Scratch Your Dungeon-Crawler Itch With a Free Copy of Torchlight

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

I was this close to posting another article about how amazing Animal Crossing: New Leaf is, but there's been some breaking news of vital importance that I absolutely must share instead. No, I'm not talking about Microsoft's abrupt 180 in regards to some of their most controversial Xbox One policies (but you can read about that here). I'm talking about Torchlight, beloved dual-platform dungeon-crawler, being absolutely free on GOG until noon tomorrow. (Correction: Until 1am, sorry folks.) Knowing how many of our regular readers love a good old-school crawl, I had to put this at the top of my schedule.

But wait, hasn't Torchlight 2 been out since last fall? Why play the first game when you could just get the second? Well I've got a few pretty compelling reasons for you.

 

You should get it because it's free, obviously. And, unlike Torchlight 2, the original is currently available for both Mac and PC.

There's more to it than that of course. Torchlight is one of those games that I only got my hands on long after it would have been a relevant subject to write about, and that's always sort of bummed me out. The game is like a much more lighthearted take on Diablo-style dungeon-crawling and loot hoarding, along with a pet system that allows you to sell excess items at any time without losing any progress in the current dungeon simply by sending your pet to town while you carry on adventuring. The equipment is colourful and often campy, and can be modified with slotted enhancements to give you an extra edge.

Oh, and there's fishing. Who doesn't love fishing?!

As much as I've enjoyed playing it, I have two pet peeves with Torchlight. First, the game has gender-locked classes, so if you want to play as a woman then you're effectively stuck in a ranged DPS role. You can use other class weapons, but they'll be way less effective than your own. Second, unlike Torchlight 2, the original Torchlight has no multiplayer, and dungeon-crawls are almost always way more fun when you're mowing through them with a full crew of friends.

All that said, there's still a place in my heart for Torchlight, and even my mom had a pretty good time with the copy I gave her last year. If you're tired of replaying Diablo III content but still craving a good crawl, I'd absolutely encourage you to try Torchlight (that is, if you haven't already). It's not perfect, but who can argue with that price? Snap it up here while you can, and be sure to browse the other summer sale deals on GOG including Don't Starve, easily one of my favorite games from the past few months.

(Hat tip to Bone Mosten for pointing this awesome deal out)

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Iris Ophelia (@bleatingheart, Janine Hawkins IRL) has been featured in the New York Times and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan and with pop culture/fashion maven Johanna Blakley.

Comments

[Cicadetta]

How'd you know I was itchy? Seriously, thank you for this. Downloading Torchlight. And Tyrian. Not a dungeon-crawler, but an old favorite. Apparently it's automatically included in new account libraries. That, right there, is a win.

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

So it's a Steampunk-ish Fate? Why the heck didn't this thing get ported to the PS3?

Also GOG doesn't have the Linux native version, which was in one of the Humble Bundles, only Windows/OSX. The Win version seems to work OK in WINE.

[Ajax Manatiso]

Way before noon, 8AM CST, and it is asking for $7.49