Update: Approximately two hours after writing this blog, I got sick of Torchlight. Oops.

So towards the beginning of January, I bought myself the action-RPG Torchlight on Steam. I'd heard very little about it, but from what I could tell it looked like fun, and I'm definitely not one to turn down a free game. In between working and socializing and preparing for a trip overseas, I started to get into it.

It lacked the sort of character customization that usually pulls me into a game (in Torchlight you've gotta be a male alchemist, female vanquisher, or male destroyer), but almost immediately made up for it with its charming appearance and soundtrack. Seriously, the graphics in this game are beautiful, the art style is fantastic, and the music for the different levels is just...awesome. So awesome, in fact, that I ran out of adjectives.



The main story and the FedEx-reminiscent quests leave a bit to be desired in the way that I don't really feel as if they have an impact on the game. I've ignored the narrative in the main quest for the most part, because it's honestly pretty boring. The real draw of the game for me has been getting through the levels and fucking shit up with my alchemist's AoE spells and small army of summons.



Still, you'd think that would get old pretty quickly. Dungeon after dungeon, collecting loot and completing the same quests over and over. Besides, I could be playing Left 4 Dead 2, Mass Effect or even finishing Metal Gear Solid 3. Surely, there are more dynamic and interesting games I could be playing. Right?

And yet, like so many morbidly obese Boomers to a birthday cake made of Survivor entrails, I find myself drawn to Torchlight above all the other games at my disposal. Am I just being lazy? After all, other games require the hooking up of consoles or in some cases, actual strategy. Is it that the game's just really easy and makes me feel like a little bit of a BAMF? Other than the occasional oh shit oh shit oh shit oh-shit-I'm-going-to-die or the Enchanter disenchanting my favorite weapon, it's a pretty relaxing game and doesn't require much thought.



I'm really starting to ramble past my objective here. The point is, Torchlight, while somewhat of an updated Diablo with a twist, is a fun and potentially addictive dungeon-crawler type of game. I'm a pretty casual gamer as of late, and I've racked up 11.2 hours on it in the past couple of days. I've really been meaning to play a few other games, but for whatever reason I just cannot tear myself away from this one. No, not even for Big Boss.

So give it a try.