Spanning 35 randomly generated floors, this deep dungeon contains several themed layouts that change every few floors, such as mines, ruins, caves, crypts, prisons. But these environments are far from claustrophobic – they present a sense of scale and verticality that's rare in the genre, with large open areas and distant levels visible as you explore.

Torchlight offers three heroes – the Destroyer, focused on melee combat; the Vanquisher, a range-oriented rogue; and the Alchemist, specialised in magic and summoning. Each has three unique skill trees, with distinct specialisations.

There's a great degree of flexibility here – skills are diverse, heroes can wield (or dual wield) all weapon types, and there are spells found while exploring that can be learned regardless of class or stats. So you can easily play as a melee Alchemist with two axes, or as a gun-wielding Destroyer focused on spells. The trade-off is that some skills feel rather generic.

Feature-wise, Torchlight is like a collection of some of the best ideas in the genre, presented in a coherent and accessible package. The pets from FATE return, fighting alongside you and hauling extra loot back to town; the UI is efficient and friendly; you can enchant items, transmute them, socket gems and collect sets; there are side-quests and bounty hunts, boss battles every few floors; a “retirement” feature for those wanting to switch heroes; and even an endless dungeon available once you beat the game.

The art style is another of Torchlight's highlights. It's whimsical, with cartoony characters and painterly, faux-waterbrush environments. Some of the enemies are borderline cute, adding to the casual-friendly tone of the game. However, the short development time does rear its head here, for the lack of enemy variety is quite noticeable after a few hours playing.