Torchlight is an action role-playing game where players fight monsters in dungeons. It was created by Runic Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment. The game was first released for Windows in October 2009. Set in a fictional town called Torchlight and nearby caves, players explore to find treasure and battle enemies. After the 2009 release, a physical copy was sold in the U.S. in January 2010 by Encore, Inc. A physical version was also released in Europe by JoWooD Entertainment in April 2010. A version for OS X was made by World Domination Industries and released through Steam on May 12, 2010. A version for Xbox Live Arcade was developed by Runic Games and World Domination Industries and released on March 9, 2011. A Linux version was included in the Humble Indie Bundle 6.

The game was led by Travis Baldree, who designed Fate. He worked with Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, who co-designed Diablo and Diablo II, and the team that worked on Mythos. In September 2012, Runic Games released a sequel called Torchlight II for Windows. In 2018, the planned MMORPG version was announced as Torchlight III.

Gameplay

The player controls a single hero who explores randomly created dungeons. In these dungeons, the hero fights many enemies, collects equipment, gold, and other items. The game includes a town that acts as a central area. The player can return to this town to buy and sell items with non-player characters (NPCs) and receive quests. As the hero explores the dungeon, they complete quests that involve fighting special bosses, which help move the main story forward. Players can also choose to complete side quests, random quests, or explore different parts of the dungeon. The game uses three-dimensional graphics viewed from an overhead angle, similar to the style in the original Diablo game. On computers, the game is played with a mouse and keyboard, while the Xbox Live Arcade version uses a controller and has a different interface.

Each level of the dungeon is made by combining pre-designed sections called "chunks." These sections are created by hand and may include multiple rooms. They can have planned events and objects like levers that open secret doors or move bridges. This method helps create dungeons with intentional designs instead of just looking like puzzles stacked vertically.

Like in the game Fate, the player has a permanent pet that fights alongside them and can carry and sell items. The starting pet can be a wolf dog, a lynx, or a ferret in the retail version. Players can feed fish to their pet to change it into other creatures.

The game also includes a retirement system. Players can pass down an heirloom item from an old character to a new one, similar to a feature called New Game Plus.

Torchlight has three character classes:

• The Destroyer is a warrior who fights up close but can also summon spirits to create magical effects.
• The Alchemist is a spellcaster who uses magic and electricity from a special glove. They can also summon imps and steampunk-style robots.
• The Vanquisher is a city guard who investigates the town of Torchlight. She uses ranged weapons and can set traps for enemies.

Players improve their character by spending points in class-specific skill trees. There is also a separate set of spells that any character can learn from scrolls, regardless of their class.

Plot

In the fantasy world of Torchlight, a mysterious ore called Ember exists. This ore has the ability to give people and objects magical powers. The town of Torchlight, a mining boomtown, is built above a large deposit of Ember. Many adventurers come to the town to find the ore and the magical items made from it. However, as the player explores the underground dungeons beneath Torchlight, they learn that Ember has a harmful effect. This effect caused the downfall of ancient civilizations and now threatens those who use it today.

The player arrives in Torchlight and is recruited by Syl, a wise person searching for her mentor, Master Alric, an alchemist who has gone missing in the nearby mine. Deep within the mine tunnels, the player discovers a passage leading to older, crypt-like chambers below. These chambers reveal that the dungeon is made up of stacked layers of ruined civilizations. Master Alric appears and explains that he has become evil because of Ember’s corrupting influence. After fighting through monsters and enemies to reach the dungeon’s deepest level, the player must confront Alric and a powerful ancient creature named Ordrak, who is the source of Ember’s corruption.

Development

Pre-production for the game Torchlight began in August 2008, shortly after Flagship Studios closed down. Runic Games was created by Travis Baldree, who was the lead developer for Fate and Mythos, along with experienced members from Blizzard North and Flagship, including Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and Peter Hu. All 14 members of the Flagship Seattle team, who had worked on the original Mythos, joined Runic Games when it was formed. After losing the rights to Mythos, the Runic team wanted to create a new game to complete their previous work, even though they had to start from scratch without using any code or art from Mythos. Their main goal was to develop a large online role-playing game similar to Mythos or Diablo. However, before working on the online game, the team decided to make a smaller game first. This single-player game was meant to introduce the Torchlight world to players before the online game and allowed the team to release a finished game sooner. Full development of Torchlight started in November 2008, and the project took about 11 months to complete. By July 2009, 25 people were working at Runic Games.

In an article on Gamasutra, art director Jason Beck said the game’s art style was inspired by comic books and classic animated films. The developers described the game’s look as similar to "Dragon’s Lair meets The Incredibles." The team chose a lighter fantasy style for the game world to make it more welcoming instead of using a dark and gritty design.

The game uses a free 3D graphics engine called OGRE and a user interface system called CEGUI. Most of the game engine was built by Runic Games. The game was designed to run on many types of computers, including devices called "netbooks," and does not require special graphics features called shaders.

Matt Uelmen, who composed and designed sound for Diablo, joined Runic Games. He created music and sound for Torchlight based on the game’s pacing and events, even in early versions. For the town theme in Torchlight, he used some sounds similar to his "Tristram" theme from Diablo but gave it a different sound. He recorded over 200 live guitar takes using a twelve-string guitar and other instruments. For other parts of the score, he used a pedal steel guitar, which he played in a way different from how it is usually used in country music.

The developers worked with veteran voice actress Lani Minella to cast actors for the game.

In August 2010, Runic Games’ CEO, Max Schaefer, said the game was being made for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, with a planned release by the end of the year. In January 2011, the company announced that Torchlight would be released on Xbox Live Arcade in early 2011, but the PlayStation 3 version was no longer planned. Because Microsoft is publishing the Xbox version, the game will likely be exclusive to the Xbox 360 on consoles.

The Xbox 360 version was developed with help from World Domination Industries. Runic Games became more involved in the console version in mid-2010 when changes were needed to make the controls and interface work with console-style controllers. The player character is now controlled directly by the controller without using virtual cursors. The console version includes new content, such as extra armor sets and a new pet, and uses technology from Torchlight II, including improved character animations and a better map system.

The PC version of Torchlight allows players to make changes to the game, called "modding." Runic Games released free tools they used to create the game, called "TorchED." This tool is easy to use and lets players switch between editing game levels and playing them without leaving the editor. Players can change details like character stats, language translations, particle effects, and even game events and balance settings. The game uses open file formats, making it easier for players to add models and animations.

Reception

Torchlight received positive reviews. The PC version has an 83 out of 100 score on Metacritic, and the Xbox 360 version has an 81 out of 100 score.

Anna Marie Neufeld from RPGamer praised Torchlight’s "excellent music and good art style" and its exciting combat, but she said the story was not very detailed. John Walker from Rock, Paper, Shotgun called the gameplay a focused and fun improvement of the dungeon crawl style, though he said the story and quests were very thin. Adam Biessener from Game Informer noted that the game had responsive controls, attractive animations, and creative enemy designs that made it stand out among action RPGs. Brett Todd from GameSpot said the game’s pace was engaging, with many types of monsters and loot, but he mentioned the lack of multiplayer as a downside. Some reviewers also said the game’s low price was a positive feature. Two reviewers from the Australian show Good Game gave the game scores of 7/10 and 8.5/10.

Many reviewers compared Torchlight to the Diablo series. Some said it was the best Diablo-like game since Diablo II and called it "the best Diablo clone in years." Adam Biessener from Game Informer said, "the soul of Diablo hasn’t been so ably captured in years," and John Funk from The Escapist wrote, "Torchlight absolutely nails the formula that made Diablo so addictive." RPGamer said Torchlight "manages to overcome the Diablo expectations by being a game that can stand on its own merits." Satchmo from the blog Press X to Continue gave the game a 9/10 score, saying, "It is a fine entry into a genre that doesn’t have much representation on the Xbox."

In July 2011, Torchlight sales reached more than 1 million copies. As of 2015, the game had sold nearly 2 million copies. Torchlight won the Best Debut Game Award at the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards.

Sequels

On August 4, 2010, Runic Games announced Torchlight II, a follow-up to the original game. It included cooperative multiplayer mode, new character options, an "overworld" with several outdoor areas, and a redesigned user interface. The developers first expected the game to release in 2011, but it was finally released in 2012.

Runic Games originally planned to create an MMORPG set in the Torchlight world right after the first game’s release. They partnered with Perfect World Co., Ltd., a Chinese company, to publish the MMORPG globally. After the first game was released, Runic decided to make a sequel with cooperative multiplayer features instead, putting the MMORPG plan on hold. On September 20, 2012, the developers announced they would no longer develop an MMORPG in the Torchlight universe.

Although Runic Games was shut down by Perfect World in 2017, Perfect World retained the rights to the Torchlight intellectual property. In mid-2018, Perfect World announced Torchlight Frontiers, a shared world game created by Echtra Games, a studio within Perfect World founded by Max Schaefer, a former Runic Games employee. The game was renamed Torchlight III in January 2020 and released later that year on Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.