Torchlight!

First and foremost; we just made a torchlight first impressions video. Go check it out on the YouTube channel. I think we're actually getting a better hang of is sort've thing. Next time we'll need to remember to do the research before hand though. As new games come out I hope to keep trying this sort of thing. We may need to cobble together mini-series to do some of the other games we run across though, there's just too much to talk about sometimes. Two or three parters should be more than enough though, specially if we time them at 15mins a piece.

Torch gut in particular was a bit of a rushed experience, but I think we got the gist of what we wanted to talk about across well enough. We were aided by the fact that tTorchlight is thankful not all that complex of a game, though this doesn't necessarily count against it. It's currently going for $15 on steam, and was seen as low as $3 during the summer sale. The game is quite obviously intended to be a bit smaller in scale and priced accordingly. Thus we're not looking for fully fleshed out multiplayer or an incredibly long game here; we're just hunting for basic mechanics and feel. In at regard Torchlight proves itself admirably.

The combat of the game is solid and has a good feel to it. Spells and abilities have a satisfying impact to them and the graphic style makes for an interesting visual element as well. It's art style is cartoony but keeps the requirements for processing speed low and has a flavor that almost shouts steam punk, just without the actual steam components. Think of the leather padding and goggles you would normally associates with steam punk and put them in a more classical fantasy setting. I can say the look is too terribly unique, but I will admit I've never heard of a game where I could have a goggle wearing dual pistol wielding wizard before, and I quite like it. Alternating between shooting people and blasting them with delightfully explosive spells is a fun dynamic I'd recommend checking out.

I haven't gotten far into the story, so it'll be a bit longer before I can give a proper review on that element, but thus far the game has been presenting it's lore in a strong and competent manner. I've been told this game is the basis for a potential MMO based in the same setting and if that's true this is proving to be a good start. 

Really to sum it all up I'd have to say that while there isn't that much in torchlight, all of it is very well done and a great first component to a growing series that's well priced for what you get. It's thriving modding community promises a great deal more to come without you having to pay a dime, and the gameplay will undoubtably only improve with the added co-op elements they want to have in future installations or the MMO itself. Check it out.

Good News Everyone!

The SCA fair was fantastic. My expectations were met or exceeded on every front. Granted, they had been lowered somewhat by the meek showing the chesterville event got, but the Osgood medieval festival was an undoubtably successful. There must have been a couple hundred people present, and while they weren't all dressed up like a full SCA fair, a surprising amount were anyways. I found myself more than a little sad I had decided I wouldn't need my shield and sword that day, they would have fit right in.

In terms of building the armor set there's even more good news. We managed to run into the owner of the south tower armoring guild and had a chat with him. I'd have included it in our video, but we were regrettably too caught up in the conversation to remember to bring out the camera. He's willing to sell us a helmet far better than I thought we'd find for under $200, no shipping fees required. Given it's the biggest hurdle we've had for compiling an armor set due to the necessity of quality I couldn't be more happy that we found a local group to help us out.

Finally the video itself will be going up in short order. I want it done by Tuesday, but we'll have to see how that goes. It's also the day we intend to go pay the South Tower guys a visit, so we may be busy or distracted. We pulled in a bunch of good footage though, so it's inevitably going to show up soon. I'm dedicated to making the videos come more regular now, and damned if I'll fail so quickly. Keep an eye out.