Playing Torchlight III on Xbox "for free" via Ultimate was great. It let me see the game and play to almost the end of the first act(there are three). By that time I'd seen enough to know that I wanted to buy the game on PC. That's not a disparagement of the Xbox version.... I'm 'just' a PC gamer more than an Xboxer.... Even if I can play the game for free there. Odd and questionable for a lot of people I know but it's how I've rolled with games(pun kind of intended). I like ownership(of games), software downloads today, physical media yesterday....
The Forged is my class of choice. It's a cute class, Johnny 5 alive cute fun and has the best animations.
Instead of an axe to cut trees he has a buzz saw, instead of a pick to mine he has a jackhammer.
Not to mention a huge freaking repeating cannon in his chest. I was all about the guns in Torchlight 2. So playing the third game has only confirmed my super casual 'shoot all the things' take in this franchise.
Torchlight 3 has evolved a lot since it was first talked about. I've been interested in it since. Like the game my interest has evolved and I was glad to see it become a non MMO game. I'm also glad that a lot of the MMO mechanics have been changed and comply with a single player experience. That some ideas are still in the game, but that the game doesn't force you to choose them; You can ignore and interact with as many in game systems or ways of doing things as you want.
Torchlight III seems to have gotten a lot of flak for not being Divinity OS 2 in it's breath and depth. I'm a big fan of Torchlight 2 and from what I've seen, 2 builds on from the first game as 3 builds on from 2. There are also die-hard fans that are not happy about a lot comparing 2 to 3 ..... And although I'm super causal I see going from 2 to 3 as all plus's! Different strokes for different folks. For those that care or are previous dedicated gamers of the franchise, who are reading into it what they want, all seem to be ignoring what it's supposed to be. FUN for what it is. There's fun for all gamers who like casual action RPG's. Different strokes for different folks. You can't please all of the people all of the time; Some can't be made happy at all.
Torchlight 3 is casual on 'normal'. If a player wants to up the difficulty then fair enough. The harder the difficulty, the more you'll need to 'think' about the game; But the more option can be opened up.
There are so many parts of the game that allow 'progression' and so many ways a class can be 'built' it's a game that will keep a lot of gamers happy, for the most part. Each to their own but it's worth a try to find out. All the better if you have an Xbox/game-pass and can get to see it that way.
After about 18 hours on and off in the last few weeks I'm two thirds the way through the game on PC.
As a game on sale for just under €17 I've well gotten my monies worth as is. From my limited knowledge the best is yet to come. I've been trying to avoid spoilers. Not much to spoil but I want to discover what is there myself.
I've not progressed far on the other classes level wise. Just a scratch on the surface to see what they're like; I created and got them to about level 5 or so. Enough to see the basics.
No surprise the Sharpshooter(blood relic seemed apt) is a class that should click with me; Bows and guns but being a lot slower than The Forged chest cannon is in reality a more frustrating class for me to play. It felt like too much effort was needed. Positioning for shots, positioning for damage avoidance, position for everything. If a gamer likes running around and 'feeling' like they are doing more than they are, then this is the class to do it.
Sharpshooter Vs Forged is akin to the Swordsman Vs Indiana Jones, Forged(Indy) wins every time.
The Railmaster(Ice relic for crowd control) with it's modular train following was a strange class to play. As immersive as you can try and get in this game I found the Railmaster to be a real immersion breaking oddity of a class. One that didn't click with me. I can take The Forged more seriously.... I can't with the Railmaster. 'A' for effort in class theory.... Yet still a class that worked in practice for me. Large hammer to the face of enemies. Playable, practical, just not a class I want to play.
The Dusk Mage(fire relic for dps) may as well be a magic themed Sharpshooter which again didn't work for me. Odd as it's the most 'traditional' theme of the classes. One I'd usually go for in other games. At least the Railmaster was more survivable. The mage was lacking in both damage and survivability for my liking. Plus the way the class uses the claw/fists is not good imho. Not practical; And the magic doesn't 'feel' like spells.... 'just' shooting.
If I was to order them in my preference... Forged, forged and more forged; Railmaster, Sharpshooter and then Mage... But I'd be more busy playing Forged to notice the others. They have been parked in the fort(for now).
All classes can use a wide range of weaponry, armour and skills so the combinations for gameplay styles are enormous. Sharpshooter with no gun or bow... it's doable(some abilities magic a bow out of nowhere). I'm sure there are min/max guru's on the net formulating max dps builds and what set of armour/items need to be used with what relic.... I'm an omni setup player of games. Battletech... Xcom... I go omni/generalized. As the saying goes: “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” Very much me as a gamer. A fit/build for all seasons and encounters. I did the same with this game and this game being casual I wasn't penalized for it. I have a real appreciation that the game allows me to play it that way.
I really like the shared Fort characters have. Design/outfit it to your hearts content. Unlock new items for it. I enjoy the games overall use of unlocking items for all your characters. Sharing items via a chest in your fort like an account bank. Unlocking more items to transmog as well as buff characters, bonus's and rewards in general...... A game that rewards you as you go. The contracts system is another progress indicator. Not busy work for the sake of it unless you want to do it all.... It just helps to be rewarded for doing the things you are doing anyway. No need to make the game hard for the sake of it. You can if you want by maxing out the difficulty and changing how you play the game.... Or enable hardcore mode(no player respawn).
For a game with three acts, there's going to be a repeating process to gameplay. Which does happen 'naturally'. If you clear an area and log off, it does reset and you'll have to clear it again or run through. Repeating isn't as big a deal as some make it out to be. At least not on 'normal'. But you will see a lot more repetition especially playing more than one class as a 'main'. Progress isn't dependent on swapping classes and from what I've seen (so far/so limited) there's no class specific content or interactions of consequence based on class
.
I really really like the game because it can be done so casually.
I've been enjoying the story-line and the area's, it's art-style and animations. From vegetation moving as you pass through, to skeletons pushing themselves off an impaled sword only to take it and attack you with it. Lots of small details and animations that build and make a world 'real'. Not that it's a massive world but it's big enough for you to not get overwhelmed. Especially with repeating areas. I'm a completionist(compulsive?) when if comes to discoveries. Area's need to be explored and seen and all items need to be looted. That's me; But even at that I wasn't feeling like there was too much.... It felt right.
My game sessions usually lasted an hour to 90 minutes. Clear a new area, take out the two or three bosses/elites and clear a dungeon or two.... All to usually progress the quest line to open up the next area in the act. I'd then warp gate back to the main town/quest hub or fort and do all the necessary character admin(cheap items get sent to pet and the pet gets sent to sell them during area completion). Stone, timber and metal all get processed. Good loot items get stored for other character use(keeping my options open), the rest are sacrificed to the luck tree.
Lots done, more to do and get. Time yet to savor the rest of the game.
On a side tangent I stuck my nose into Rebel Galaxy Outlaw for a minute(it's still on the 'to play long finger')but was surprised to see a Torchlight III vanity item for the ship dashboard.....
There was even another cute one for Astroneer!
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