Unanticipated Joy

Go back in time 3 weeks, track me down and ask me if I plan on picking up Torchlight. I will look at you with the kind of expression you’d expect from a Labrador Retriever that’s just been told a dirty joke.

Today, on the other hand, Torchlight dominates me like a leather clad Amazon.

This game is a prime example of why I can still be passionate about video games. Not just because it is an outstanding Diablo clone that bests more than half the $60 games I played this year at a third of the price, but because it came out of nowhere.

It’s the equivalent of having the video game industry throw a dodgeball at my head and shout “Heads Up!” in that breath of an instant before the plastic cauliflowers my ear — except in an awesome way.

Even though I spend too many hours every week surfing the ever cresting wave of game news, an addict without restraint, games that barely register on the periphery of my consciousness can occasionally break through and knock down my well-tempered cynicism. In the moment of playing a game like Torchlight, untempered by expectation, I am a child again.

This has been a good autumn for that kind of game. Torchlight has been sharing time for the past week with the equally-out-of-left-field Panzer General: Allied Assault. Not only are these not the games I’d have been expecting to play at the end of October, but up until very recently I had no idea they even existed.

Julian’s thoughts on Panzer General may easily be mistaken for my own, and I’d accuse him of plagiarism is such a crime were possible for unspoken opinions. It is a product that can only share my plane of existence through the gateway of overwhelming peer opinion—a card-based, World War II, strategy board game. Are you serious with this?

Dead serious.

And so, I am awash in unanticipated gaming joy. The purest distilled form of such a thing.

This is not my veiled manifesto against hype. I’m not winding my way toward the inevitable beat down of the overwhelming PR machine that feeds my head and populates my fevered dreams. On the contrary, I’ve played hundreds of games where the best part of the experience is the innocent joy of anticipation. Frankly, I love hype.

There’s great joy in circling a day on a calendar, planning subversive ways to credibly sound sick when you call in to work. I love the moment of purchase, when the transaction is made and this thing you have pined for is within your grasp. I even love the part where you buy the game halfway through the work day and then have to wait four more hours til you can rush home, ignore your wife and kids and plug the damn thing in.

The downside, of course, is that sometimes what you’ve got is a Hellgate: London, Too Human or Spore. But, even that is ok, because in the long run I probably got at least part of my money’s worth in the sheer anticipation. I mean, I don’t really spend a dollar on a lottery ticket because I think I’m going to win. I spend the money because for an hour or a day I get to dream of what I will do with my multi-millions of dollars.

If I may paraphrase that sage of wisdom, Alan Thicke: You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life.

You can thank me later for putting that song in your head all day.

But a game like Torchlight is something different entirely. It is the unexpected happiness of a surprise birthday party instead of the desperate longing for just the right birthday gift. It is the blind date that blossoms into a perfect evening as opposed to finally getting up the nerve to hit-it-off with that brunette vixen in Chemistry class. It is turning on the radio just as your favorite song begins instead of buying a long awaited album from your favorite band.

Somehow, the unexpected game is easier to love, because you have so little to expect from it. It isn’t burdened by preconceived notions, and so the warts aren’t so big and the barriers not so challenging. It is a pure love, brief and fiery like the spark of a match.

I know that in the coming year, after Torchlight has lost its burn and Panzer General has become just another game in my XBLA toychest, some new game I’ve never heard of will dominate my thoughts for a while. I can’t wait.

Comments

Well said, Elysium. You do have a way with words. This may be the first use of the word cauliflower in a games review, certainly when used as a verb!
This game is seven shades of awesome. I love it to death, and I am skipping work to prove it.

It's taking every ounce of sheer willpower I have not to buy this game this second. It sounds perfect but between Borderlands, Brutal Legend in the mail, L4D2 and Dragon Age soon, and everything else I have on the go, I just don't have the time.

Remember the whole "Focus on two games max!" Thing from last week? I really, really hate how the game industry does its utmost to make that a near impossibility. It's ridiculous. I am so damn thankful so many games got delayed to Q1 2010 this year.

Its at times like this when Elysium's joyful dilletantism seems like a wise plan, and my own form of enjoyment some kind of self-imposed torture.

Remember the whole "Focus on two games max!"

I do and continue to gleefully ignore it.

Games I am currently playing:
Torchlight
Panzer General
Forza 3
Uncharted 2
WoW
Brutal Legend (sort of)

Fine. Fine! Damn you all. I'll get it when i get home. Happy? I can't be expected to resist the tide. IT"S NOT MY FAULT.

You know what's funny? Out of this whole article the thing I learned was that, Alan Thicke, whom I will always remember as the dad from Growing Pains, was also a music composer who wrote the theme song for The Facts of Life. I figure that's my trivia quota for the day.

I can't remember another time when a low budget title has made me so happy. Even Plants vs Zombie, good as it was for 8-10 hours didn't make me want to play and play and play.

Torchlight is another reason the PC is my main gaming console. Which is much needed in this console driven era.

Also, I seriously think I'll be playing this for a long time to come. Perhaps even after Diablo3 because it fulfills a different niche market even if the gameplay is the same. Its brain dead fun and you can clear a dungeon level in 10mins, although 4 hours sessions are so much better

Markly wrote:

Fine. Fine! Damn you all. I'll get it when i get home. Happy? I can't be expected to resist the tide. IT"S NOT MY FAULT.

I'd suggest that the first step on the way to healing is to admit you have a problem - you sir are a long way from that. Happily, the same is true for the rest of us.

This game is amazing and the nostaliga factor of the music plus the single town setup is wonderful if you ever played Diablo. You are doing yourself a huge disservice if you don't buy it right now.

Until this past year or so, I don't think I appreciated the extent to which digital distribution would change the nature of the games that get released. I find I'm spending much more of my limited gaming money on these $5-$20 games that come out of nowhere, and less and less on $60 mainstream titles. I'm finding my enjoyment-per-dollar has skyrocketed, and I'm playing more games. Good times.

Love the art style, liked hearing them talk it up on Idle Thumbs, and now this. That's 3 strikes against you, paper with picture of Andy Jackson. You're out.

If all goes according to their plan: Monkey Island + Torchlight = Ron Gilbert's Deathspank. That has the potential to come out of nowhere and knock some socks off, too.

Torchlight is pure fun in a box.

I like the article.. except it doesn't actually talk about the game! I still don't know if I would want to try it.

Torchlight
Panzer General
Forza 3
Uncharted 2
WoW
Brutal Legend (sort of)

Incidentally, what kind of jobs do you all have that allow you to buy games willy-nilly like this? US Median income - mortgage - one child = one game every 3 months, if I skimp on things like heat and clothing. Especially since these include multiple platforms...

I like the article.. except it doesn't actually talk about the game! I still don't know if I would want to try it.

It's not about the game.

Incidentally, what kind of jobs do you all have that allow you to buy games willy-nilly like this? US Median income - mortgage - one child = one game every 3 months, if I skimp on things like heat and clothing. Especially since these include multiple platforms...

I'm a copywriter. I'm far from wealthy, maybe a nice solid middle-class. Some months on the lower end of middle, some months better. That's partly because I also do freelance work, not to mention this games writing stuff occasionally has some payments associated with it.

This time of year may be a bit more expensive, but that's offset by the Junes, Aprils or Julys where I get maybe one or two games. I've got kids, so it's not like I'm spending a lot of time going out to eat, going to movies, going on vacation, going out for drinks. A fancy night for me these days is a trip to Chilis with the wife and kids.

Frankly, there are lots of hobbies more expensive than mine that are overwhelmingly common. Golfing. Skiing.

Much as this game looks awesome, and everything about it sounds great, I cannot conceive of playing a single player Diablo clone.

I've never played Diablo I or II or Titan Quest single player, solo dungeon crawling just isn't as enjoyable as busting heads with a friend.

Where's the score?!

Where's the score?!

892 condescending Certis quotes out of a possible infinity

Well, now I have to pick up Torchlight on top of all the other games I'm buying in the next few weeks. That makes you a bad person.

But what makes you a total b*stard is that I do, in fact, have that damn song stuck in my head now. So in retaliation I offer you this:

Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind. Hey Mickey. Hey Mickey.

Everybody's doin' a brand new dance, now! C'mon baby, do the Locomotion!

-- This is a game I will win ---

Elysium wrote:

Everybody's doin' a brand new dance, now! C'mon baby, do the Locomotion!

-- This is a game I will win ---

These games all inevitably end in one place, at the footstep of the opium den of earworms: MacArthur Park.

Might as well get it out of the way. "And I'll never have that recipe agaiiiiin...oh, nooooooooo!"

We must be seeing the same leather clad amazon, because this game is dominating me as well.

It really feels like Diablo 2.5 with a Warcraft 3 inspired art style. The abilities are empowering and well animated. Loot is springing out everywhere. Additional secret dungeons help balance the difficulty. Triggered events and ambushes are everywhere. And yet this game is only $20. If only more of the triple-A franchises had as good execution and bang-for-the-buck as this little upstart.

I know it's an extreme longshot, but I would love to see this game get some recognition at the end of the year "awards" other sites do.

expression you’d expect from a Labrador Retriever that’s just been told a dirty joke.
Torchlight dominates me like a leather clad Amazon.
throw a dodgeball at my head and shout “Heads Up!” in that breath of an instant before the plastic cauliflowers my ear

I may not always agree with your articles, but your use of similes has me always asking for more; especially:

It is turning on the radio just as your favorite song begins instead of buying a long awaited album from your favorite band.

that's a feeling anyone is familiar with, it's instant child-like joy.

Great writing Elysium!

Just last week, I recall seeing the Torchlight thread in the games forum and thinking to myself 'what the hell is this game I've never heard of?' After looking into it a little bit, I discovered that many of the people who worked on Torchlight worked on Diablo I & II. Cool. They had also worked on a little game that I was really interested in but would never get to play: Mythos. Plus, they had Matt Uelmen do the soundtrack, he who composed the fantastic ambient music from the aforementioned Diablo games. In one week, I had gone from not having a clue what this game was to really looking forward to this Tuesday when it was released. And from what I've played so far with my little vanquisher named Darla, it's the most pleasant surprise since Portal and a complete time vampire, which is completely awesome.

Destrin wrote:

Much as this game looks awesome, and everything about it sounds great, I cannot conceive of playing a single player Diablo clone.

I've never played Diablo I or II or Titan Quest single player, solo dungeon crawling just isn't as enjoyable as busting heads with a friend.

I'm glad to see you're comfortable passing judgment without having ever tried something. While I don't think your opinion is wrong, this game would in fact be better with coop, you should at least try the demo and then affirm your bias.

Great article.

[shameless plug] As somebody who's been a fan not just of the Diablo titles but also Travis Baldree's prior action RPG's Fate and Mythos, I've been looking forward to Torchlight for a long time.

If you'd be interested in hearing an interview with a lot of the Torchlight team (to be specific, Runic CEO Max Schaefer, Project Lead Travis Baldree, Art Director Jason Beck, Tech Artist Adam Perin, "Zombie Pyrotechnician" John Dunbar, PR Minister Wonder Russell, and Falcor the Dog), I did one last night for the Immortal Machines podcast right over here. If you're interested in Runic and their game, you might find it good listening. [/shameless plug]

Also, dhaelis is right, the music in Torchlight strums exactly the same brain chords (and sometimes the same literal chords) as the Diablo music - I started looking for Deckard Cain immediately thanks to the town soundtrack.

Ravenlock wrote:

Great article.

[shameless plug] As somebody who's been a fan not just of the Diablo titles but also Travis Baldree's prior action RPG's Fate and Mythos, I've been looking forward to Torchlight for a long time.

If you'd be interested in hearing an interview with a lot of the Torchlight team (to be specific, Runic CEO Max Schaefer, Project Lead Travis Baldree, Art Director Jason Beck, Tech Artist Adam Perin, "Zombie Pyrotechnician" John Dunbar, PR Minister Wonder Russell, and Falcor the Dog), I did one last night for the Immortal Machines podcast right over here. If you're interested in Runic and their game, you might find it good listening. [/shameless plug]

Also, dhaelis is right, the music in Torchlight strums exactly the same brain chords (and sometimes the same literal chords) as the Diablo music - I started looking for Deckard Cain immediately thanks to the town soundtrack. ;)

Ok, you dirty punk, I'll listen.

Elysium wrote:
I like the article.. except it doesn't actually talk about the game! I still don't know if I would want to try it.

It's not about the game.

Thank you for writing about a game (or games) in a way that isn't a review / preview. I know thats how the articles usually are, but I think they are much more interesting than reviews / previews.

I think you did a pretty good job here conveying the topic of the article in the title and first few sentences, but I find it's often hard to know whether I'll be interested in the articles on this site by the title and opening sentences. It seems to be the style of GWJ, but I think it only really works if you have an audience (which you probably do) that has already decided to read the articles. Otherwise, vague titles and a more narrative driven writing approach would seem less likely to catch readers.

Perhaps adding a second title that is more descriptive such as, "How low-profile entertainment provides a sense of surprise lacking from the highly marketed."

Not trying to be mean here, I thought the article was pretty interesting. Thanks.

Destrin wrote:

Much as this game looks awesome, and everything about it sounds great, I cannot conceive of playing a single player Diablo clone.

I've never played Diablo I or II or Titan Quest single player, solo dungeon crawling just isn't as enjoyable as busting heads with a friend.

You have obviously never played an Action RPG then, or don't like the genre. I don't like FPS, war game, and I think guns are boring, so I skip a lot of games like Borderlands, Halo and Call of Duty etc. But I don't disparage them.

We can't all like the same games. But at least acknowledge that it could be a good game (just not for you) and don't make insulting remarks.

You sir are a plebeian.

as opposed to finally getting up the nerve to hit-it-off with that brunette vixen in Chemistry class.

You, sir, are a liar. I took far too many years of chemistry to know that there are "no hotties" who take chemistry.

Good article... just a shame i can't, in good conscience, buy the game. I liked the demo though. I thought it was like WoW crossed with Dungeon Siege. The immediacy of the latter combined with the "tightness" of the former.

This game is great, it contains a few bugs that keep me from buying it. If they fix the bugs (acourding to the site next week a patch) i don't know how long i can hold myself of buying this game. Until then i'm having fun in the free demo on steam...

I'm verry hopefull for the leveltools that come out also and the new mods/missions the community makes for this perfect single player game...

Ok! Wet blanket time for those trying to hold out on buying this game, or need the money for a heart operation or something. If you've ever played Fate, this is pretty much that. Yeah it's polished and prettier, etc. etc.

But if we're all riding this crazy train called Torchlight, with stops in Funsville, Awesometown, Unexpected Junction and Value City, then I'm quietly reading a book in the club car while everyone else seems to be on the roof dancing ecstatically with lots of other attractive people. All because I put 80 hours into Fate already.

Wait. Are you not dissuaded? Why are you opening Steam?