Torchlight III

I have to say I don't understand all the negative reviews of this game, all the complaints that it's not as good / not the same / some kind of betrayal of TL2 / TL1. I put over 100 hours into TL2, but AFAIAC this is a considerably better game in most respects. The graphics are better, the combat is more tactical and tighter, there is more variation in enemies and hazards. It is faithful to Torchlight lore, style and spirit, while the major additions to mechanics such as base building, apparel skinning and the new Railmaster PC class are well done. The game is maybe a bit more linear than TL2, but the voice acting and story content make somewhat more sense and are a little easier to follow (these are not strong points of the franchise in general). Levelling and progression are enhanced and very well balanced. I haven't noticed any significant bugs. There is plenty of scope for replay, plenty of room for build customisation and play style variations. All in all, I think TL3 is a definite improvement on the earlier games. It's engrossing, charming and fun. It's a pleasant way to burn a few hours. I'm happy to recommend it on its own merits.

✅ Graphics are a huge upgrade over previous games ✅ Controller support ✅ Several classes to play with ✅ Legendary skills can be equipped even when not equipping the said gear (this was pretty neat) ❌ Gold is extremely difficult to build up. The game gives you almost the same amount of gold at level 1 as it does at level 50, which makes progression feel flat and nonsensical. Also selling item gives you the same amount of gold no matter how high the equipment level is ❌ Respecting is insanely expensive ❌ Resistance system in this game is extremely bizarre and nonsensical. It's hard to explain but it's extremely horrendous ❌ Shops sells useless equipment ❌ The amount of EXP needed to level up does not change until level 40+. Seems like a very lazy design ❌ When using controller, you can't properly navigate settings or exit the game ❌ No story/lore subtitles ❌ Inventory system is very limited ❌ Can't sort inventory in stash ❌ Can't see pet stats ❌ Fort was pretty much a pointless system in this game. I really hated the decoration and harvesting system, ARPGs mainly focuses on gameplay why would I waste time to decorate in this game ❌ Shrines were not very useful ❌ Zed's (the robot class) cyclone skill has a huge bug, breaking boxes with it gives you insane amount of gold and items. Although it sounds good for this game, the drop animation takes forever and tanks your FPS eventually so you can't really use it to play it ❌ Maps gets reset and randomized which can get really annoying ❌ Skill system is very inferior compared to previous games ❌ No loot filter ❌ There's too many lazy and rushed design in this game

How To Ruin a Franchise 101

I'll put it to you quite simple. Big Time Torchlight 1 & 2 fan. Played both in just about every way you possibly could. I got Torchlight 3 on sale for $5.00 I still feel ripped off.

This is quite the disappointment. Torchlight I & II are two of my most favourite games, with 250+ hrs of combined gameplay since 2013, I was so thrilled to hear they were releasing a Part III, but oh was I wrong! The game itself is very beautifully designed when it comes to mere graphics, but it's ruined by the broken game mechanics, the endless bugs and glitches with no bugfixes since 2022, and the level design that lacks any sense of differentiation, you can never tell where you are or you're heading. There's no sense of progression or achievement, the story itself is very poorly written, the characters are pretentious and hollow, the voice acting is cringy at best, and the jokes are barely fit for a 3 yo. I considered reporting the bugs at first, but there is way too many it would become a full time job; with several major updates since release we're still talking mouse and keyboard commands failing to register, causing you to unnecessarily die way too often, screen jitters especially when characters "get stuck" behind a wall or in a corner, structures getting highlighted as "destructible" then magically unhighlighted, 3D objects in the UI flickering and shaking, pets missing when you move between levels, shops showing with glitched products and unbuyable weapons, and the list goes on. I tried to give this game several chances since I first bought it, and after about 15 hours of gameplay I still can't really recommend it to anyone. It has departed too far from the Torchlight origins in matters of story, writing, gameplay, and skill and progressions systems, with the quests feeling empty and almost pointless, and the inventory management becoming a burden to deal with with too many minute details that make the gameplay exhausting rather than enriching it, and let's not forget removing the pet's stats, inventory, skills, and controls, and replacing it all with vague generic "skills" that are no longer unique to any pet. TL;DR: If you're an old fan of Torchlight's story and game mechanics, this game got none of it, it's hollow with no personality whatsoever, and lacks all what made Torchlight a great game. If this is your first Torchlight game, it's too buggy, bloated, and offers less features and immersion than the first two.

Crummy half-baked excuse for a Torchlight game. Protip devs: If you know you aren't up to the task, TURN IT DOWN. Don't release crappy games because you're desperate for cash. Abslutely pathetic excuse for a game and a waste of space.

It's looks great. The combat is top notch. The classes are fantastic and distinct. The story is decent. You get your own home fort you can customize to your heart's content! Then it turns out there are only 3 short acts. But sure it isn't too bad, since there is a New Game + and so on? NO. There isn't. Let me repeat: THERE IS NO CORE GAMEPLAY MECHANIC THAT MADE THE EARLIER TORCHLIGHTS REPLAYABLE FOR YEARS. You end the campaign and all you get is some NPC that gives you a lame version of a map room from Torchlight 2. It's not even that it's a bad, boring game. No, it had everything to be as good as Torchlight 2 and even better. But it's like they completed the 1/3 of the game and said: fk it, let's release it. It's depressing how they wasted something that good.

This is my first review. I am taking the time to write this to say I can not recommend this game. I would not buy it, because I can't play it, even in single player mode. I'm getting this error when launching Torchlight 3 via Steam: "Unable to log into the platform. Please make sure you are running through the correct launcher." After clicking OK, the game closes. I did some web searching. It seems the game has been abandoned a few years ago and I’m afraid they might have also shut down the servers or don’t care at all. This is from their forums a long time ago: “No Platform Available” error message or other issues involving login. https://torchlight3.nolt.io/1900 This bug indicates the player is unable to properly connect to the platform (Steam). This appears to sometimes resolve itself after resetting Steam. This appears to happen when a firewall, anti-virus, torrenter, or other 3rd party software is blocking access. This appears to happen if your internet service provider is blocking the game/Steam. This appears to happen when you open from the .exe file and not from the Steam Library. This appears to happen if you are not connected (or Steam believes you are not connected) to Steam properly. This appears to happen to users who used to be able to play via Steam Proton. This appears to potentially happen if your clock is not properly set. This appears to happen sometimes to other Windows users who are not related to any of the above. Current debugging ongoing. If you are able to plug in a controller and see better results or/and have reviewed the issues above and are still unable to play, please send us your logs (see above). A similar error occurs if your game is set as an Administrator. Remove this from your game’s settings to play.” I've tried to troubleshoot the problem given the above, but to no avail. I was too late tor return the game. Now it just sits in my inventory. Waste of money. BOOOOO!