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Menus that used to fit comfortably in one screen are now split into multiple pages, with different additional info you can toggle on or off. Torchlight II could have desperately used something like that. Diablo III went with a similar approach, but augmented it with a quick access menu on the main screen that kept you in the action more often. The radial item menu is nice in theory, but it takes a few too many button presses to do everything, and it’s frustrating that your pet’s inventory and your own overlap in the same visual space, separated only by a small icon in the corner of each item. It’s almost over-engineered, with heaps of full-screen menus, a plethora of hotkey options, and a jumbled look that’s a little too much on a TV and positively cluttered on a Switch screen. The main new thing in this console version is the user interface, which has been totally reworked compared to the PC original. It features a large collection of overworld areas and dungeons, randomzied level layouts, and a linear quest line that you can tackle alone or with up to three friends.assuming you don’t suffer from multiplayer disconnects.
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Initially planned to be a massive MMO, just like the recently-canceled Torchlight Frontiers, it morphed in development into the safest possible sequel to the original Torchlight. Torchlight II is a sprawling, cartoony, loot-driven action RPG originally developed by the now-defunct Runic games. Some of these issues are fixed up now, but this is still not quite a polished game, and I’m not sure if it’ll ever get there. And the classic “stuck in the geometry” bug that was also prominent in the original was still present. It launched late last year…and although it wasn’t as much of an initial mess as Titan Quest, it still had a number of issues. Now, thanks to the developers at Panic Button, the sequel is finally available on the PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch for 20 bucks. Although the original Torchlight got an excellent console port to the Xbox 360 years ago, Torchlight II was left to sit on a shelf. If you’re that s pecific person, and you somehow never played 2012’s Torchlight II, then your ship has finally come in. Maybe you’re tired of Path of Exile, you’re too impatient to wait for Grim Dawn’s indefinitely delayed console release, and you have long since given up on the many unfulfilled promises that fixes are on the way for Titan Quest’s absurdly broken console versions. Or, you’ve turned your back on Blizzard after their recent controversies and you don’t want to play Diablo III. Perhaps you’re like me, and you’ve grown increasingly frustrated at the long production cycle of whatever the new Torchlight game is.
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