I’ve totally ditched Diablo III for Torchlight II as my ARPG (action-role-playing-game) of choice. So after 15+ hours on the game, and a much coveted Hardcore rating on Raptr, here are my thoughts on Torchlight II. Runic Games’ magnum-opus is in a word, simply awesome. I really like the varied environments, the really cartoonish and well animated graphics, the vibrant colour palette and the all out action that the game affords me.

The character class that I’m using at the moment is the Outlander, and my build specialises in guns. Only yesterday did a friend highlighted to me about the Shadowling Brute skill (I didn’t spend time trawling the rather expansive skill tree as I’m particularly fond of guns), and it turned out to be a very good investment as it helped me beat the Dark Alchemist into a pulp (I’ve still got a little more to go in the game)

Torchlight 2 has a lot in common with Diablo II, more so compared to Diablo III. Even the music sounds the same as that old classic. The business here in Torchlight 2 is all about killing, and I must say, the business is good. The game doesn’t do much to distract you from the act of mowing through tonnes of enemies and the amount of weapons, skills, spells and other implements given by the game simply makes the act…joyful.

One major plus point that Torchlight II has over Diablo III is that I can play whenever I damn well please (barring a patch), without the need to be constantly online. The restrictive DRM in Diablo III made it such a chore and the lag was unbearable, no such problems here in Torchlight II. If Diablo III left a bitter taste in your mouth, Torchlight II is probably the remedy for you.

Nine Over Ten 9/10 rates Torchlight II at a 5 out of 5. Simply Outstanding. The game is available on Steam, I actually bought in on a four-pack with my friends. For those who are interested on how it runs, it actually runs pretty well on a virtual machine on a Core i5 MacBook Pro since the Mac version isn’t out yet.