For quite some time now, Torchlight 3 came out in Early Access on Steam with a price tag of $30. There have been lots of mixed reviews about the game, and we’re going to tackle that here.
As a Torchlight fan myself, I’m looking forward to the third installation of Torchlight franchise: the Torchlight Frontiers, which was rebranded to a premium title Torchlight 3.
So, why did they rebranded it? Is it to reconstruct the whole game? Or to add better mods and features? It turns out that through Early Access, players had found and experienced lots of bugs and issues. To put it mildly, it was a downgraded version of 2012’s Torchlight 2. It’s only an early access preview, so we could be expecting that Enchtra Games will improve this.
Torchlight Gameplay
Torchlight 3 is a multiplayer game, so a lot of server issues and disconnection while playing was such a terrible experience for players, especially after spending 30 bucks on it. And not just that, buggy gameplay was frustrating.
If Torchlight has something to be proud of, it is the unique classes the game offers. Unlike other RPG games where mages, wizards, and knights are a common class mold, here you can expect something way better than that. But what ticked me off was that the level of customization was way too limited. Imagine playing a free-to-play RPG where you only get to customize the color of hair instead of the full facial features and hairstyle. I mean, the developers had eight years to develop the game. Was it not enough? There’s no denying that Torchlight has some great graphics and colorful, unique visuals. But man, the setting and enemies, even the bosses in the game is so visually repetitive.
Torchlight Skills and Combat
Enough of the physicals, and let’s talk about the combat mechanics and skills of each class. Well, it is quite impressive how each of them tackles combat in many different ways from each other, although the skills behind each character is a bit short. The variance is limited, unlike the Diablo franchise, where you can customize each class’s skills and abilities in so many ways. And when you use a gift, the mana cost is way too much for the damage it inflicts, and the regeneration is too slow. If skills are not enough, at least be fair with the mana cost.
There’s a new feature in the game called Forts, where you can build your fort. But hold your horses, don’t get too excited about this just like I had my hopes too high for this thing. It should be fun and engaging as you can encounter other player’s forts while you explore or build amenities in it and all that, but it’s just plain dull just like how it looks. There aren’t any customization options that would allow you to make your fort to stand out.
Is Torchlight Still Worth Buying?
Right now, I would say that some freemium RPG games are better than this early access. So, judging by this state, is Torchlight III still worth buying? Probably not, if the developers don’t keep in mind the feedback it got. Probably yes, if they work on it and polish the game even more. There’s so much potential in this game. It saddens me that this is all they got to offer after years of development. For now, I wouldn’t waste another minute playing the game because of bugs and glitches. But as a fan of the franchise, I am still hoping they will improve it a lot more and give me another reason to buy the game’s full version. And I will wait for that.
How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
“The full version will contain a complete Act 3, which will be released and tested by the community during Early Access. A new, not-yet-announced end game experience will also be released during Early Access so that the community can thoroughly test it before its inclusion into the full version. The full version will also contain the ability to play the game in Single Player mode, which will not require an internet connection.” – Steam
Stay tuned for more updates and reviews about Torchlight III. We promise to keep you posted!
