Torchlight
Torchlight
Game
Game2012
Torchlight II
Developer Runic Games
Torchlight II is an action role-playing dungeon crawler video game developed by Runic Games, released for Microsoft Windows on September 20, 2012. It is the sequel to Torchlight, and features peer-to-peer multiplayer support and extended modding capabilities. The game was released for OS X on February 2, 2015, and for Linux on March 4, 2015. Ports for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One were released… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
376 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
62
Fresh
203 positive · 125 negative
95% range 57–67%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 203 | 125 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 10 | 2 | 19 |
| Mastodon * | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| Lemmy * | 2 | 0 | 6 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
22,321 of 24,128 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
73% recommend · 166 yes, 62 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 228 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (42,215 of 45,647 positive).
Players praise Torchlight II as a timeless, fun ARPG that rivals Diablo. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note that multiplayer requires extra effort or third-party software. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
This game needs a disclaimer on the store page letting players know that multiplayer doesn't work without some pretty heavy effort. and still may not work even after doing what needs to be done. You shouldn't be allowed to advertise as a multiplayer or co op game on steam unless you can directly and easily connect through a steam invite.
- [2]
This game is better than Diablo 3&4 combined and as great as Diablo 2 that it is x15 PoE whole endgame Atlas system is designed based on the Mapworks endgame system that T2 introduced. Torchlight 2 was developed by Runic Games, a studio co-founded by Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, who were key co-founders of Blizzard North and the original co-designers of Diablo 1&2. p.s. game has fine Gibs which makes …
- [7]
Genuinely one of the most slept on Hack and Slays out there. Loot feels satisfying, builds have actual depth without needing a PhD and the art style holds up way better than it has any right to. The co-op is smooth, the modding scene kept it alive for years and your engineer can have a robot dog. That alone is worth the price of admission. Is it perfect? No. The story is basically just vibes and a villain who showed …
- [11]
Torchlight II is a great game. It's a Diablo-like ARPG that is great fun and is a nice, long campaign. There's a story there, but if you skip every cutscene you aren't really missing much. The gameplay is the true champion. This is the ultimate form of Diablo II. Silky smooth, simple graphics, clear interface. Even non-gamers can pickup and play it. Best thing about it is that it runs on basically any computer made …
- [1]
It's well designed for just plain fun. I'm 81 and this is the twitchiest game I play... I'm so good at it though it hardly feels twitchy any more. My normal game fare is heavy on stealth and exploration.
Summarised from 34 of the 270 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
73% of the 228 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Torchlight II. The complaint that keeps coming up: multiplayer requires port forwarding or third-party tools. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Torchlight II received favorable reviews; on aggregate review website Metacritic the game attains an overall score of 88 out of 100 based on reviews from 67 professional critics. Game Informer stated that "Torchlight II is an excellent game no matter how you slice it... the margin between [it and Diablo III] is razor-thin – and I have to give the nod to Torchlight II." IGN praised the game saying, "Torchlight II doesn't do anything radically new, but does everything incredibly well. It fits all the pieces of varied monster behavior, interesting items, excellent skill design and random surprises together into a near-perfect formula, where the action never stops and rewards are never far…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 376 · most liked first[Game] 14 years after initial release Torchlight II adds support for Steam Deck. > How to Access the Public Beta Branch The Public Beta is an optional branch separate from the current default version. This update will not automatically replace the default version of the game on Steam. If you'd like to try out the new features and improvements, follow these steps: 1. Right-click Torchlight II in your Steam Library and select Properties. 1. Go to Betas and select the public_beta branch. 1. Wait…
neutral · AI labelView post →Enjoyed playing solo so far. For whatever reason the multiplayer version is going to be turned upside down soon. The multiplayer version will soon require a third party login. Wow. Just NO on my end.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A perfectly good, older game, now being destroyed by greedy devs using AI slop. Avoid this game and anything these animals touch in the future. EDIT: new owners are Xindong Games, a Chinese gambling site conglomerate. That tells you everything about how they are gonna destroy this franchise. Utterly disgusting.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've been a professional developer for 30+ years and I don't understand all of the hate the dev team is getting for using AI. It's OK to use AI assistance as a tool, i.e., debugging, optimizing, etc. There's times where I've spent a day or more tracking down a convoluted bug or trying to reproduce it. Now that AI is good at assisting with this, that same bug would have taken maybe minutes to maybe an hour depending on what it is. Using AI as a tool to help with those kinds of issues is smart as…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's well designed for just plain fun. I'm 81 and this is the twitchiest game I play... I'm so good at it though it hardly feels twitchy any more. My normal game fare is heavy on stealth and exploration.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I partially switched to Linux this week, I had an older Windows machine just laying around so I decided to install Linux (I went with Mint) sit it next to my regular Windows machine and set up a switch to easily switch between them. That way if I really need Windows, I still have it. I don't think I will. I'm still configuring the (now Linux) machine and getting everything like I like it, and all I keep wondering is why I didn't try this sooner. There are so many cool things (like sftp…
neutral · AI labelView post →This game needs a disclaimer on the store page letting players know that multiplayer doesn't work without some pretty heavy effort. and still may not work even after doing what needs to be done. You shouldn't be allowed to advertise as a multiplayer or co op game on steam unless you can directly and easily connect through a steam invite.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game was great, but from a post by the new owners: Future Maintenance Plans Given the age of the game, restructuring its complex underlying code presents many challenges. However, new AI-assisted coding tools have opened up more possibilities for reviewing the code and addressing longstanding issues. Keep your sloppy hands to yourselves.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Get ready for slopcoded bullshit updates because they decided to let the clankers update the game now. Get this AI trash out of here.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Current owners of the IP started vibe coding the game. One of the best ARPGs out there and I'm forced to leave a negative review. Such a damn shame.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →not only are you forcing ai into this game that's been beloved in the state that it's in for what, 10 years, you're also doing it knowing full well it'll break the mods that brought so much more life to the game. Runic didnt give us GUTS so that you could ruin the hard work of the community years later with ai generated slop code. yes, torchlight 2 has problems. bugs, crashes, hitches and glitches. but the solution was never ai. learn to code and fix the game yourself if you want to do right…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →All these clowns crying for change to the game and controller support FOR YEARS!!!! Now that change is coming they are all crying about AI being used. They are doing this to alleviate some of pressures of fixing the complex older spaghetti code. That is no longer taught and is the foundation of the games core coding. This is not what killed the franchise. It died when they released the flop game they called Torchlight 3 then followed it up with a horrible Pay to Win version called Torchlight:…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is better than Diablo 3&4 combined and as great as Diablo 2 that it is x15 PoE whole endgame Atlas system is designed based on the Mapworks endgame system that T2 introduced. Torchlight 2 was developed by Runic Games, a studio co-founded by Max Schaefer and Erich Schaefer, who were key co-founders of Blizzard North and the original co-designers of Diablo 1&2. p.s. game has fine Gibs which makes combat-play/feel even more amazing that already is x6 SS; +81/+100
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You can no longer play online through steam, you have to use the new Developer's shady site. Take a look at the privacy policy. Oh, and they can't be bothered to learn the game code themselves, so they announced they'll be using GenAI to do patches themselves. It's one thing to acquire a old game, but this is spitting on it's grave. Take your vibe coded brain rot and fuck off
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While I will probably have 10s of hours more in this game by the time someone finds this review, I cannot recommend this game when more modern ARPGs exist. The game lacked a Technical Writer and that has greatly impacted its playability. I attempted to first play a Berserker. The skill list looked fun: do attacks long enough to get all crits, melee damage gives you X on hit, etc. But this is where tenured Torchlight players will go “well actually”. The documentation makes no such…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Genuinely one of the most slept on Hack and Slays out there. Loot feels satisfying, builds have actual depth without needing a PhD and the art style holds up way better than it has any right to. The co-op is smooth, the modding scene kept it alive for years and your engineer can have a robot dog. That alone is worth the price of admission. Is it perfect? No. The story is basically just vibes and a villain who showed up to collect a paycheck. But honestly, nobody plays these games for the lore.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →+ Less bloated than Minecraft Dungeons + More Colourful and less grimdark than all the mainstream ARPG's (Diablo's/Grim Dawn/PoE etc) + More ready to play than the Steam Early Access Titan Quest II + Mulitplayer mod and some + Less getting lost for quests than any other ARPG with a straightforward campaign - Only downside is no good controller support on PC, if you really want that get it on the Switch 1/2 An ARPG from 2012 and still my favourite, it's just kinda comfy ya know :D
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was a good but underdeveloped title, it is now an AI slopfest.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Saw there were updates in this old classic, got excited! Then saw it was all gen AI garbage. Sad, game completely destroyed by AI techbros.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Uh oh. Vibecoded AI slop updates in my beloved cult classic from 15 years ago? More likely than you think!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Even in 2026, it still holds up as one of the best and most fun ARPGs ever made.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Whoever wants to play with someone online, use Hamachi to make LAN playing possible. Tried to play multiplayer with a friend but kept getting firewall errors after many troubleshoots. Hamachi was the only solution. (If You two are connected to the same internet, no problem. LAN works.)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The original Torchlight 2 was good. This new company that is replacing assets with gen Ai versions and vibe coded patches is not. Good intentions or not. Hard pass.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was ruining the franchise with Torchlight 3 not good enough? You had to ruin a game that is 14 years old and break almost every mod with your vibecoding. Please take out this update, and refrain from ever modifying the game again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →multiplayer now uses an account for a service that is pretty much malware, woo!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Took a perfectly good game and slopped it up.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →they're turning this gem of a game into a cuck coded piece of shit
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ooh, AI. Guess what game I will not be playing again
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bought out by a company that is not Runic. New owners are pushing updates they claim are for fixing multiplayer, however are breaking shaders. Much like other franchise buyouts where a new owner comes in and begins breaking stuff so they can latch on to the credits and farm PC's for data. I do not trust these updates and have uninstalled one of my favorite games out of caution.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →AI vibe coding added to a game made in 2012, what the fuck are we actually doing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Piss off XD I don't want your genAI junk in my games
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Given the age of the game, restructuring its complex underlying code presents many challenges. However, new AI-assisted coding tools have opened up more possibilities for reviewing the code and addressing longstanding issues." Great, a game that doesn't need to be interfered with being butchered with theft machines. Either take your time to figure out the game to update and add new features, or don't bother at all. Losers.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Legendary game I've bought a few times, but now under a new developer that's a PoS.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →AI slopping on the first game I owned on Steam. Wonderful.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR; Amazing (for now) single player game in the hands of the wrong gaming studio. Such a gold gem to be just .. sold. I had the joy of helping literally hundreds of people and really loved the game.. believe me.. bought it to at least 5 friends over the years i have the hours to back it up the gameplay!! But seems to me that the directive which the developers are taking is not on the right track given the actions they are making.. there for, so will the community respond in a corrective…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →looks like the new custodians of this game added ai slop
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →AI techbros are hereby cordially invited to shove any number of power drills up any number of their orifices they so choose.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Was a great game but was bought out by a new company that requires taptap.io for multiplayer so they can harvest your data. If youre going to play downgrade to an old version and play singleplayer or use the LAN mode.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New owners? New beta branch? New multiplayer servers with a fresh third party EULA to agree to? Thanks for the good times, Runic. Sorry about the route your IP took.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →AI Techbros can F off
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's a shame to have to suddenly leave negative reviews for such an old game that I have so much time in (actual playtime is way longer since I usually play in offline mode, so shown hours are for multiplayer). The TLDR is that a new publisher bought the rights to the game, and immediately made it so you can only play multiplayer by using their shady website. Then they've announced plans to use AI to figure out how the codebase for the game works so that they can have AI-created patches, since…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After 14 years of having a great and fun game, they had to ruin it by adding vibecoded AI slop to the game. It's such a shame to see.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"Given the age of the game, restructuring its complex underlying code presents many challenges. However, new AI-assisted coding tools have opened up more possibilities for reviewing the code and addressing longstanding issues." The peacefully resting body of this great ARPG is getting exhumed for the AI vibecoding grift, and the new devs are openly proclaiming that they are too incompetent to do their job without AI.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →They had better keep a way to opt out of new updates in perpetuity. A new scumbag dev buying an almost 15 year old game after the old studio goes under and slopcode updating it is distasteful, and I don't care what they say, I'm certain mods are going to be a mess with their new updates given they all came out when this game was new. These are the guys who did Torchlight Infinite, so you know it's gonna be terrible. Great game btw, one of my favorite Diablo clones even if I haven't played it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seriously wtf Runic add this taptap bs that wants full access to all of my pc just to play multiplayer and if i decline it won't even start the game. Shoot yourselves in the foot. New patch but still same bugs. Still no controller support even though TL1 ran amazing with a controller on xbox. Instead of adding some bs third party for multiplayer maybe just fix the game bugs in single and multiplayer. Or maybe just make a new actual decent Torchlight thats not garbage and leave our only TL…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I actually like this game. Had a good run with some friends back in the day. This is getting a negative from me simply because instead of utilizing Steam's networking architecture, they are making players sign into sketchy third party bs. How about no? That sounds great. No. Just no. Bad corporation. Bad dog. No. ...No
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Torchlight II takes torchlight 1 and expands upon it in every way. This is my favorite of the series, as everything is expanded to much bigger scale. Level design is more varied, bigger and fun to explore. Quests are everywhere with main and side quests galore. You can still do fishing as well. Dungeons are everywhere, loot is fun and there is SO much of it. The classes are fun to play as well with multiple skill trees to vary your build in different ways. Torchlight II is by far my favorite…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it good game. play good game. you enjoy good game. me enjoy good game. good game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Another game getting updates years in the future, because the rest of the franchise is failing. Apparently it was bought by another company that isn't Runic games, and they are using AI to write the new code. Stay away
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was once fantastic ARPG cherished and loved by Runic Games. Great alternative to Diablo 2. The key word is "WAS" because now Torchlight as franchise has been destroyed by XD publisher, they infect them with AI and in fact all games they have acquired have been ruined by THEM. Thumbs down is not for game itself but because of this publisher.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I did really love this game for so long. Now they're using AI on it, so I'm out.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Retroactively using AI to destroy a classic game is certainly a choice. The update no one asked for: New "AI-assisted" development just to add controller support. Sounds like a skill issue from inexperienced developers. Total migration of online play to a new 3rd party instead of just using Steam servers. New terms of service incl selling data to 3rd party for advertising. Don't waste your money on this in 2026 and beyond. Ruined product by the ruiners of the entire tech industry: AI bros.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can't leave a good game alone, AI tools used by a company that bought the game. And doesn't even label it too. Stay away.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the developers started using ai tools to update the game in the big 2026. Fuck off
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A classic game ruined by a bunch of profit-seeking slop-coders. But they got a new crap login that no one asked for. RIP Torchlight II.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →IP is owned by the Chinese now
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New online requiring a third party login. No.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Torchlight II This review comes from someone who has played many ARPGs but isn't a hardcore player or a completionist. Here are some of my thoughts. I played as an Outlander on Veteran difficulty. Pros Better maps and environments. The maps are much more interesting than in the first game. There's more variety in the environments and the layouts make exploration feel more worthwhile. More interesting side missions. The optional content feels slightly more worthwhile this time around.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Torchlight II is a great game. It's a Diablo-like ARPG that is great fun and is a nice, long campaign. There's a story there, but if you skip every cutscene you aren't really missing much. The gameplay is the true champion. This is the ultimate form of Diablo II. Silky smooth, simple graphics, clear interface. Even non-gamers can pickup and play it. Best thing about it is that it runs on basically any computer made in the last 20 years, even macOS and Linux. This is what a 10/10 game looks…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →III is horrible. And now they've gone back and made this horrible! AI slopped it the hell up. Yay. Everyone loves AI. Cheers for ruining a classic.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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