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

I am on self-restriction from Diablo-like games or I would try and become addicted to this. Great article, though!

I remember a time when most of my video game experiences were serendipitous and unanticipated -- playing Metal Gear Solid for the first time without knowing anything about it? Felt like discovering the Americas!

I remember a time when most of my video game experiences were serendipitous and unanticipated -- playing Metal Gear Solid for the first time without knowing anything about it? Felt like discovering the Americas!

Grobstein, that was my experience exactly. I'd been out of console gaming for a while, just got a PS1 as a gift, and saw a friend of mine playing MGS. Mind blown.

Everyone's saying the right things about this game (Torchlight). Really, really looking forward to it.

I FAILED...

Just got 15 euro's billed from my VISA...

The game is sooo good despise the bugs...

I've noticed a correlation between the number of podcasts Sean's had to miss recently, and the number of excellent articles we get from him. It's like he listens to the podcast, and gets so worked up over not being able to contribute that he rushes off to the word processor and relieves himself electronically.

Kudos! =)

Elysium wrote:
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)

Mwahahaha!

I'm the same way. I love bouncing between whatever's fun for me at the current time. My own list:

Torchlight
Borderlands
Forza 3
Mass Effect (yes, I actually plan to play through it this time, and I'm quite well along already!)
Call of Duty 4 - mostly multiplayer

Berend_Jan wrote:

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...

I haven't hit any of the bugs except for longer than should be load times (I just read the list in the forums, btw). The launch of the game has been pretty stellar and while there are obviously some issues (as there always are), I wouldn't use bugs as the excuse to wait. I'm just looking out for you because surely you're going to be playing Dragon Age next week. Right?

892 condescending Certis quotes out of a possible infinity

YOINK!

PandaEskimo wrote:

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.

This.

I pre-ordered Torchlight on Steam the day before release, but right now Borderlands is taking up my gaming time. Maybe I'll fire it up this weekend, but since so many people are saying how addictive it is, I'm afraid it'll be hard to keep playing Borderlands if I do, and I'm nowhere near ready to quit that yet.

Excellent piece. We're sharing a brain I see.

Oh and ..

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

MMM.... Nancy Mckeon. She was total nerdbait when I was 13. Not that I would EVER have admitted watching that show until I had kids of my own, honestly, but something about her geeky little badgirl thing.

I need a shower now.

rabbit wrote:

Excellent piece. We're sharing a brain I see.

Oh and ..

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

MMM.... Nancy Mckeon. She was total nerdbait when I was 13. Not that I would EVER have admitted watching that show until I had kids of my own, honestly, but something about her geeky little badgirl thing.

I need a shower now.

I can kind of see it, except for the whole "looks like a dude" thing.

Montalban wrote:

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.

Yeah, this is true. The first thing I asked Travis Baldree in our interview was basically "Hey, does it bother you that nobody seems to know that the real predecessor to Torchlight is Fate, not Diablo?" (Though obviously Fate was heavily influenced by Diablo)

He laughed it off, but I have to assume it bothers him a little that either everyone in the gaming press seems to have either forgotten his game or just never knew about it in the first place.

I just bought this and it's crashed five times with 'Torchlight.exe encountered a problem'.

Guess how many times I've tried to play the game? Five.

Played the Torchlight demo last night, bought it for a steal and now I've spent almost 8 hours on it barely pausing to get some dinner with the misses. The pacing is amazing, the music is even better and each of the three classes are capable of being played in at least two ways each. This is for me one of the best games this year. And to think I actually have Borderlands installed... just sitting there waiting for some TLC. Sorry, Gearbox...

1Dgaf wrote:

I just bought this and it's crashed five times with 'Torchlight.exe encountered a problem'.

Guess how many times I've tried to play the game? Five.

http://forums.runicgames.com/viewtop...

It seems like the best way to maker sure people that play your game actually enjoy your game is to avoid hype. Which makes sense I suppose.

To paraphrase the words of the forever 6 year old boy Calvin:

"The secret to good buzz about your game is to lower everyone's expectations to the point they're already met."

Mass killings, lots of loot, mindless wandering...what is not to love.

I haven't put it down since I got it two days ago.

I'm going to give Torchlight another of my one word reviews:

Charm.

Now excuse me, I need to get back to playing it.

What can I say?

I walked in the door, and I felt at home.

interstate78 wrote:

I'm having a BIG problem these past few weeks-- I started playing Zinga games on Facebook. To the uninitiated, they are high maintenance Tycoonish games that you play with friends in a passivd way but Ive found myself WAY too often playing that when I should be playing the brand spanking new games I've recently got. I got Borderlands and Torchlight and havent plAyed them yet. Halp!!!

Simple, netbook or laptop with Facebook open and the desktop with the other games.

No need to thank me, just gift me Torchlight and we're good.

*fist bump*

interstate78 wrote:

I'm having a BIG problem these past few weeks-- I started playing Zinga games on Facebook. To the uninitiated, they are high maintenance Tycoonish games that you play with friends in a passivd way but Ive found myself WAY too often playing that when I should be playing the brand spanking new games I've recently got. I got Borderlands and Torchlight and havent plAyed them yet. Halp!!!

Yeah, you need help and it's Zynga. Sheesh. What a noob. Why you playin those time wasters anyway? They're not even really games.

Oh, hey, you wanna be my neighbor in Farmville?

Clone or not, this game is very well done and lots of fun. I love the pet, send it town to sell.

The crossover from WoW is nice too (exclamation points over heads, new quests from NPCs that are in the midst of battle when you meet them, multiple talent trees for each class, etc).

Raelic wrote:

The crossover from WoW is nice too (exclamation points over heads, new quests from NPCs that are in the midst of battle when you meet them, multiple talent trees for each class, etc).

I think the talent tree system is really the best part. First, skills cap at 10 points, so you can easily pick 12 to 15 skills to max out throughout a game, as opposed to D2's 5. Secondly, none of the skills have prerequisite skills, so you really can mix and match across the trees. You can get the level 25 skills in all three trees at level 25 if you save a couple of points. I think it really adds to the fun.

garion333 wrote:
interstate78 wrote:

I'm having a BIG problem these past few weeks-- I started playing Zinga games on Facebook. To the uninitiated, they are high maintenance Tycoonish games that you play with friends in a passivd way but Ive found myself WAY too often playing that when I should be playing the brand spanking new games I've recently got. I got Borderlands and Torchlight and havent plAyed them yet. Halp!!!

Yeah, you need help and it's Zynga. Sheesh. What a noob. Why you playin those time wasters anyway? They're not even really games.

Oh, hey, you wanna be my neighbor in Farmville?

Who's got a Spore Island?

I'm having a BIG problem these past few weeks-- I started playing Zynga games on Facebook. To the uninitiated, they are high maintenance Tycoonish games that you play with friends in a passive way but I've found myself WAY too often playing that when I should be playing the brand spanking new games I've recently got. I got Borderlands and Torchlight and haven't played them yet. Halp!!!

wordsmythe wrote:
garion333 wrote:
interstate78 wrote:

I'm having a BIG problem these past few weeks-- I started playing Zinga games on Facebook. To the uninitiated, they are high maintenance Tycoonish games that you play with friends in a passivd way but Ive found myself WAY too often playing that when I should be playing the brand spanking new games I've recently got. I got Borderlands and Torchlight and havent plAyed them yet. Halp!!!

Yeah, you need help and it's Zynga. Sheesh. What a noob. Why you playin those time wasters anyway? They're not even really games.

Oh, hey, you wanna be my neighbor in Farmville?

Who's got a Spore Island?

I do now!

MrDeVil909 wrote:

Simple, netbook or laptop with Facebook open and the desktop with the other games.

No need to thank me, just gift me Torchlight and we're good.

*fist bump*

I'd thank you if your solution didn't require a new computer desk to fit two computers, a netbook and gifting you Torchlight

Another idea would be to hire someone to manage my farm and café and pay him by the hour while we`re at it!

interstate78 wrote:

Another idea would be to hire someone to manage my farm and café and pay him by the hour while we`re at it!

How much are you offering? I know some folks who might be interested.

This game feels like a direct response to the rising cost of creating games. It's small, focused, polished, and affordable. It seems like everything the traditional triple-A title is moving away from. I love it.

And in a startling display of hypocrisy, it'll tide me over nicely until I get my PS3 for Christmas and can finally play Uncharted 2.

Duoae wrote:

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

You, sir, took chemistry at the wrong school then. I was fortunate enough to proceed through general, organic, and biochemistry with some stunning hotties, a number of whom I'm still friends with. There are few things hotter than a beautiful girl with a beautiful mind.

peacensunshine wrote:

Mass killings, lots of loot, mindless wandering...what is not to love.

That was my explanation to the judge for my last visit to the D.C. area, but he wasn't buying it.

I've downloaded first, and read reviews later. 10% and counting down on Torchlight as the first steam purchase I've made in years. I couldn't be more delighted to see this post as I cruise the internet between the minutes it takes for this game to be 100% mine. Looking very much forward to making this game the nightcap of a particularly fantastic evening. Thanks for the article!