Torchlight III (formerly Torchlight Frontiers) is the third installment of the Torchlight games series.
It was developed by Echtra Games and published by Perfect World. It was released in 2020 for Steam, with console ports to follow.[1]
Plot[]
The game takes place 100 years after the first Torchlight game.[2]
Gameplay[]
The game features a shared world, where players can cooperatively explore dungeons and slay monsters.[3] It aims to combine "the fast-paced combat, procedurally-generated levels, and addictive loot-loop of a dungeon crawler with the social and live-service qualities of an MMO." The pet system will be expanded,[4] and a crafting system will be implemented.[5] Stages will predominately be procedurally generated. Naturally there will also be towns, however these will remain static (so that players will always know where key-npcs are located).[4] There will be three area types where larger groups of players can mingle, towns, public spaces and dungeons, where players can fight a never ending supply of enemies, group up, and work together to clear dungeons. Each dungeon is assigned a "challenge level," to give an indication of its difficulty. The challenge level is cross-referenced with a character's item level to give a player an indication as to whether it is feasible to clear the dungeon.[5] Dungeons can host up to four players at a time, while world pve zones can host up to eight players at a time.[6]
The game has a day-night cycle, the presence of enemies will vary in numbers and type in accordance with said cycle. For instance, goblins can be encountered during the day, while zombies will replace them at night.
Gold returns from previous games, however, rather than players being awarded skill points and character attribute points; monsters will drop skill points which in turn can be exchanged for a variety of active and passive abilities which enable us to personalize a character's unique skill-loadout. In contrast with previous games, character levels have been replaced by item levels; an aggregate value is determined by the quality of the equipment of a player. When playing as member of a group, and a dungeon of a lower difficulty level is entered by the player, then any higher item level items are scaled down to a level that is proportional to the dungeon's challenge rating. The character's unique skills and abilities remain available, even if they are not normally available if the player would have been the appropriate character level for the content.[5]
It will not have an auction house.[4]
Classes[]
Players are able to customize the look and feel of their characters.[5] Each class has a unique resource balancing.[6] Confirmed classes include:[5]
- Dusk Mage
- Forge
- Railmaster
- Sharpshooter
- Cursed Captain
Forts[]
The Fort is the players' home base. Here, they can use materials they collect in the world to build, upgrade, and customize the fort to their liking. This is where new skills can be learned or existing ones get upgraded.
Items[]
There are five different types of items:
- Equipment
- Pet Items
- Potions
- Consumables
- Resources
Torchlight III features a transmogrification mechanic, accesible from the Style Station inside the Fort. Style Station needs to be constructed before it can be used.
Pets[]
In Torchlight III, every player character starts the game with a pet.
On July 16, 2019, update 7 will introduce new potential pets that have been captured and caged by monsters which player characters can rescue and recruit. Characters will be able to add Pet Shelters to their forts where they can swap their active pet, rename or release pets, or check which skills pets have equipped.
Pets will have four skill slots which can be managed from the Pet tab in the Skills menu. Pet skills come in three classifications: Auras, Buffs, and Combat skills. Each pet can only have one Aura active at a time. Auras do not stack. Starter pets and pets bought from Aimee, Rescue Pet Vendor always have Battle Cry.
Development[]
Work on the game commenced in 2016. However, the idea of a shared world ARPG in Schaefer's mind stems as far back as his work on Mythos. Mythos was never released due to the closure of Flagship Games, but the idea remained.
It is intended that the game be updated over time. The game's interface is designed with both console and PC play in mind.[4] The game is based on a "games as a service" model.[4]
A first playable demo version was available at Gamescom 2018 and PAX West 2018.[7] A beta for the PC version will launch in late 2018.[6]
In 2020 it was announced that the game had been renamed from "Torchlight Frontiers" to "Torchlight 3."[1]
Trailer[]
Links[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://www.gamespot.com/videos/torchlight-3-announced-gs-news-update/2300-6452058/?ftag=NLS-04-10aaa1d
- ↑ https://www.gameinformer.com/review/torchlight-iii/torchlight-iii-review-seamless-destruction
- ↑ http://au.ign.com/articles/2018/08/09/torchlight-frontiers-announced?abthid=5b6c55b243c50c0336000810
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 http://au.ign.com/articles/2018/08/09/torchlight-frontiers-to-double-down-on-pets-co-op-play
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 http://au.ign.com/articles/2018/08/20/torchlight-frontiers-exclusive-first-hands-on
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Game Informer #107
- ↑ https://www.arcgames.com/en/games/torchlight-frontiers/news/detail/10976343-perfect-world-at-gamescom-%26-pax-west-2018