First off, today’s amusement comes from people thinking Torchlight 2 won’t stack up well to Diablo 3 because the original Torchlight only improved on Diablo 2 slightly. If Diablo 3 improves on Diablo 2 as much as StarCraft 2 ‘improved’ on the original, Torchlight 2 is going to look like a total overhaul of the genre, and most likely you won’t be charged $60×3 to get the complete game. And let’s not forget that at any point, you might be forced to submit a DNA sample to log into Battle.net and be allowed to play the single player version of D3. First born will be the entry fee for multiplay, to clean up the forums, of course. If there are pennies to be made in selling DNA samples and babies, Bobby is the man to cash in on it.
Did you know Shining Force was recently released for the iPhone? You do now. One of the all-time classic strategy RPGs from the Sega Genesis era has held up well, and is still a charming little title today. Still waiting on Shining in the Darkness to be released though, loved that game. I’m assuming we will see Shining Force 2 released at some point as well.
Chuck-o-the-day: All of Chuck Norris’s teeth are wisdom teeth.
Hardcore Casual 
I like the thought that Torchlight II won’t “beat” Diablo III, whatever that means.
Sure, in absolute retail sales dollars, I am sure Diablo III will “win.”
But for Runic to achieve their goals, to make money to fund ongoing projects, they don’t have to match Diablo III feature for feature, they just have to stand out as a fun game, have a couple of things that people will wish Diablo III had, and be somewhere around half the price.
Outside of fancy GCI movies and perhaps the overall quantity of everything, I don’t see why Torchlight 2 can’t be a more fun game than D3. It will be shorter, it won’t look as pretty (maybe, depending on which toaster Blizzard is aiming at as the min req), but the mechanics, balance, and special features could all be better.
Unlikely, but I don’t see why it’s not possible.
Depends on how we are defining “win.” Diablo 3 will obviously sell eleventy billion copies no matter how badly Blizzard decides to abuse their player base. Torchlight did incredibly well among the gaming community, but Runic just doesn’t have the fan base to sell the kind of copies anything blizzard puts out will sell.
If we are talking about what will be a better game, (if such a discussion can be had objectively to begin with) they Torchlight 2 might be as good, but just being a good game doesn’t equate to sales, which is ultimately how most people will view which game was more successful.
I’m a huge Runic fan and I think Torchlight 2 is going to be fantastic. I bought Torchlight on day 1, and will likely by TL2 on day 1 also. But, Runic is smart enough to try and avoid going toe to blizzard, and comparisons, while inevitable isn’t terribly useful.
Well chances are Torchlight 3 will be out before Diablo 3, and Diablo 3 will incorporate the “genre changing” elements to be found in Torchlight 2 :) . Typical Blizzard :)
Blizzard is extremely lucky to get away with polishing games for YEARS [and just adding elements that worked in the mean time] without actually changing them. They got no pressure to bring out a game it seems….
So if i’m gonna put my money on the next “fresh” action-RPG , it’s not gonna be on Blizzard.
There is a chance you won’t have to give up a first born child to use Bnet (read BobbyNET), if the child has no market value. Which maybe why we will see a Activision Blizzard morning after pill.
Diablo 3 will actually be 4 games, one for each Act.
And you only get two classes per Act:p
Ok, usually I agree with your posts Syncaine, but I think you’ve caught the “I hate Blizzard” fever drifting around the net.
How, exactly, did Torchlight “improve” on Diablo 2? Having played the game, I don’t see any “improvements” there that didn’t already exist in the Action RPG genre. Perhaps I’m in need of a reminder. The game was actually quite repetitve to play (like the Orzammar sequence in Dragon Age).
Most of Torchlight’s “improvements” are simply differences in business model and in focus. The more accurate statement is that Torchlight took the core Action RPG concept and executed it at a very affordable price. They made the poor man’s Diablo – right down to the lower system requirements.
Fairly sure I’ve had the “I hate Blizzard” fever for a few years now. I might actually be the little monkey that started the fever.
Torchlight did improve some stuff though, like the pet, upgrading items, their take on gems, etc. It’s been a while since I’ve played it, so I’m sure there is more. Was it perfect? Naw, but it was real good, especially for the $5 I paid for it, and I think now that Runic has some more resources, they are going to push that much harder to make Torch2 that much better. If anything, the more money Blizzard gets, the fewer improvements they make to their franchises, and if that trend continues, it’s not good for D3.
I’ll just chalk this post up to your intense dislike of the “on rails” World of Warcraft model (and Activision in general), and leave it at that.
By the way, thanks for pointing out League of Legends – I jumped into that game and have greatly enjoyed it.
Well, here is an easy one. Torchlight plays at a resolution higher than 800×600.
Diablo II, favorite of mine though it is, does feel a bit old. I’ve been back to play it in the last few months just to compare it with Torchlight, and the Runic guys have an updated, if somewhat more cartoony, take on the Diablo genre.
That I am almost sure to buy Torchlight II does not however mean I won’t also grab Diablo III. That sale is Blizzard’s to lose. They could though. They’ve been going in an odd direction of late with Real ID and tying everything tightly with Battle.net.
Graphics improve over the course of nine years (Diablo released in 2000, Torchlight in 2009). Gameplay is a different story. Syncaine mentioned a couple of “improvements,” though I’d simply call them design differences. Honestly, pets that send the items you’d like to sell back up to town is only a method of giving the player options for how to manage their inventory space. Other ways to do this are to decrease the number of drops from creatures, increase inventory size, etc. The pet makes sense in Torchlight due to the extremely high volume of drops and the low level of interaction in the surface town.
Being a primarily single-player PC gamer myself, I agree with you on the RealID and Battle.net issue, but at the same time I can’t condemn them for attempting to stop the largest problem games today face: piracy. Even though I agree they are headed in the wrong direction.
>I can’t condemn them for attempting to stop the
>largest problem games today face: piracy
Wrong. The largest problem facing games today is the cardinal sin of all forms of entertainment: they’re just not entertaining.
Yeah…sure…whatever you say…
DIN’S CURSE
Look it up. Little known title that you close minded MMO bloggers probably don’t know about. I know you all dont leave your comfort circle much to actually get out there and play all sorts of games so I will just keep you informed
wow i think were talking about going up in time not backwards lol the game look almost like a free mmo
Torchlight was cool but held nowhere near the replay value of Diablo 2…Plus it was 9 years later, of course there are going to be some improvements. Torchlight 2 is looking awesome, but obviously Diablo 3 will be a more polished and epic title..I will buy both.
T2 will have something that D3 wont have: LAN capabilities, which is the most important aspect of a game like this.