One should be excited that the true successor to the action RPG Diablo series, the Torchlight games from Runic, is already in its third iteration. One would even be elated that the third Torchlight game is exiting Early Access this 13th October.

Judging from the Steam reviews so far, people are anything but excited. But let’s recap the recent news first before we dive into the whys. Torchlight 3 will be gearing up for a full launch, though this sequel is developed by Echtra Games, who took over the project after its original creators Runic closed its doors. Originally a shared-world RPG called Torchlight Frontiers, the game was delayed and changed up to become Torchlight 3. And will get a price tag of US$40 once 13th October has hit.

Back To Why This Is Bad News

Simple: because Torchlight 3 is a step back from Torchlight 2. The third game stripped out attributes and reduced the number of skills, going so far as to resemble a mobile RPG that’s masquerading as a PC action RPG. To quote a few helpful reviews on Torchlight 3’s Steam page, the sequel is “a mobile game in disguise”, “very boring and repetitive” even for action RPG grinding standards, and is “simplified and downgraded than what it was in part 2”.

Most fans would rather play Torchlight 2 instead, a game that’s 10 years old and still kicking. Sure, you can’t respec and reset all your spent points in the base game, but that’s what mods are for, right?