I've been playing a lot of Torchlight 2 recently, which always has its dangers. For one thing, these ARPGs are so moreish that you can sort of chug through them forever while the rest of the world withers around you. But there's another danger, too. If I play any ARPG for too long in one go I start to think purely in terms of the trade-offs. It's sort of RPG thermodynamics, I guess. I cease to see health potions as little bottles of liquid that will help me out on my heroic journey. I start to t...

Past Perfect is a retrospective column in which we look back into gaming history to see whether old favourites are still worth playing today. The Confusion I feel like I’m having a sort of ARPG existential crisis. With Diablo III continuing to be so popular, the same game finding a new audience and fresh buzz seven years on with its Switch release last year, I wondered if Torchlight II could do the same. A wondering that probably reveals a damning lot, since Torchlight II was actually re...

Five of the Best is a weekly series about the bits of games we overlook, those poor old things. I'm talking about crowds, potions, mountains, hands - things we barely notice at the time but can recall years later because they're so important to the overall memory of the game. Now is the time to celebrate them - you and me both! I will share my memories but I'm just as eager to hear yours, so please share them in the comments below. We've had some great discussions in our other Five of the Best p...

For me, the thing about a game like Torchlight 2 is that when I'm playing it I'm never entirely paying attention. Or rather I'm never giving it my entire attention. This is not a slight. If anything, I love the effect this has, because it means that when I replay it after a long absence, phrases return to me like fragments of some dream I can only half remember. The Temple Steppes. The Path of the Honored Dead. These things, I can just about get the tips of my fingers on them when I root through...

Announced two weeks ago, we’re finally getting our first peek at how co-op action RPG Torchlight Frontiers looks in motion. While there’s still some big talk about the game being a “shared world” that new developers Echtra Games have yet to explain, the new trailer looks enough like Torchlight 2 to me, which is all I’m looking for in a sequel like this. Take a peek at its new classes and environments in the trailer below, although sadly accompanied by music that sou...