Torchlight, a game released by the newly formed Runic Games run by the previous executives of Flagship Studios which went out of business in August 2008 due to financial difficulties. Flagship Studios released Hellgate: London which was IMO a plagiarism of Two Moons, an online RPG available for free download. Hellgate: London was a game with extremely repetitive action and little to offer in the modern RPG era. With that said it barely even qualifies as an RPG in that it is entirely linear, involves little character creation and development, and no good/evil character change.
Torchlight is a game, released in 09, that stands on the outdated ground of RPG's past. Point and click is not only a thing of yesterday, but also something that has only been successful in very few games like Diablo and Diablo 2. It offers absolutely no character creation besides for choosing three painfully crafted classes. The Destroyer, a large beastly man with heavy armor, a large sword and a bald head. The Vanquisher, a female with light armor and a gun. Finally, the Spellcrafter, male with a magicians robe. You also get a pet companion which is as pointless as NO CHARACTER CREATION in an RPG of today.
Analysis: Torchlight is a dinosaur in a field dominated by vastly superior games not just in graphics and game play but in character creation and beyond. Modern RPG's should allow to shape the look of your character, his/her class, race, stats etc. Games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Neverwinter Nights 2 are examples of RPG's with infinite character possibilities. Torchlight as an RPG fails epically and tragically. Invest your time and money in one of the above mentioned games or even the not-so-great but slightly fun Hellgate: London. While you're at it, download Two Moons. A fun online RPG with tons to do, tons to buy, tons to kill and tons to learn.
