![]() ![]() ![]() We would’ve better appreciated a more flexible system that allows for new players to freely try out several build types, as the current system only proves to be frustrating in the long term. It’s all too easy for a new player to learn that they’ve created a build ‘wrong’, but the options for fixing it late in the game are unfortunately hard to come by. ![]() Matters are made worse by the fact that your only means of taking back spent points in the skill tree are governed by an extremely scarce consumable resource, which punishes experimentation. Whatever you choose, you’re permanently locked into that decision, which can lead to scenarios where a few hours of play are wasted when you realize that the class you picked just isn’t your thing. Those first few minutes in which you’re tasked with picking a class and subclass can be enormously overwhelming as you’re expected to read through all the densely-written class and skill descriptions to best figure out which are to your liking. This is all well and good, but one area in which Torchlight III notably drops the ball is in the disproportionate amount of importance it places on the very beginning of the new player experience. In practice, this gameplay system works quite well, as you slowly come to better understand your build and how to best ramp up damage in a typical combat encounter. Many of the archer’s skills will expend a certain amount of arrows in the quiver, so you must constantly balance your needs in battle against how many arrows you can reasonably use. For example, the archer class has an ‘ammo’ mechanic wherein arrows can be either picked up from the environment or slowly regenerated. You have a basic main attack which you can use indefinitely, but the majority of your combat effectiveness is pulled from how well you manage the cool-downs and limitations of the various skills you can fire off. Through this, the gameplay is less focused on player dexterity or skill than it is on overall resource management. There is an overwhelming amount of ways to spec out a build, and plenty of satisfaction is gleaned from teasing out an effective build and seeing how well it holds up against swarms of enemies. It’s the sort of thing that’s almost mind-numbingly simple on a moment-to-moment basis, but the long-term planning that goes into picking skill progression and equipment loadouts is a huge part of the draw. Cutting through the masses of monsters is sure to see some choice pieces drop which passively raise your character’s stats, and every now and then, you’ll level up and get an upgrade point to invest somewhere in your skill tree to deepen your build. You begin by picking one of four classes of warriors who will then embark on a long journey through dungeons and environments packed with enemies and precious loot to improve the character. Those of you familiar with the ARPG genre will find yourselves right at home with Torchlight III, as this release adds almost nothing new to the tried and tested formula. Torchlight III is all about balancing stats, comparing gearsets, and offing goblins by the truckload, and frequent stops of exposition or cutscenes would only serve to get in the way of the main draw of gameplay.Ĭaptured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld/Undocked) While it would be nice to see a little more effort put into telling a compelling narrative, the lack of emphasis on storytelling here actually proves to be a move in the game’s favour. As is typical for an ARPG, the story proves to be virtually nonexistent for most of Torchlight III, merely serving as a light means of giving context to your endless dungeon crawls. The Netherim are trying to take advantage of this weakness by attempting a take-over of Novastraia, so it’s up to you and your friends to repel the threat and save the day. The story picks up a few centuries after the events of Torchlight II, in a world where the empire is in decline. The final product, then, proves to be worthy of the Torchlight name, but it also highlights that the series is in desperate need of a refresh. After nearly two years of development, Frontiers went through a big shift in January of this year, in which it was officially rebranded as Torchlight III and changed into an experience more in line with the previous two entries. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as early reception to Frontiers was lukewarm and the game design wasn’t coming together quite how the team wanted it to. The project originally began as a free-to-play title called Torchlight Frontiers, which was all set to finally deliver on the grandiose MMO plans that Runic Games has been building towards since the first Torchlight. Torchlight III has endured a rather rocky journey to its initial release. ![]()
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