Torchlight is an action role-playing game developed by Runic Games and released for Windows on October 27, 2009. A Mac version of the game was released in May 2010, followed by an Xbox Live Arcade port released on March 9, 2011. The game was also ported to Linux in September 2012 as part of the sixth Humble Indie Bundle. On E3 2015, Runic Games announced that a mobile port of the first Torchlight is in development and expected to be released later in the year.[1]
Storyline and Setting[]
The game is set in the small mining town of Torchlight. In the nearby mine, a mysterious mineral known as Ember attracts miners, adventurers, and monsters alike. The town is troubled by the recent corruption of the mineral, which can mutate anyone unfortunate enough to come across a corrupt piece. The prime example of this is seen by the corruption of the alchemist Alric, who turns on his companions and attempts to revive the legendary Ember colossus, Ordrak. The main storyline focuses around the player, teaming with Syl the sage, to stop the source of corruption within the dungeon. You will fight many monsters and champions along the way, while collecting epic loot and hoards of gold.
Gameplay[]
Torchlight features Diablo-esque dungeon crawler gameplay, where players progress through many floors battling masses of monsters, while completing simple quest lines. Players encounter champion creatures as well, which feature different abilities based on random chance. The main story line takes place in a 35-floor dungeon, which progresses through multiple locales including mines, dark palaces, and underground caverns. The second dungeon, a seemingly limitless dungeon with over 100 floors, cycles through the locales at random to provide endless monster-killing and loot-grinding.
Character classes[]
- Main article: Torchlight 1 classes
Torchlight contains three player classes, each with three distinct skill trees:
Features[]
Torchlight is well known for providing the player a pet as a permanent companion, which fights alongside the player and carries loot back to town.
- Main article: Pets (T1)
The game includes large amounts of randomized loot, including unique items and equipment sets.
- Main article: Items (T1)
Torchlight offers item enhancement options in the form of both socketing and enchantment.
- Main article: Gems (T1)
- Main article: Enchanting (T1)
Character Retirement[]
Torchlight offers a system where players can "retire" characters, which provides bonuses to future character development. When a character is retired, they can pass down one item to a new character. This item takes the name of the retired character and receives statistic bonuses. For example, if you pass down an item named "Bane Sword" with 20 strength for a character named "Troll," the passed down item will be "Troll's Bane Sword" with additional strength. The retired character becomes unusable at the point of retirement, so players should be sure to clear inventories and banks. In order to retire a character, they must be level 30 or greater.
Modding[]
- Main article: TorchEd
The game was designed to be highly moddable, and Runic has released their game editor TorchEd as a free download for owners of the game. TorchEd is the same tool used by the game developers themselves, and has not been "dumbed down" for public use.
A large collection of Torchlight I mods is hosted at the Torchlight Fansite.
Xbox Live Arcade release[]
- Main article: Torchlight (XBLA)
Runic Games released an Xbox 360 port of Torchlight on March 9, 2011. The port is largely true to the Windows and Mac versions, with a redesigned user interface and a few added features.
Reception[]
The game was generally well received by critics, and has sold more than 1 million copies as of July 2011. It also won the Best Debut Game Award at the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards.
See also[]
- Screenshots - Screenshots of this game.
- Videos - Videos of this game.
- Walkthrough - A walkthrough for this game.