Do you recommend this game?

[LittlePureWater]

This game seems interesting, do you recommend buying the game?

[Vivisector 9999]

Absolutely. It's one of the best games of the hack-and-slash action-RPG genre, second only to Grim Dawn... and a nice change of palate if you're bored of the grimdark theme of most of these games.

[chris.ferrantegerard]

It's a pretty good Diablo clone. A bit too overtuned damage wise at max difficulty imo, too many reliance on ramming damage reduction gems into gear, damage always felt a bit too spiky to me. A level below Titan Quest, Grim Dawn or Path of Exile to me but still a nice game in the genre.

[LittlePureWater]

I appreciate the response; I'll add the game to my wishlist.

[potterman28wxcv]

To put things back in context, TL2 was released shortly after the D3 fiasco (4th difficulty being gated by the Auction House), it was *the* diablo-clone made partly by ex Blizzard North devs. It got a lot of attraction - Path of Exile was in beta around that time but it was not as well known as it is today, so Torchlight 2 was really the only modern alternative to Diablo 3. In its peak you had a lot of players playing in vanilla Multiplayer, either doing endgame maps or (fewer of them) getting through the NG cycles.

I believe Torchlight franchise was the first to introduce endgame mapping. They also got a very interesting take with their Pet system: the Pet looks like Diablo 2 mercenary, except that you can equip spells on your Pet and your Pet can go sell/buy things to town so that you do not need to go back to town to sell gear. In my opinion it's one of the best things about Torchlight 2, you can just grab everything, identify on the go, and give the extra to your pet.

In 2025 I would say that Torchlight 2 is still such a great game to play. The action feels really good (although movement can be clunky at times) and smooth. Not as smooth as Diablo 3 (it's hard to beat that) but smoother than Titan Quest, Grim Dawn and Path of Exile IMO. The story does have some long part (especially the wide wilderness areas filled with monsters), I particularly remember Act 3 as being quite long and painful, but the overall game is a must play for any Diablo fan.

One big caveat of this game is balancing. On Elite difficulty only a few builds are actually viable, and those usually involve taking the most powerful skills for your characters. Some skills are just leagues better than others. On Elite, some builds will destroy everything while some other builds will be a constant struggle. So I would advise you to play on Veteran, in my opinion it's a much better experience for the first time TL2 player.

But one great thing about this game is modding support. There are a lot of mods out there to customize your experience. You might end up with a half-broken game that has bonker stats of course but it can still be very fun!

[steffire3]

Originally posted by LittlePureWater:

This game seems interesting, do you recommend buying the game?

Originally posted by potterman28wxcv:

... ... that you can equip spells on your Pet and your Pet can go sell/buy things to town so that you do not need to go back to town to sell gear. In my opinion it's one of the best things about Torchlight 2, you can just grab everything, identify on the go, and give the extra to your pet.

... ... The story does have some long part (especially the wide wilderness areas filled with monsters), I particularly remember Act 3 as being quite long and painful... ...

One big caveat of this game is balancing. On Elite difficulty only a few builds are actually viable, and those usually involve taking the most powerful skills for your characters. Some skills are just leagues better than others. On Elite, some builds will destroy everything while some other builds will be a constant struggle. So I would advise you to play on Veteran, in my opinion it's a much better experience for the first time TL2 player.

But one great thing about this game is modding support. There are a lot of mods out there to customize your experience. You might end up with a half-broken game that has bonker stats of course but it can still be very fun!

Originally posted by chris.ferrantegerard:

It's a pretty good Diablo clone. A bit too overtuned damage wise at max difficulty imo, too many reliance on ramming damage reduction gems into gear, damage always felt a bit too spiky to me. A level below Titan Quest, Grim Dawn or Path of Exile to me but still a nice game in the genre.

So very true.

TL2 Pets are a huge benefit especially for Loot-Sales not usually seen in other games within the genre and should be compared to certain Metal Gear games where supplies can be ordered on-the-go and discovered-Loot sold for a profit without the need to return to Town.

The story / campaign can be longer or shorter depending on whether the Player wishes to complete most of the Side Quests. Otherwise Main Quests average 2 per large zone twice per Act. Side Quests do have great rewards for Exp and Fame however.

What makes TL2 great for certain players is that it's much faster to level-up including the completion of builds compared to Grim Dawn. TL2 Main Quests can be speed-ran within a day and NG+ campaigns are the same with the addition of the secret ultimate Build test in the form of Tarroch's Tomb enemy waves up to Lv199 in the Ossean Wastes.

Map-works and Phase Beast maps enable other sources of mid-farm, alt-leveling, and post-game content.

Mods can help to extend the game-play in various ways for Pc versions and some mods even disable or reduce the infamous Critical-Enemy-Damage Bursts.

TL2 Console versions don't have modding however do have Potion-Respec craft-recipes built-in and Controller-support. Something Pc wishes it had in vanilla.

True that some skills are better for survival, mobility, or damage however games like these favor building specific rare Affixes and tactics rather than dependencies on Skills.
And I can say the same for games like Grim Dawn where this is even more pronounced.
In fact - TL2 is very accessible and less complex than Grim Dawn regarding Types and Defense mechanisms. Sometimes less is truly more. Depends on what a player seeks.

As to how a player will acquire the "correct" survival affixes will either be from farming Phase Beasts or mods that supply good equips.

Not every class is an Engineer and not every skill is Forcefield and not every weapon allows a Shield hence alternative strategies are needed to thrive even on late-Veteran difficulty. Especially when factoring NG+ Tarroch's Tomb and especially when Replay-Value is everything for any potential buyers.

As for the note on Act_03's length and difficulty - that also holds true for certain enemy factions when encountered again in NG+ loops.

A1 Icy Hills - rushing Yakitaur
A2 everywhere - ranged Ezrohir
A3 Blightbogs - enhanced Undead
A4 final rooms - draining Netherim

Among other factions that only get more pronounced on their accurate skill combos or other noticeable tactics in higher NG+ levels.

In fact - Hardcore players avoid certain Side Quests altogether especially when faced with rare yet present cramped rooms forcing close-quarters combat.
Wide-open spaces are a good friend in this game.

For all the hidden basics during campaign-runs worth remembering in a game that fails to note such things; we do have certain Steam Guides that can help with that:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1709334997

[The Yeen Queen]

Short answer is yes. Also the original. Stay away from 3. Infinite is....very different. Some like it, some don't. Very much a free to play mobile game, though.

[LittlePureWater]

I appreciate everyone's response; I bought the game.

[Jack]

Incredibly good and what a value. You can see where later Diablo 3/4 games got some of their ideas from.

[nfnp]

I don’t. 15 years ago I would say absolutely.

I feel it’s really dated and lacks depth. I also don’t like mods.

[The Yeen Queen]

Originally posted by nfnp:

I don’t. 15 years ago I would say absolutely.

I feel it’s really dated and lacks depth. I also don’t like mods.

"OLD GAME BAD!" 🙄

[steffire3]

Originally posted by nfnp:

I don’t. 15 years ago I would say absolutely.

I feel it’s really dated and lacks depth. I also don’t like mods.

It's a fair point when I think of what the game market offers today.

One technical issue I do have is storage space multiplied by the number of games I like to play.

Small games, old games, and indie games all seem to easily fit into a large game library.

I might be willing to put up with Grim Dawn's gigabytes required as it's near 15 after factoring their expansions.

One thing I cannot accept however is Path of Exile 2 starting at 100 GB required.

1 0 0 _ G B... like... no - just no.

Other than that - glad to see the genre get more chances to further game features weighed against average audience reviews and brand expectations.

[The Yeen Queen]

100 GB is pretty much becoming the norm for modern games. With 2+TB SDDs being fairly cheap these days it's not that crazy, though. Hell, I can remember when a game measuring in MEGABYTES was considered insanely huge. XD

[steffire3]

Originally posted by The Yeen Queen:

100 GB is pretty much becoming the norm for modern games. With 2+TB SDDs being fairly cheap these days it's not that crazy, though. Hell, I can remember when a game measuring in MEGABYTES was considered insanely huge. XD

I only have 256 gigs of starting space and after the OS plus work-apps plus music instruments installed - leaves me with currently 127 Gigs left to work with.

I appreciate the work that goes into 4K textures, heavy soundtracks, and expansive builds... however at that size - better to dedicate a Console to handle that level of storage.

[The Yeen Queen]

Originally posted by steffire3:

Originally posted by The Yeen Queen:

100 GB is pretty much becoming the norm for modern games. With 2+TB SDDs being fairly cheap these days it's not that crazy, though. Hell, I can remember when a game measuring in MEGABYTES was considered insanely huge. XD

I only have 256 gigs of starting space and after the OS plus work-apps plus music instruments installed - leaves me with currently 127 Gigs left to work with.

I appreciate the work that goes into 4K textures, heavy soundtracks, and expansive builds... however at that size - better to dedicate a Console to handle that level of storage.

Why? PCs handle the storage better. And are more adaptable than consoles.

[Gojita]

The real question is... why haven’t you owned it yet?

Since you're interested, here are a few reasons why you should buy it:

• One of the best ARPG/H&S in the genre, easily top 10 in my book.
  
• Made by the same people behind Diablo II, another legendary game.
  
• Decent story, fun and engaging gameplay, variety of features.
  
• Stylized/cartoonish artstyle & graphic will never become outdated.
  
• Fully moddable, with tons of amazing mods on the Steam Workshop.
  
• Even better if you have friends to co-op with.

If you decided to buy it, try pair it with this TRUE vanilla+ collection of mine:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=321202788&savesuccess=1