7. Torchlight 2. 7. Torchlight 2. 25 best hack'n'slash hames of all time (2023)

October 19, 2023

7. Torchlight 2

The continuation of Torchlight had quite a task to perform, and it's not about jumping over the bar suspended by the previous installment, even though it was placed pretty high. The problem with the sequel was the fact that while the original came out at the right time - when Diablo III was looming somewhere on the horizon - the second part, released in 2012, had to fight a direct clash with Blizzard's game, which set standards for almost two decades in the hack'n'slash genre. How did he emerge from this clash? Definitely unscathed ( according to unofficial data, almost five million copies sold on Steam) - although it was far from the success of Diablo III.

Torchlight II directly continues the plot of the original. Deep within the mines beneath the small town of Torchlight, the evil dragon Ordrak was defeated, but this didn't definitively end the world's troubles. Here is the Alchemist - one of the playable characters from the first installment - who was possessed by evil powers and came into possession of the essence of Ordrak. Possessing great strength, he defeated the Destroyer (the second playable character) in a duel, ruined Torchlight, and marched across the continent to wreak havoc.

Despite the defeat, the Destroyer follows in the footsteps of his former comrade-in-arms, but his wounds are giving him a hard time, and an apprentice must take his place. This is where the player character steps in, representing one of four new classes: the embermage, the berserker, the outlander, or the engineer. At the start, we choose the form of one of several available animal companions (from classic cats and wolves to alpacas, ferrets, and even headcrabs straight from Half-Life) and set off into the world.

Indeed, into the world. We no longer travel through underground corridors, tunnels, halls, necropolises, etc., but we move mostly through diverse open spaces, just like in Diablo III. The game has maintained the graphic style of the original. As a result, it has become even more fairy-tale-like and colorful - although the catchy diablo-like compositions of Matt Uelmen protect from associations with the Grimm brothers or Andersen. In addition, the pace of the game was accelerated, making battles incredibly dynamic and impressive.

Despite this, the gameplay has remained roughly unchanged from the original - the character development system is alike, the equipment mechanics (and its drop frequency) are also similar, as is the "use" of a pet and fishing. Everything turns out to be more polished and varied, which results in many hours of fun. The game in question also features a flexible co-op mode (for up to 6 players) and many activities after completing the main storyline.

Torchlight has something that you won't find in Diablo III - full mods support. From single items and levels to entirely new character classes and entire campaigns, the potential is almost endless.