Introduction
It is time for the winner of the March poll of the month to get reviewed. We are also happy to announce that not only Torchlight 3 will be reviewed. We are also preparing to review Torchlight 1 and 2! We are going to start with Torchlight 3 and work down to Torchlight 1. Many people most likely know that Torchlight 3 has gotten bad reviews and ratings, is this correct, or is Torchlight 3 actually a gem? My wife and I decided to play Torchlight 3 in co-op mode all the way to the maximum level.
What did I think before playing Torchlight 3?
My wife and I were excited to try out Torchlight 3 despite the bad reviews. This was also the reason why Torchlight 3 made it into the poll of March. Surprisingly, Torchlight 3 actually won! We totally did not see that coming at all! We quickly started preparing to play the game. Our first step is of course to visit the Steam page.
The Steam page
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1030210/Torchlight_III
The first thing that pops up immediately is, of course, the red negative reviews along with the mixed reviews. A good thing to know is that Torchlight 3 began development as Torchlight Frontiers. This was supposed to be an MMORPG instead of a hack and slash game. This does not mean that the MMORPG would not be in the hack and slash genre. The developers decided somewhere down the road that this would become Torchlight 3 instead of a spin-off filled with microtransactions. At first glance, this game did give me a good vibe to play since I did like Torchlight 2 very much!
Rating
I rate Torchlight 3 with a 7.5 before playing.
Even though we were very excited to start playing Torchlight 3, we were also wary because of all the negative reviews.
Story
Torchlight 3 starts in a whole new time area which also means the story is separated from Torchlight 1 and Torchlight 2. The Netherim have returned once again after centuries, the lands are in danger and it might seem Ordrak’s essence is somehow still lingering around.
Rating
The rating for the story of Torchlight 3 is 4.0.
The story is very weak and I did not like the cut scenes at all. Hack and slash games usually have a weaker story which is normal. However, Torchlight 3 was just a repeated story with no new influences whatsoever. I just skipped most of the story sentences or skimmed through the text very quickly. The ending is also not a true ending of the Torchlight series.
Gameplay
The gameplay from Torchlight 3 is not only very bad but also buggy. There are some huge issues with character building. One of these is that certain relics which act as a secondary class are unbalanced. The blood drinker sub-class is way stronger than the other classes. In this game, you have to build your character with many different skills. If you use too many skills at once you might get a huge lag spike. In the beginning, you can choose from four main classes with an upcoming fifth class.
In Torchlight 3 you will also be able to build your own fort. You can also encounter other people’s forts but I have not encountered one in many hours of gameplay. You need materials to build items but you will find more than enough materials in your adventures. You can also find items to upgrade items in your fort which give account-wide bonuses. There are no sidequests at all in this game, there are also no extra areas to explore. This game is completely linear. As you defeat elite enemies you will gain fame, they will no longer give you skill points but random rewards depending on which contract you have selected. There are three contracts and we managed to complete all of these contracts before even reaching the second act.
This game is also filled with bugs and other problems. The skills are not very exciting as there is a completely no mana system. This means you can keep spamming skills infinitely without using good gear. Enchanting is also very underused in the game. There are also no sockets in this game. This game feels like someone tried to clone Torchlight and miserably failed. We finished the game but I do not think we are coming back anytime soon.
Rating
I rate the gameplay of Torchlight 3 with a 4.0.
Is this game fun as a hack and slash? I would not say it is as there is no difficulty whatsoever, even in the highest difficulty you can cakewalk enemies with ease. With no mana system in place to prevent skill spamming unless you have godlike gear, you are practically invincible as well. The classes are unbalanced, the skills are unbalanced and my character ended up under the ground too many times.
Sound and Graphics
Graphics
The graphics seem to have taken a nosedive in this new entry. The graphics are worse than in Torchlight 2, hell even Torchlight 1 might look better! The graphics are unpolished, rushed, and broken. There have been too many instances where I fell through the ground or got stuck in the terrain. The user interface looks very weird for a hack and slash game, the equipment screen does not make any sense at all. The user interface is not practical, there is a reason that most user interfaces in hack and slash games look alike. If it is not broke do not fix it.
Sound
The sound seemed okay until the narrator kept spamming us with messages that our pet was hurt and fleeing. Even if this was not the case. This got annoying very fast. The sound also randomly stopped or increased in volume.
Rating
I rate the sound and graphics with a 3.0
There are too many issues and problems with Torchlight 3, the sound and graphics do not resemble an AAA title at all. There are many indie games with better graphics.
What did I think after playing Torchlight 3
After reaching the maximum level in Torchlight 3 I was hoping for some amazing end-game content. We quickly learned about the end-game dungeons made by a Genie in a lamp. The challenges are extremely easy even in ridiculous mode. We have recorded our session of completing challenge level 17 but the drive to continue is just not there. There is no over-leveling system in Torchlight 3 as well. I can also not understand why the level cap is this low.
We were thinking of maybe starting a new game+ but that feature is also missing. This game feels like a rushed game with no polish at all. If they had just taken elements from Torchlight 2 and build upon it, this game could have been amazing. Instead, they took away features and thought it would be better. The reviews on Steam might be blunt but sadly they are not wrong this game needs a big do-over. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
Rating
I rate Torchlight 3 with a 6.0.
Even though there are many problems with this game we still had some fun with this game while playing. Some of the bugs are funny and not just annoying. The biggest problem is the power spikes from one level to another which always means your weapon is going to be underpowered.
What are my personal thoughts about Torchlight 3
My wife and I did have some fun while playing Torchlight 3 but reaching the maximum level is boring. We were just very glad we reached the ending and decided to come back after some major bug fixes.
Rating
My personal rating for Torchlight 3 is 5.4.
We are going to wait for some huge upgrades before we are going to touch this game again, how about mod support?
Last Words
Pros
- The ideas of the classes are fun including the sub classes
- You can build your own fort with decorations found throughout the game.
- Multiplayer is an option when you both own the game.
Cons
- There are no side quests in this game to complete.
- Torchlight 3 feels like a bad clone of Torchlight 2
- The fame system needs to be reworked, there are not enough contracts.
- The graphics and sound are very unpolished.
- All of the pets that you can unlock are mostly reskins.
- There is no couch co-op for the console versions.
- All classes in Torchlight 3 are very unbalanced.
- Torchlight 3 has no difficulty at all, you can just pick the highest difficulty.
- If you stand around for a few minutes, the maps will all be reset or you will get booted from the game.
- Many text errors and wrong information
- There is no equipment that protects you from all the elements in Torchlight 3
- There is not a lot of enemy variety in this game, you wil almost fight goblins the whole game.
If you are a fan of Torchlight, I suggest you go play Torchlight 1 or Torchlight 2 instead. I hope I answered your questions about Torchlight 3, thank you for requesting Torchlight 3 , Tao Z, Fano and Emre!
Final Rating
4.9
Let me know what you think of Torchlight 3 in the comments!
I hope you enjoyed reading this review, I hope to see you in the next review!
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Yeah, it sucks
Yep… it also gave me a headace
Remember Mario Tennis? That was even worse! The headache, not the game.
lol, that is quite blunt but yeah it kind of does.
That´s a lot of cons!
yeah, the game might need some fixing lol
It’s a pity that Torchlight 3 didn’t live up to its predecessor. Hopefully something changes in an upcoming update or the devs do something better on the 4th instalment, if there was going to be any.
If there is ever going to be the 4th installment, they need to make it like Torchlight 2 but much better!
Oh, thanks for the review & appreciate the effort you put in for this.
You are welcome 🙂