Torchlight Preview

After taking Runic Games’ Torchlight for a spin during the Penny Arcade Expo, Joystiq has taken a moment to share their impressions with us.

After starting out, you enter dungeons near the town of Torchlight, and quickly pick up different quests. I was set off in search of someone who had wandered into the dungeons, and battled my way through to find them. Left-click to melee or blast a spell, right-click to do the same with another skill, tab between skills, push button #1 for a health potion, and so on. Gather loot, gold, open chests, and explore the dungeon. Like I said, it’s familiar.

But, what makes it so much fun is the whimsical design. The cartoon style really doesn’t seem like an art direction you’d choose for a hack and slash RPG, but the entire world has a fantastic look and feel. At one point my Alchemist went to open a chest, and it tried to bite him. It then sprouted legs and ran around before I finally took it out with a spell. Apparently those are called “Mimics” and will be throughout the game. There are a lot of nifty things like that sprinkled around.

I like mimics. And doppelgangers.