Loot, Fight, Die repeat. That’s generally what you’ll be doing throughout your time in Torchlight 3. It’s not a bad game by any means, I just wished there were more interesting things to loot and more varied enemies to fight, which could have made the repetitions more worth it in the end.
Constant things in life include death, taxes, and character classes in fantasy action RPGs. I’m glad to say that the 4 character classes in Torchlight 3 vary in playstyles and are quite interesting to experiment with. First the standard Sharpshooter, adept with range skills that deal damage from afar. Next is the Rail Master, a more melee-centric character that also has a trusty, aura buffing and enemy shooting train in tow. The third is the Dusk Mage, which uses Dark and Light spells to pummel foes and Lastly, my personal favorite The Forged. A steam-powered robot that’s good with both melee and ranged combat.
After choosing a character class, Torchlight 3 also has you picking from one of Five Relics. You have to choose wisely as the Relic you pick is stuck with your character for the rest of the game. Relics come with a skill tree full of passive and active abilities that your character can use in the “adventures” ahead. Let me just give you a short rundown of the 5. Bane for skills involving spiders and poison. Cold Heart has you battle with the use of ice and freezing spells. Flaming Destroyer for fire-based attacks and lastly, Electrode for shock-based skills. I think it’s worth mentioning that based on my time with Torchlight 3, choosing the right Relic for the right character type can make a difference.
With Relics and character classes out of the way, it’s now time to mention my favorite part of Torchlight 3. Pets. My good old Golden Retriever was just one among a variety of pets available to take with you on your adventures. You could also pick a Great Owl, A feline friend, or even a Llama as your trusty companion, but whatever your choice may be, pets in the game mostly function in the same way. You could use them as extra storage when you find yourself over-encumbered, can boost you with active and passive skills and they can even serve as a tank against your enemies. Sadly, petting them is not an option added to the game. Yet.
When it comes to the story, Torchlight 3 doesn’t do anything out of the box. An Evil army has something sinister cooked up against your kingdom and it’s up to you and your pet to stop it. The Quests are also as linear as you can get. Go here, collect magic mushrooms please, kill boss, turn in the quest, and do everything all over again. I wasn’t looking for an earth-shattering plot or anything, but having side quests and a little quest variation could’ve done the game a whole lot of good. There are some optional dungeons and boss battles here and there, but it felt like the same go here, kill this plot already present in the main story.
Now I understand that most people play these Fantasy Action RPGs, not for the story but the thrill of snagging some epic loot. While legendary and epic loot does drop after every boss fight, it doesn’t have that same type of thrill that you get when you play other games of the genre. You would expect that loot that’s marked as legendary to be, well you know, legendary. But the Legendary loot in this game acts like the same gear you’ve been collecting throughout the game. In short, it’s nothing special and doesn’t feel powerful at all.
While I’ve ranted about Torchlight 3’s story and its loot, where the game falls flat for me is in enemy fatigue and combat. Imagine playing as a level one sharpshooter fighting a bunch of goblins and cosmic brutes. Now imagine yourself more than a couple of hours in as a level 15 sharpshooter fighting the same goblins and cosmic brutes. What I’m trying to say is that fighting the same type of enemies over and over again gets dull and tedious and that’s exactly what it felt like playing the game. The combat is nothing to write home about as well, as you’ll be employing the same tactic of Fighting, backing away, casting spells, rinse then repeat all game long. This tactic works both with the game’s mobs and sadly even with the bosses. While they do add an AOE attack, some minions, and a Large Health bar none of the bosses in the game were remotely memorable.
Combining dull combat with tedious enemies and a predictable storyline, Torchlight 3 generally falls flat in the long history of fantasy action RPGs. There can be fun here with a group of friends just dipping their toes in the genre, but other than that you’re best suited to spending your time elsewhere.
