Torchlight Infinite is about to kick off into a closed beta test any moment now. We have had hands-on with the upcoming mobile ARPG and while we’re hyped to see it succeed, it’s not all loot bags and good times in the Neatherrealm.
Whether you’re a fan of the early Torchlight titles or a disappointed follower of the latest desktop iterations of this much-loved franchise, Torchlight Infinite is likely to be something of a worrying development for you. With little information out in the wild, like our early hands-on, there’s the possibility that Torchlight Infinite is set to be a Diablo scale flounder for XD Games. When we got the chance to take another tour of Torchlight Infinite ahead of today’s closed beta kick-off, we jumped at the chance.
Torchlight III?
For those that missed the earlier excitement here at Gamespace, Torchlight Infinite is not the much belated and silently rebranded Torchlight III. This new mobile version of the Torchlight series is a small screen-focused port of the iconic dungeon crawler for a new generation of gamers. Set somewhere in the Torchlight universe, it plunges the player into a battle across the Neatherrealm to save us all from a massive dark surge. In short, that means lots of instanced encounters, and a ton of monsters ready to claw their way into the peaceful lives of regular citizens. The only way to push back these spawnlings is to harness the power of this world by going into battle.
This exposition opens the stage for a mobile title where players aim to wade through a massive plethora of spawns, contained in instanced encounters, and unlocking a bewildering array of build options. Much like the rest of the Torchlight series, Torchlight Infinite is focused on providing open-ended play as much as possible. Considerations for a new mobile-first format, across iOS and Android, meaning that some changes are inevitable, but there is a lot to like about this new installment.
Still Looking Good
Torchlight Infinite was always bound to look fantastic. Aside from the experience of the team behind this spin-off, the game leans into a heavily stylized aesthetic. Rather than aim for Marvel Revolutions realism, or the brooding backdrops of Diablo Immortal, Torchlight Infinite takes a cartoonish jab at the opposition.
Much like our observations of Space Punks, this new dungeon crawler falls somewhere between Borderlands, Wildstar, and the early Torchlight aesthetics. Likely drawing a bit of inspiration from all the above, the backdrops and character design is gorgeous to behold and totally outsized. Bright rock people chop through huge whirling tentacles while outrageous neon spiders clomp through a forest that is far more Genshin Impact than Ori. Whether it’s the backdrops, monsters, or combat, Torchlight Infinite is full of flashy bright colors and cell shading that makes it an inviting mix of pulpy explosions and destruction that isn’t overly visceral.
This design decision is true during character creation too. Like before, there is no inkling that a full and unbridled character creation screen is available. Instead, players will get a total of five options. Character selection doesn’t give a whole lot to go on, but each of these does open up a different way to play.
The Berserker is a classic melee DPS, wielding huge weapons that’ll get you right in the thick of the action. The Divineshot is a ranged sharpshooter that seems to focus on precision and picking off foes. The Frostfire is an AOE-focused character that wields elemental fire and ice to down her enemies. The most interesting, however, are the Spacetime Witness and the Commander.The Commander is a minionmancer of some technological capability. Rather than summon undead, this hands-off adventurer bolts together steel and forges companions in fire to crush any opposition. This is useful for taking down enemies at a distance. The sit back and watch approach is a great addition for mobile gamers who might not have the best hardware, high lag, or simply want to experience the story while only paying a little attention. It is as near as you’ll get to self-play in Torchlight Infinite and provides a low bar to entry. This is easily the beginner’s choice. take a look at how the commander handles below.
On the other hand, the Spacetime Witness is a far more complex conundrum. Aside from the myriad of late-game systems that we will talk about later, this option doesn’t conform to any copy and paste ideas. The Spacetime Witness combines magic and technology to manipulate spacetime. This results in a character that can deal some magical range damage but gets the option to slot in some unique movement and summoning skills, calling on shadows of themselves to confuse and overcome enemies. It’s an interesting idea that given a fully-fledged skill bar would be even more engaging. It’s certainly looking like the most advanced option on the board with little room for error, so be wary before diving in.
Progression
Despite this high-level overview, the most recent beta allows us to delve deep into each character archetype and better understand the progression model and freedom players have. Despite a very cut and paste introduction, Torchlight Infinite follows the sort of wildly complex and free form progression systems that will be familiar to players in games like Path of Exile or other Torchlight Titles.
Whether you’re likely to spend most of your time on the game’s normal server, or taking up the seasonal server challenges, character build still has some basic options that are required reading.
Skill Progression
Skill progression is the easiest of these systems to understand, and the most critical. It’s straightforward but utterly vast. While leveling up and experience still exist, leveling unlocks a range of primary and supporting skill slots. Filling these slots is the primary purpose of leveling. As characters level, they gain access to a range of available skills through in-game quests, and the skill shop, while slotting these uses a currency called energy. A total of four primary skill slots can be outfitted as players choose, picking from active skills, passive skills, support, and trigger types. We’d suggest two active attacks, a heal, and a defensive option for solo play in most cases. As the progression continues, added supporting skill slots unlock adjacent to these button-bashing options.
These extra slots can be unlocked using energy, which is acquired by leveling up and equipping better gear. There does not appear to be any particular skill wall tied to a class archetype, but linking these peripheral skills means you’ll want to connect options like support types to active skills, which should trigger effects that can simply have a passive impression on your play. These could do anything from increase the base damage of a summoned bot to enhancing the damage of a skill below a particular HP. By endgame, it seems common to see four or five secondary modifiers for each of the game’s active options, meaning passive bonuses are likely to play a huge part in character play.
Traits
Hero Traits are one of the game changing character configurations you’ll encounter in Torchlight Infinite. While the Skill system will be a constant woe of tweaks and optimization, Traits are more finely tuned into character playstyle. Each character has three Trait lines and a manageable set of options within each. Unlocking as a character progresses, these aren’t too dissimilar to the Guild Wars 2 trait system, where bonuses synergize well with particular play styles. In this example, a bot-based Commander build gets tons of overkill bonuses for their minions.
While the freedom to tweak isn’t as vast in the Trait menu, it’s a very helpful way to both help guide players down a particular path, without simply shackling them to a particular model.
Talent
The talent system also provides three distinct, if more complex upgrade lines for each character, and while we’re not going to delve too far into the full tree, they also add a whole array of buffs, bonuses, and add-ons to each character. Spent and reset using their own currency, which seems to tie back to leveling, or the game’s Primocrystals, this provides another powerful tool for character creation, with 32 nodes in the Commander’s God of Machines Talent Line alone.
Pact Points
Rather than provide a set of buffs or bonuses that synergize with particular builds, Pact bonuses are a far more direct level up and unlock option. These options tend to focus around three options, in this case offering level-up bonuses to attack defense and drop rates. These are a way of allowing players to level up and feel more direct power creep, helping to balance out gear inadequacies for newly leveled and underpowered character builds.
Gear
Gear isn’t exactly revolutionary in Torchlight Infinite. Being something of a dungeon crawler, this instanced experience is focused on looting the shiniest gear possible and equipping it to get the best in slot for your own heroes. There are a total of ten equipment slots, or nine if you only run a single dual handed weapon. This accounts for headgear, accessories, weapons, gloves, and boots. Each, of course, comes with a level requirement and a ton of extra bonuses. This makes an impact on your character’s overall energy capacity, a currency we’ve already seen used for equipping skills. There’s little I really need to tell experienced players about this part of the game, but the first inklings of gacha start to rear their heads when you’re asked to identify every piece of looted equipment to check the potential stats.
Concerns Over Complexity
You’re probably reeling from the number of options on hand, and all of the above doesn’t even take into account all of the potential bonuses, but we’re trying to make a point rather than confuse you any further. The level of freedom on offer in Torchlight Infinite is promising, never really forcing too much, flagging players towards a way that they might like to play. The feel of this touch screen first game never overwhelms the player in the moment, with short instances and very direct silky-smooth gameplay that had us playing for hours.
Where our concern comes, from is how the myriad of progression will all finally fit together. While cosmetics are available in the game shop, we’re genuinely not worried about this system of this RNG based system of cosmetic flairs, weapon skins, and outfits.
The overarching premium currency is, however, obviously tied into some of the game’s progression systems like skill trait resets. Combine this with a gameplay system that requires keys to drop into new areas of the Neatherrealm, called Beacons in Torchlight Infinite, the already obvious RNG loot system, and its influence on character energy, and there is the potential for problems.
With a massive array of upgrade paths and options for each character, these could all simply be a mix of sticky mechanics and light touch time savers. taken at face value, the energy system is a fantastic and mailable system that steps away from traditional stat points and gives players a way to further customize their play style. It could also be a mix of heavy-handed integrations that might mire a great gaming experience. We don’t really know yet, but given Torchlight’s instanced content, complexity, and the pull for profit, we’re going to keep an eye on this and hope that it’s all just speculative worry.
Sign Up Now
That aside, our time ahead of Torchlight Infinite’s latest closed beta has given us a chance to walk these planes of existence, loot the necessary goods to open new portals, and jump in to experience the game. As before, it ran fantastically on my mid-range Moto G200, at the highest settings. This should serve older phones well too, providing plenty of action and tons of ways to play through a gorgeous mix of enemies and encounters. While we’re keeping an eye on some of the concerns, the introduction of the Commander, even more progression paths, and a wonderfully executed world is still worth your time. If you’re looking for a mobile dungeon crawler that isn’t going to shove you into a depressing dungeon and throw away the key, then Torchlight Infinite is still taking applications for closed beta ahead of its full launch. Find out more and sign up for some closed testing on the official website now.
