse is that you cannot preview a weapon stats without picking up the weapon. Still I feel that Torchlight 2 does loot quite well, I just think that it could benefit from some minor improvements and adjustments.
Honestly I had a blast playing the Torchlight 2 beta. It was overall a great experience and the complaints I had above did not really stop me from enjoying my time with the game. I cannot wait to get my hands on the full game and really sink my teeth into it.
Since we are talking about the presentation of Torchlight 2 lets discuss its graphics. The game itself has a very simple and cartoony style which even though gets the job done quite well, can be lacking in detail at times.The reason I believe they were able to offer so much variety is because of this relatively simple engine. I must say though is that the game looks a lot better in motion then it usually does in stills. Before I move onto the UI let me briefly talk about the voice acting and dialog in the game. The voice acting for main characters seems good enough so far, but all npc's outside of the main characters have one line dialog unique to their race. This of course as you can imagine can get very annoying very fast, especially if you want to talk to 10 friendly npc's and read what their comments are. I really hope in the full release you can turn this off in the full release.
I can not really give an accurate opinion of the UI because I am only playing the beta and have played the game for two hours but from what I have seen so far it is pretty good, I do have some minor annoyances with how the UI presents some information but from what I have read the developers will be addressing most of these issues I have. Finally lets talk about what really matters in an Action-RPG like Torchlight 2. That would be the combat and loot. The combat in the game is rewarding and fun, but there are some serious issues with the difficulty in the first hour, which makes the combat unenjoyable and predicting. This is because for the first hour you will probably not have to use 1 health potion and will 1 shot everything. Of course this causes the game to just be boring and leaves a very bad first impression. The good thing is that it does get a lot harder after this first hour. For reference I was only playing on normal.
Now lets discuss the loot. The loot in the game does have some ups and downs. On one hand it is varied and generally unique. It is also great when you find some fantastic loot. My main issue though is the loot spawn rate. I feel that it is just too high and really detracts when you do find that amazing drop. You will regularly fill your inventory within 15 minutes after you go into a new area. What is even worse is that you cannot preview a weapon stats without picking up the weapon. Still I feel that Torchlight 2 does loot quite well, I just think that it could benefit from some minor improvements and adjustments.
Honestly I had a blast playing the Torchlight 2 beta. It was overall a great experience and the complaints I had above did not really stop me from enjoying my time with the game. I cannot wait to get my hands on the full game and really sink my teeth into it.
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