Compared to other console ARPGS, it’s not as smooth in the action department, but it’s a far cry from the disaster that was Torchlight II on console. It’s a gameplay loop that’s old as time at this point, and Echtra has it down to perfection. Isometric hack and slashing, followed by some inventory management, and then back to mindless slaughter. Gameplay is just what you expect from a game made by 90% of the people who created Diablo. So the game highlights your currently faced enemy with a red beam that is, at first, very annoying, but becomes a godsend during frantic fights. It’s one of this game’s few unique ideas, and it absolutely delivers. You can genuinely play a class completely differently by building one with a different relic. It’s simple, very cool, and gives you a lot of customization options that open up class replayability. Or you can go for something more interesting, like a Railmaster with the lightning relic or an icy Dusk Mage. You can play with type, like giving your Forged the fire relic or your Sharpshooter the poison one. Relic skill trees are each associated with a specific element, and give your class some flexibility. You choose one during character creation, and it grants you a third skill tree. It’s just as insane as it sounds and not nearly as ridiculous as it seems. The Forged is a steam-powered robot, which can generate a massive explosion when it overheats. While these two classes are unique, the last two are in a whole other league. Playing as one is forever a balancing act, trying to maintain an equilibrium state that grants a massive damage boost. Then there’s the Dusk Mage, a wielder of both light and dark magics. They seem like a generic ranged attacker, until you get to their spirit summoning mechanics. The game’s four classes fill the usual archtypes, but are not what you expect from a fantasy game. Yeah, it’s one of those games that tries the whole “world with history of calamities suddenly forgets all about them and acts shocked when weird things happen again” plot nonsense. Likewise, itemization is varied with plenty of stats, but they’re simple and easy to understand. Each of the four classes has diverse skill trees with many viable builds, yet the system itself is forgiving. It’s the balance between those two that I feel Torchlight III nails, making a game that’s accessible but not brain-dead.
Too complex, and it just feels watered down. There’s always a fine line for a game like that. While those looking for something lighter, a game to play in between more intense ones, will find just what they’ve been looking for. Again, hardcore players will be disappointed by what III offers. It delivers on what it’s intended to deliver at least. The meat of this game is the gameplay, and it delivers mostly. Intricate plots have never been this franchise’s specialty anyway. Not that this is a bad thing, as a game like this works best when it pushes gameplay first.
I’m sure if you really, really care, there’s some kind of narrative here, but it’s probably best if you go in caring as much about it as the game does. Similarly, characters are little more than quest icons, where context is largely irrelevant.
The Alchemist and Ordrak ( Torchlight‘s Not-Diablo) are involved via plot elements you don’t remember from the last game.
Set about a hundred years after Torchlight II, the story is basically comprised of: bad guys are attacking and you have to stop them. Only technically though, as you’re likely to forget either exist very quickly. Technically, Torchlight III has a plot and characters that aren’t merchants. So the character creation is better than nothing…but not by much.
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