For role-playing game fans, there will always be a soft spot for action dungeon crawlers like Diablo and Torchlight. Before these games came out, most dungeon crawlers were pixelated or text-based adventures based on the tabletop games before today’s video game era opened up so many more opportunities.
That is precisely why Nintendo decided to port Torchlight II to the Nintendo Switch, which officially launches today, September 3rd. While that alone might be great news, there is even more to be happy about: Torchlight II functions well beyond expectations on Nintendo’s portable console. All the functionality and control from the original game is beautifully preserved.
There’s good news for non-Switch owners too. If you do not own a Switch, the game is available for purchase on both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One as well. But there is no word yet about how it plays.
Torchlight, the first game in the Torchlight series, was first released in 2009. The game came out as a Steam exclusive for Windows PC. Torchlight II followed not long after in 2012. Both games were created and developed by Runic Games.
The port works beautifully, as is to be expected with Nintendo’s amazing development team. Players get to spend skill points on leveling up their character instead of having an auto-level feature like in most action RPGs. There is also the opportunity to unlock abilities in a non-linear fashion, which has been the norm for most action RPGs since the dawn of time. And, oh yeah, the inventory management system works like a charm.
The games in Torchlight are hack-and-slash, dungeon-crawling, RPGs. Here’s how the story breaks down: The game’s protagonist lives in a mining town called Torchlight. Torchlight sits on a rich deposit of a material called Ember and this material has the ability to power magic. Your character is forced to fight through dungeon-like mines to ultimately discover the true nature of the enigmatic Ember.
Torchlight fans have gotten tons of great news this year. An upcoming mobile game called Torchlight: Frontiers will also be coming out soon.
Frontiers will be an MMORPG available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows PC. If you’re interested in great action MMORPGs too, now would be an amazing time to try out Torchlight II so you can figure out how the universe of Torchlight works before Frontiers eventually releases.
Torchlight II is available now for the Nintendo Switch. Be sure to pick up a copy in the Nintendo Game Store if you happen to be a fan of old school dungeon crawlers or if you just like the amazing Torchlight series.
