Torchlight III: Back to the roots

It is not fundamentally wrong if developers want to change a known game series. But sometimes when you announce it you can feel that it doesn't fit. That's how I felt at Torchlight Frontiers. In contrast to the two predecessors, the third part should not be a classic action role-playing game, but an MMORPG.

After hearing the buzz words MMO and free-to-play, I felt bad. As a fan of the two predecessors, I was more in the mood for a similar third part. On the other hand, a free online RPG loaded with microtransactions seemed very risky to me. Because Echtra Games had already proven that accessible and motivating action role-playing games are exactly their thing. Crossing dungeons, flattening monsters, completing quests and collecting loot was a lot of fun alone and even more with a friend.

At the beginning of 2019, Torchlight Frontiers started as part of a closed alpha phase. Players were able to try out the new concept and provide feedback. In November 2019, there was a sudden announcement that Torchlight Frontiers was postponed to 2020. The why came only in January of this year: The MMO topic is done, instead one returns to the classic gaming experience. To underline this, Torchlight Frontiers is now called Torchlight III.

"During development, you often only discover what kind of game you want to develop, and we have recognized that Torchlight Frontiers should be a true successor to Torchlight I & II." That's how Max Schaefer, CEO of Echtra Games, justified the rethink , The feedback from the alpha testers may have been even more important, because according to Schaefer they also wanted a continuation in the style of the first two parts. Obviously, many other people thought like me.

I was able to play Torchlight III for the first time in the past few days as part of the revised Alpha version. This no longer runs via Arc Games, the gaming platform from Perfect World, but has moved to Steam. Anyone who has already played on Arc will receive a Steam code.

From alphas and alpacas

There are four classes to choose from in character creation: the Twilight Mage casts powerful spells, the robo-smith unleashes explosive attacks and the rail fighter wields a mighty hammer. The sniper, on the other hand, prefers to attack from a distance with a rifle, pistol or bow and arrow. I choose the latter because I already liked the long-range combat in the predecessors.

But my animal companion is much more important. Panther, owl, badger or dog are cute, no question. But as with Torchlight II, it just has to be the alpaca! Why? Because I like alpacas. And because the alpaca in the Torchlight universe gives every opponent massive head nuts. In addition, the fortified animal serves as a store for excess items and can be sent to the city again to sell them. The gold earned is the only currency because all microtransactions have been removed from the game.

Just one more quest, then it's over!

After a few minutes the game principle grabs me again because everything works so wonderfully uncomplicated. The first enemies are shot from the blunderbuss from a safe distance. Melee weapons such as swords, hammers or axes quickly fall out. However, I painfully miss the predecessor's option to use two different one-handed weapons. Hopefully this will still be integrated, because it makes the fights much more flexible thanks to various combination options.

However, it also makes sense to use bows and rifles, because that's what my class is designed for. Accordingly, I favor skills with which my sniper can hand out from a safe distance. A wide array of arrows, an explosive projectile for surface damage or a targeted shot that knocks enemies away are the perfect tools. However, I don't currently have a particularly large selection of skills – there may still be growth.

An innovation is the possibility to build your own fort. The company's own warehouse can be expanded with various facilities. This allows me to make certain items, switch between my companion animals, or use magic to improve my equipment. Construction is carried out with materials collected on the way. I can later travel to the fort from the game world at any time.

Torchlight III – Join The First Expedition Trailer

Torchlight Frontiers was quickly renamed Torchlight III and now follows the classic business model and structure of the franchise.

Despite the understandable limitations of the Alpha version, I quickly realize that I should only play Torchlight III when I have no more plans. Constantly new loot makes my character better, with level increases I increase my values and every few levels additional skills and special attacks are unlocked. This adds variety to the fighting because I can experiment with different combinations of weapons and magic. In addition, the game gives me the wonderful feeling of constantly getting a little stronger. Soon I'll be plowing the undead, ghosts, goblins and the first bosses from the scene.

Torchlight III is pretty good to play. Only technically does the Alpha make a mixed impression. Stutters, clipping or stuck opponents bother me little – something like that is normal at the stage of development. Stupid, however, is the fiddly and unreliable navigation through the menus, which works neither with the mouse pointer nor with the controller. From time to time, target acquisition was also interrupted. Once my main mission of quest log and map suddenly disappeared. It is just an early version of the game, which developer Echtra Games is constantly adding updates to. Therefore, there is no specific publication date, but only summer 2020 as a rough period.