Overview: An action RPG.
20180320, 20180321 AM Hours:
I have previously tried playing Torchlight (back in December 2012), but I didn't enjoy it. For whatever reason, today I was drawn to playing it's sequel, Torchlight II.*
Steam Game Time: 4.6 hours
*Technically, I was first undecided between this game and Angvik, a platformer, I chose Angvik, spent less than an hour playing it, and then came back around to Torchlight II.
20180321:
Today I continued playing and I wanted to respec my character (level 15). Unfortunately, there was no in-game method to respec a character. Fortunately, there was a workaround that didn't involve being flagged as cheating. In any case, I roughly followed this guide: https://www.pcgamer.com/torchlight-2-embermage-build-guide/.
Steam Game Time: 9.4 hours (total game time)
20180322:
Today I started creating other characters to store my main character's items (via the shared stash). After doing so, I found that to be an impractical solution. Luckily, I soon found a program that provided an infinite stash called Stash Ninja. It was still necessary to drop items into the shared stash, but the program essentially acts as the other character except with an infinite personal stash.
While I initially intended just to use the program for item storage, the program had a copy feature and I started using it to duplicate items which I could transmute. Cheating or not, I was fine with using this to skip a lot of the grind.
When I returned to actually playing the game (as opposed to item management), I completed the Djinni's three tasks (by which time I was level 29 and was able to wear my Zeraphi Alchemy Set).
Steam Game Time: 17.5 hours (total game time); doesn't include the time I had the client close but the game was open.
20180323 AM Hours:
Before going to bed I played a little more. I added socketables to all my sockets with inspiration from this link which suggested using Critical Hit Chance & Critical Hit Damage socketables on weapons and Health & Damage Reduction socketables on Armor. In addition, I decided to also boost Health Regeneration and Mana Regeneration. The result was amazing. I generally stayed topped off on HP, but would run low on mana. As such, I reduced the number of Health socketables and increased the number of Mana Regeneration socketables.
Steam Game Time: 18.8 hours (total game time)
20180323:
Today I progressed through the story some more. As I played, the socketables held up pretty well except in some cases where enemies was able to deal burst damage or apply some form of CC (e.g., silence, stun, or slow). This was later alleviated when I learned the spell Heal III which was essentially a free HP potion.
Steam Game Time: 24.0 hours (total game time)
20180324 AM Hours: Steam Game Time: 24.7 hours (total game time) I squeezed in some game time before going to bed.
20180325: Steam Game Time: 25.2 hours (total game time)
20180328 AM Hours: Steam Game Time: 26.4 hours (total game time) I defeated the Dark Alchemist today.
20180329 AM Hours: Steam Game Time: 28.3 hours (total game time)
20180330 AM Hours: Steam Game Time: 29.5 hours (total game time)
20180330:
Today I started New Game +.
Looking through the achievements, I learned that pets can learn spells. What the heck!?!
Steam Game Time: 37.8 hours (total game time).
20180401 AM Hours:
As I returned to this game today, I thought that perhaps it (and several recent games which have preceded) indicate that I've reached a point where I generally desire to play fewer games and put more hours into the few which I play - despite the large library of games which I've accumulated; to be clear, I believe this behavior fluctuates.
While I wanted to play more, I was only able to put in less than an hour of game time because I was sleepy.
Steam Game Time: 38.1 hours (total game time).
20180413 AM Hours:
I should have probably gone to sleep but I got the itch to play. I had actually wanted to play over the last couple of days but I've been too busy.
Unfortunately, I got tired and my eyes kept closing shut. At which point, I was going to go to sleep, but I decided to try and make it through one more boss.
Steam Game Time: 38.5 hours (total game time)
Thoughts:
Major Pro:
++ Moddable
Pros:
+ Easy to learn
+ Beautiful environments; well-designed dungeons
Neutral:
~ Cartoonish graphics. I was initially put off by this, but as I played, it didn't really matter.
Minor Cons:
- A lot of traveling. Is there a faster way to move from point A to point B?
- Without external tools, certain aspects of the game would require a lot of grinding (e.g., obtaining good items with good stats and sockets)
Con:
- No built-in respec system.
Summary:
It's not often I put a lot of hours into a game, but I put a lot of hours into Torchlight II so that's some indication of how much I enjoyed it.
With that alone, I would recommend this game to fans of action RPGs that also enjoy the art style of this game (as opposed to a more realistic looking action RPG such as Diablo 3). Alternatively, players can consider holding their breath for free-to-play MMORPG Torchlight Frontiers to be released in 2019.
20220918 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 38.7 hours (total game time)
Last Played: 20180413
20221001:
Gameplay Log:
Started new game.
I didn't realize where the Skill Tree upgrade was for a while
Finished saving the Elemental
I'm roughly following stat and skill distribution of a guide for Prismatic Embermage
Fresh Impressions:
Not getting a dash (Frost Phase skill) until level 14 feels weird. Hopefully the game feels better at level 14 but it's been an interesting ramp up.
Comparison to Path of Exile: - I'd have to say that fighting and movement in Path of Exile is generally smoother feeling experience.
- Path of Exile is visually beautiful. With that being said, sometimes Path of Exile has too much is going on screen. Though to be fair, Torchlight II is from 2012
- The level layouts in Torchlight II don't change.
- Path of Exile provides finitely many free stash tabs, but allows the purchase of additional tabs (presumably with no limit); Torchlight II has limited stash size (though one can use mules or a program to act as a mule).
- There is something nice about playing the game as if one were playing Path of Exile Solo-Self Found
Steam Game Time: 40.9 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.2 hours (session game time)
[20221002]
Torchlight II (PC) (2012)
Relevant Links:
Torchlight II Webpage (Runic Games Website)
Torchlight II (Wikipedia.org)
Torchlight II (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Torchlight II (Steam Store Page)
 |
| Embermage attacking General Grell |
20180320, 20180321 AM Hours:
I have previously tried playing Torchlight (back in December 2012), but I didn't enjoy it. For whatever reason, today I was drawn to playing it's sequel, Torchlight II.*
Steam Game Time: 4.6 hours
*Technically, I was first undecided between this game and Angvik, a platformer, I chose Angvik, spent less than an hour playing it, and then came back around to Torchlight II.
20180321:
Today I continued playing and I wanted to respec my character (level 15). Unfortunately, there was no in-game method to respec a character. Fortunately, there was a workaround that didn't involve being flagged as cheating. In any case, I roughly followed this guide: https://www.pcgamer.com/torchlight-2-embermage-build-guide/.
Steam Game Time: 9.4 hours (total game time)
 |
| Stat Points (left) and Equipment (right) |
20180322:
Today I started creating other characters to store my main character's items (via the shared stash). After doing so, I found that to be an impractical solution. Luckily, I soon found a program that provided an infinite stash called Stash Ninja. It was still necessary to drop items into the shared stash, but the program essentially acts as the other character except with an infinite personal stash.
While I initially intended just to use the program for item storage, the program had a copy feature and I started using it to duplicate items which I could transmute. Cheating or not, I was fine with using this to skip a lot of the grind.
When I returned to actually playing the game (as opposed to item management), I completed the Djinni's three tasks (by which time I was level 29 and was able to wear my Zeraphi Alchemy Set).
Steam Game Time: 17.5 hours (total game time); doesn't include the time I had the client close but the game was open.
 |
| The mighty Ezrek Khan |
20180323 AM Hours:
Before going to bed I played a little more. I added socketables to all my sockets with inspiration from this link which suggested using Critical Hit Chance & Critical Hit Damage socketables on weapons and Health & Damage Reduction socketables on Armor. In addition, I decided to also boost Health Regeneration and Mana Regeneration. The result was amazing. I generally stayed topped off on HP, but would run low on mana. As such, I reduced the number of Health socketables and increased the number of Mana Regeneration socketables.
Steam Game Time: 18.8 hours (total game time)
20180323:
Today I progressed through the story some more. As I played, the socketables held up pretty well except in some cases where enemies was able to deal burst damage or apply some form of CC (e.g., silence, stun, or slow). This was later alleviated when I learned the spell Heal III which was essentially a free HP potion.
Steam Game Time: 24.0 hours (total game time)
 |
| Fully suited in Zeraphi Alchemy item set: helm (head), chestpiece (chest), pants (legs), belt (waist), plates (shoulders), gloves (hands), boots (feet), token (necklace), and two signets (rings). |
20180324 AM Hours: Steam Game Time: 24.7 hours (total game time) I squeezed in some game time before going to bed.
20180325: Steam Game Time: 25.2 hours (total game time)
20180328 AM Hours: Steam Game Time: 26.4 hours (total game time) I defeated the Dark Alchemist today.
20180329 AM Hours: Steam Game Time: 28.3 hours (total game time)
20180330 AM Hours: Steam Game Time: 29.5 hours (total game time)
20180330:
Today I started New Game +.
Looking through the achievements, I learned that pets can learn spells. What the heck!?!
 |
| Skills Points |
Steam Game Time: 37.8 hours (total game time).
20180401 AM Hours:
As I returned to this game today, I thought that perhaps it (and several recent games which have preceded) indicate that I've reached a point where I generally desire to play fewer games and put more hours into the few which I play - despite the large library of games which I've accumulated; to be clear, I believe this behavior fluctuates.
While I wanted to play more, I was only able to put in less than an hour of game time because I was sleepy.
Steam Game Time: 38.1 hours (total game time).
20180413 AM Hours:
I should have probably gone to sleep but I got the itch to play. I had actually wanted to play over the last couple of days but I've been too busy.
 |
| Firing prismatic bolt. |
Unfortunately, I got tired and my eyes kept closing shut. At which point, I was going to go to sleep, but I decided to try and make it through one more boss.
Steam Game Time: 38.5 hours (total game time)
Thoughts:
Major Pro:
++ Moddable
Pros:
+ Easy to learn
+ Beautiful environments; well-designed dungeons
Neutral:
~ Cartoonish graphics. I was initially put off by this, but as I played, it didn't really matter.
 |
| Cutscene |
Minor Cons:
- A lot of traveling. Is there a faster way to move from point A to point B?
- Without external tools, certain aspects of the game would require a lot of grinding (e.g., obtaining good items with good stats and sockets)
Con:
- No built-in respec system.
Summary:
It's not often I put a lot of hours into a game, but I put a lot of hours into Torchlight II so that's some indication of how much I enjoyed it.
With that alone, I would recommend this game to fans of action RPGs that also enjoy the art style of this game (as opposed to a more realistic looking action RPG such as Diablo 3). Alternatively, players can consider holding their breath for free-to-play MMORPG Torchlight Frontiers to be released in 2019.
 |
| Pet Equipment |
20220918 Snapshot:
Steam Game Time: 38.7 hours (total game time)
Last Played: 20180413
20221001:
Gameplay Log:
Started new game.
I didn't realize where the Skill Tree upgrade was for a while
Finished saving the Elemental
I'm roughly following stat and skill distribution of a guide for Prismatic Embermage
Fresh Impressions:
Not getting a dash (Frost Phase skill) until level 14 feels weird. Hopefully the game feels better at level 14 but it's been an interesting ramp up.
Comparison to Path of Exile: - I'd have to say that fighting and movement in Path of Exile is generally smoother feeling experience.
- Path of Exile is visually beautiful. With that being said, sometimes Path of Exile has too much is going on screen. Though to be fair, Torchlight II is from 2012
- The level layouts in Torchlight II don't change.
- Path of Exile provides finitely many free stash tabs, but allows the purchase of additional tabs (presumably with no limit); Torchlight II has limited stash size (though one can use mules or a program to act as a mule).
- There is something nice about playing the game as if one were playing Path of Exile Solo-Self Found
Steam Game Time: 40.9 hours (cumulative game time) / 2.2 hours (session game time)
[20221002]
Torchlight II (PC) (2012)
Relevant Links:
Torchlight II Webpage (Runic Games Website)
Torchlight II (Wikipedia.org)
Torchlight II (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Torchlight II (Steam Store Page)
Date/Time
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
@
23:00
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