Torchlight

Torchlight is an action role-playing game developed by Runic Games, published by Perfect World Entertainment, Inc.

and Encore, Inc, released for Windows in October 2009.
Word of Ember blazed across the land, and the town of Torchlight flared to life.

Ember is the essence of magic and the keystone of alchemy; it lures the restless with promises of power and riches. Miners burrowed deep beneath the dirt streets of Torchlight, discovering veins of the ore richer than any found in living memory- but they were not the first to covet these mines. The miners broke through into the buried past, a dangerous labyrinth of caverns and ruined civilizations, twisted creatures and the bones of those who came before. Evil bubbles up from the depths and threatens to overrun this town as it has so many others. The heart of a villain has infused the Ember, and his darkness seeps through the veins. To survive, the townspeople must break the cycle of destruction; they need a champion who can destroy the evil at its root. Removing the source of the rot may purify the Ember, but it is a long and perilous journey. The champion must battle through rock and fire, through lost cities and ancient tombs, into the palace of the villain himself.

The adventure is set in the mining settlement of Torchlight, a boomtown founded on the discovery of rich veins of Ember – a rare and mysterious ore with the power to enchant or corrupt all that it contacts. This corruptive power may have dire consequences however, and players set out into the nearby mountains and depths below to discover the full extent of Ember’s influence on the civilizations that have come before.

Players will choose from among three character classes, and venture from the safety of the town of Torchlight into randomly generated dungeon levels, with a huge variety of creepy monsters, endless variations of loot to find, and quests to complete. The endless randomization ensures a long-lived gameplay experience.

The key features of the game are:

Randomization – The level layouts are randomly created, so each adventure is unique. Monsters, treasures, puzzles, and items are also different each time you embark on an adventure.
Easy, approachable interface – Torchlight is designed to be easy to play right from the beginning. The intuitive interface gives players easy access to a rich and varied world.
Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can “retire” and bestow specific benefits and perks to new characters.
Pets – Players will choose a pet to accompany them. Pets can level up along with the player, and will help in battle, carry items, and perform a variety of helpful services.
Character Classes – Players will create and customize a character and choose an animal companion. Through cosmetic choices, skill path decisions, and the treasures they acquire, each character will be custom-tailored and different.
Fishing – Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to visit one of the fishing holes and relax and see what they can catch. Fish have interesting benefits for the player and pet, and other rewards can also be discovered
Editor – Runic Games is embracing the modding community by providing an editor so the players can create and design their own content.Torchlight is a wonderful click-based role-playing game in which you live an underground adventure in the evil world of Torchlight. The first thing to do is select your character from three classes and the pet that will accompany and help you in your journey. Unfortunately, there are not so many customization options regarding appearances and clothing for your character, but as you progress in the game you can get more options. Regarding the pet, you can only choose to have a dog or a cat. Depending on the character you choose, you have different weapons and items to collect. There´s also a market where you can trade items to get the ones you need the most. The game is based on quests that will take you to different areas and that mainly involve defeating certain monsters, get a certain item, etc. Combat is a major theme of the game, since you will spend most of the time killing horrible monsters that vary from level to level. What is more, from time to time, players can take a break from combat to catch some fish, which give the user and the pet incredible benefits.
Regarding the graphics, there´s nothing to say about them, since they are extremely good and detailed, also offering incredible sound effects that contribute to create the necessary atmosphere for the game.
All in all, even though Torchlight doesn't add anything new to the genre, the incredible randomization of dungeons, the enjoyable combat and awesome graphics make the game a must-have for many players.