Torchlight - Reception

Reception

Torchlight received positive reviews; the PC release currently holds a score of 83 out of 100 on Metacritic and 84.97% on GameRankings while the Xbox 360 release holds a score of 81 out of 100 on Metacritic and 83.32% on GameRankings.

Writing for RPGamer, staff reviewer Anna Marie Neufeld praised Torchlight's "phenomenal music and great art direction" as well as its addictive combat but criticized the game's storyline as shallow. Rock, Paper, Shotgun reviewer John Walker found the core gameplay to be a highly focused and engaging refinement of the dungeon crawl genre, albeit one with a "tissue-thin" story and quests. In his review in Game Informer, Adam Biessener listed responsive controls, attractive animations and effects, and clever enemy designs as some qualities that set Torchlight above most other action RPGs. GameSpot's Brett Todd found the game's pace engaging, noting a deep variety of monsters and loot, but found the lack of multiplayer to be an omission. Several reviewers cited the game's low price as a positive point. The Australian video game talk show Good Game's two reviewers gave the game a 7/10 and 8.5/10.

Many reviewers compared the game to the Diablo series, some describing it as the best Diablo-like game since Diablo II and "the best Diablo clone in years." Adam Biessener of Game Informer stated that "the soul of Diablo hasn't been so ably captured in years," and The Escapist's John Funk wrote "Torchlight absolutely nails the formula that made Diablo so addictive." RPGamer stated that Torchlight "manages to overcome the Diablo expectations by being a game that can stand on its own merits." Satchmo on the blog PX2C gave an overall score of 9/10 saying that "It is a fine entry into a genre that doesn't have much representation on the Xbox".

Torchlight won the Best Debut Game Award at the 2010 Game Developers Choice Awards.

In July 2011, Torchlight sales surpassed 1 million copies.