What are the main differences between these games and why would you play one over the other?

I'm not putting a poll in or asking which one is better. I'm sure if it comes down to sheer numbers, D3 will have an overwhelming victory. 

I want to know the opinions of people who have played (D3 beta or TL demo, etc)  or researched both games and who have an informed opinion.

Originally posted by TROLL_HARD

What are the main differences between these games and why would you play one over the other?

 

I'm not putting a poll in or asking which one is better. I'm sure if it comes down to sheer numbers, D3 will have an overwhelming victory. 

 

I'm honestly trying to know the opinions of people who have played (D3 beta or TL demo, etc)  or researched both games and who have an informed opinion.

 

RUN RUN and hide everyone!

Originally posted by expresso

RUN RUN and hide everyone!

Hehe...why?

They both look similar and fun for what they are. I will buy one of them, but I don't need both. I know you want to play D3. Why is that better for you? I'd be interested to know. And if you've posted it in another thread, please link it here.

EDIT: I've played the TL demo on Steam and the D3 beta. They were both fun. I also have D2.

Originally posted by TROLL_HARD

Originally posted by expresso

RUN RUN and hide everyone!

Hehe...why?

 

They both look similar and fun for what they are. I will buy one of them, but I don't need both. I know you want to play D3. Why is that better for you? I'd be interested to know. And if you've posted it in another thread, please link it here.

Its not the games is the fanboys and haters on both side we need to hide from.

For me It's D3 cus I am not at all interested in TL's story or characters, plus I like the changes to the skill system in D3.. oh and it's a Blizzard game.

I don't have an informed opinion cause I haven't played TL2 and I haven't read anything about it. I am excited about D3 cause D2 is my favourite game. I think I will prefer Diablo 3 because like the lore, story, characters etc. 

But hell this is going to be good. I can see the flames already!

The graphics in Torchlight II look very  "cartoony" compared to Diablo III or even POE. 

The game didn't appear even close to Diablo III.

Originally posted by TROLL_HARD

What are the main differences between these games and why would you play one over the other?

 

I'm not putting a poll in or asking which one is better. I'm sure if it comes down to sheer numbers, D3 will have an overwhelming victory. 

 

I want to know the opinions of people who have played (D3 beta or TL demo, etc)  or researched both games and who have an informed opinion.

 

Well i will play both, just as i played D1,D2 and TL1. 

TL was great, but it can't be compared to either D1 or D2. The Diablo saga is in their own league. You know.. It got that Diablo feeling :p

Originally posted by Method01 You know.. It got that Diablo feeling :p

That's the thing.

I do like the Diablo feeling/atmosphere.

Just finished a few hours in the TL2 beta  fun game for sure.

I'll be playing D3 next week without a doubt  but will likely pick up TL2  when it launches because it more of a whimsical experience for me. and i want to support Runic games  for their upcoming TL based MMO.

I like em both kinda the same but so different as well

In my opinion, Torchlight 2 is a great deal better. Both it and Diablo 3 share a similar art style. Whether Diablo 3 took inspiration from Torchlight 1 or what, I don't know.

Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3 are about equal in terms of combat flow and playability. I'd say T2 is a bit better simply due to the lack of health orbs, which seem to mainly break up the flow of combat.

In terms of length, we're not too sure. I've already sunk about 5 hours in a single character in T2 and I haven't got to the end of Act 1 yet (there're gonna be three acts on release). Three hours in D3 and got to the end of the prologue.

The key reason that I'm gonna be playing T2 over D3 is, simply, because it gives the player choice. It gives the player customisation over their character, choice of whether to play singleplayer or online, the ability to choose difficulty from the very start etc etc.

Well that and it's downright fucking awesome setting and character class. I was playing an engineer with a two handed cannon before and bowling shit over with flaming cannonballs. Absolutely beautiful.

Originally posted by ArEf

In my opinion, Torchlight 2 is a great deal better. Both it and Diablo 3 share a similar art style. Whether Diablo 3 took inspiration from Torchlight 1 or what, I don't know.

Torchlight 2 and Diablo 3 are about equal in terms of combat flow and playability. I'd say T2 is a bit better simply due to the lack of health orbs, which seem to mainly break up the flow of combat.

In terms of length, we're not too sure. I've already sunk about 5 hours in a single character in T2 and I haven't got to the end of Act 1 yet (there're gonna be three acts on release). Three hours in D3 and got to the end of the prologue.

The key reason that I'm gonna be playing T2 over D3 is, simply, because it gives the player choice. It gives the player customisation over their character, choice of whether to play singleplayer or online, the ability to choose difficulty from the very start etc etc.

Well that and it's downright fucking awesome setting and character class. I was playing an engineer with a two handed cannon before and bowling shit over with flaming cannonballs. Absolutely beautiful.

The art styles are nothing remotely close lol.

Not sure how Health orbs break combat flow.. but whatever your story.

You can't compare the games content length as you haven't played past the tutorial in Diablo 3. You don't even know how far you have left to go in TL2 act 1. You can't make an informed opinion yet.

Your point on customization is just a different mindset and preference. Maybe you should say what is exactly different other than just I have more choices. By singleplayer option I assume you mean offline, if you by chance live in the boonies or a poor connected area then this could be a strong positive for sure. Choosing difficulty.. is a bit lame IMO ruins progression.

Originally posted by Aori

You can't compare the games content length as you haven't played past the tutorial in Diablo 3. You don't even know how far you have left to go in TL2 act 1. You can't make an informed opinion yet.

T2 is a *much* bigger game than T1

http://www.runicgamesfansite.com/showwiki.php?title=Torchlight+II+FAQ

How big will the game be?

The entirety of Torchlight 1 is equal to the 2/3 of the first Act of Torchlight 2.

There are three full Acts and one Boss Act in Torchlight 2. If you were to rush through the entire game, ignoring all side quests and exploration, it is estimated to take about 30 hours to complete the story, as opposed to the relaxed 6-8 hours it took to beat Torchlight 1 on normal.

I'm playing both and love both for different reasons, so it's not going to be a 'one or the other' decision for me. I'm getting both and will just play whichever one fits my mood at the time. D3 is definitely the darker, more serious but very fun arpg. I'm about halfway through nightmare after a complete playthrough on normal. I stopped to play T2 this weekend for the beta and it's just a much more lighthearted comic style to it all that feels like a nice break from the more serious look of D3.

It's a great time to be an ARPG imo. PoE & Grim Dawn aren't bad either, but I think I'm going to just stay with D3 & T2 for awhile.

Thought that I would add my take on the performance difference too. T2 is clearly going to run a lot better and probably look better on lower end machines. The style just isn't as demanding but still looks great in it's own way. Sometimes D3 slows down a little even on a great computer, so I think Blizzard still needs to work on optimization. Some of that could be network lag I'm guessing because it improves when I play it at off peak hours, and everyone knows by now about it's connectivity errors and lag since release. T2 almost seems too fast to me, but it's probably just in contrast to the slower D3.

Originally posted by TROLL_HARD

What are the main differences between these games and why would you play one over the other?

Torchlight: 

No DRM and standard pricing: They aren't a greedy company so they will definitely have no issues. DRM and $60 price tag on D3 was just greed nothing more.

Offline play: Big plus in their part. They don't and no one should care, if some kids want to make their characters gods for a weekend, the only reason Blizz kept their game online only was to make their DRM dream come true.

Pets that can sell items: brilliant idea on Runic's part but then again what do you expect from the people who wrote D2 in the first place, yep that's right they were part of the team of devs that left blizzard and i might add the actual talent that brought D2 to all of us in the first place. Keep that in mind.

D3: 

DRM, Online only play: Greed is the only reason for these two items, they can lie to the public and make it seem like they are trying to destroy gold farmers but there are other more proven ways of doing so without breaking a game or making it impossible to play without and online connection. Anyone who says it was for anything other then greed isn't paying attention to any of the other multitudes of titles that have used tried and true methods of killing off gold farmers in their game without these greed methods.

No pets but better travel options: The game doesn't have pets which i think is stupid because what will it actually hurt especially when it comes to making trips back to town. It puzzles me why they did this because the only other time ive ever seen Blizzard waste the time of the players like this was when they had something to gain from it like making people keep their monthly subscription for as long as humanly possible to actually complete something worth while in their title World of Warcrafft, so wasting the player's time like this is just puzzling about their design. They do have better travel options for multiple party members then D2 had.

All in all, i would suggest going with your gut instinct. If i hadn't already been playing WoW with friends i would have never bought this game for the price it is at now $60 outright because of the design and because of the problems they've imposed on players all in the name of greed. The game is not what i expected it to be D2 had many many more options for random play then D3 does and i'm sorry but i call it like i see it when it comes to the execs taking over the creative process of the devs. They definitely messed up a good thing. The two saving graces for D3 are the nostalgia and the practice they put into the game of making the characters seem powerful and able to handle multiple targets.

Good points itgrowls. I forgot about the huge price difference. If I was short on cash, I would definitely choose Torchlight 2 instead (when it releases). As it stands now, I have money for both and it really wasn't a factor in my decision but T2 is a much better value for the money based on what I've seen.

Originally posted by TROLL_HARD

What are the main differences between these games and why would you play one over the other?

 

I'm not putting a poll in or asking which one is better. I'm sure if it comes down to sheer numbers, D3 will have an overwhelming victory. 

 

I want to know the opinions of people who have played (D3 beta or TL demo, etc)  or researched both games and who have an informed opinion.

 

Let me put the biggest difference that maters up front:

Development budget - plain and simple:

Torchlight 2 is done by Runic game, company grounded by Travis Baldtree, a guy that designed original Diablo.

He proved over and over that he can do greatest Diablo like games.

But - Runic is company of 20 people with limited budget and the game had around 1 year of development time

Diablo 3 is done by company that done all original Diablos. Company that takes pride in holding best of the best designers, writters and artists in the buisness. And also works everything to perfection.

Diablo 3 was actively developed for over 8 years by 500 people and had unlimited budget

So imagine that both game had great talented teams, but vastly different resources available.

That is Diablo 3 vs Torchlight for you.

So basically on the end of the day Diablo wins on the share amount of content put in it.

And dont get confused by "Someone finished the game in 12 hours" posts. You can actually finish it in 4 hours (there is achievement for this in the game).

But they put enough content that everytime you play it, you see completely different dungeons - i mean with different graphic even.

I mean ammount of content is staggering.

Other important difference between D3 and T2 is online play

If you like to play online T2 is moddable and there is apsolutely no control over hacks. So if you play public games expect GOD MODE characters to join all the time. It will be pointless to play with anyone but close friends.

On other side D3 online game is what the game is about. Its balanced and controlled and always populated.

So bottom line

If you dont care about multiplayer , and dont have 60$ - Torchlight 2 is great game and well worth the money.

Diablo 3 on other hand is simply much more everything.

Originally posted by Lobotomist
Runic is company of 20 people with limited budget and the game had around 1 year of development time
 

T2 has been in development for 2 years

- was announced Aug 2010

I doubt T2 will see release until July/Aug 2012

Originally posted by Lobotomist

Originally posted by TROLL_HARD

What are the main differences between these games and why would you play one over the other?

 

I'm not putting a poll in or asking which one is better. I'm sure if it comes down to sheer numbers, D3 will have an overwhelming victory. 

 

I want to know the opinions of people who have played (D3 beta or TL demo, etc)  or researched both games and who have an informed opinion.

 

Let me put the biggest difference that maters up front:

Development budget - plain and simple:

 

Torchlight 2 is done by Runic game, company grounded by Travis Baldtree, a guy that designed original Diablo.

He proved over and over that he can do greatest Diablo like games.

But - Runic is company of 20 people with limited budget and the game had around 1 year of development time

 

Diablo 3 is done by company that done all original Diablos. Company that takes pride in holding best of the best designers, writters and artists in the buisness. And also works everything to perfection.

Diablo 3 was actively developed for over 8 years by 500 people and had unlimited budget

 

So imagine that both game had great talented teams, but vastly different resources available.

That is Diablo 3 vs Torchlight for you

I think he means Torchlight 2. Torchlight 1 is the game that had a limited budget and 1 year dev time, they pretty much have the freedom to take as long as they want with Torchlight 2, and they have. That's why it's a much deeper game than the first one which, while fun, was rather short and shallow. TL1 felt like one long, hobby dungeon, TL2 feels like an actual fleshed-out game.

The differences in the game are pretty distinct. Despite what people are doing in the forums, the games aren't that comparable to one another. They both fit into the aRPG genre and have a storyline, that's it. Torchlight 2 has stat customization, Diablo 3 focuses more on skill customization.  Sounds like Torchlight 2 is longer than Diablo 3, a speed run of D3 was done in 5.5 hours, and there's an achievement for a 5 hour speed run in the very first Torchlight. The entirety of Torchlight is "comparable to 2/3 of just the first act of Torchlight 2", to quote. 

D3 is online only, TL2 is online + offline. D3 has RMH, TL2 has a mod community just like the Elder Scrolls games do. D3 is slightly more realistic in graphics, TL2 is far more stylized and while it has some dark, creepy environments, D3 sorta corners the market there. Traditionally, at least. I don't know what the D3 level designs are but I'm assuming they kept with the bloody darkness of the first two games.

Then of course the price difference. D3 is $60, TL2 is $20. Also, Diablo tends to get expansions, Runic so far hasn't shown that tradition with their TL game series, the first didn't have any and they said they're not 100% positive what they're doing once TL2 is done just that it depended on the community. As the mod tools are there for people to create their own content, it's sort of up in the air, the only indication of expansions they've mentioned is, "If people want it enough, we'll do it."

Oh and, D3 is already out, TL2 is at least a month away. I think that's the bulk of it.

EDIT - oh ya, and TL2 has a really useful pet system. However, it doesn't have crafting, at least not what I've seen from the demo, and I believe that's something D3 did include, if I remember correctly.

 I've played both betas now and Torchlight 2 is just more fun. At the end of the day thats what counts for me. Torchlight all the way.