This week, Tally and Marc played the excellent ARPG Torchlight II together on PC. While they enjoyed the experience, despite connection issues and random drop-ins, how did their characters find it? For this installment of This Week in Co-Op, we explore the experience from the vantage point of two marauders: Excelsia and DjinniMan.
Extract from the log of Excelsia, Marauder of the Frostfang tribe:
Day 10
Fah! Our quest continues, as does this damnable cold. Today we set out in search for some key - perhaps an Emberstone key? I don’t remember exactly; it’s hard to remember when I’m out in the field and the rage is upon me. DjinniMan, also of the Frostfang tribe, is still with me. I don’t know what the elders were thinking sending off two marauders on this quest. Maybe they’re hoping one of us will prove our dominance. All I know is that as of yet, neither one of us has the upper hand. We’re both just trying to survive out here. Enough writing for today. If I keep going, I’ll likely get frostbite.
Extract from the log of DjinniMan, Marauder of the Frostfang tribe:
Day 10
After a long absence, I returned to my village. My travels had taken me to many places, yet very little had changed. Lo, these many months I have been away, yet the elders still require the same things from me now as they did then. I tire of the ceaseless sameness of it all. They have sent me away with another marauder, one a few seasons younger. I wonder what it all means. Am I to train her, or is she a threat? Did this youngster take my place when I was gone? Perhaps returning this key will restore my honor.
Extract from the log of Excelsia, Marauder of the Frostfang tribe:
Day 11
The blackouts continued today. Unsettlingly, I don’t think I can attribute these to the rage. It’s strange. When DjinniMan and I enter uncharted territory, sometimes I black out for minutes at a time. When I come to, I get the sense that I may have not existed during those times. Even more upsetting is that sometimes after crossing a territory threshold, DjinniMan disappears altogether for a few minutes, then blinks back in existence. I wonder if we’re encountering the strange magic that we’ve only heard whispered about in these parts: the Khanekshun Yssuus. Fah, enough of this damnable writing for the day.
Extract from the log of DjinniMan, Marauder of the Frostfang tribe:
Day 11
Things are becoming clearer. During my travels, I learned much about harnessing the inner spirit. When the rage overwhelms, in the heat of battle, I am granted visions of other places and times. It happened today; overwhelmed by an army of foes, I reached out with my mind, and it was as if time stood still. I was in another, safer place, surrounded by vendors of various elixirs and trinkets. The vision faded, and when I came to, Excelsia was gone. Perhaps she too has undertaken the vision quest?
Extract from the log of Excelsia, Marauder of the Frostfang tribe:
Day 12
A strange mage appeared in the midst of our questing today. He was taciturn, yet fought beside us. DjinniMan and I shrugged at each other, and let him tag along. I may have accidentally detonated a mine on him… but apparently no lasting harm was done, because he reappeared moments later. This land is uncanny. Events that should cause death just result in setbacks, then the injured person will reappear as if by magic. Matron wolf preserve us from these evil magics.
Extract from the log of DjinniMan, Marauder of the Frostfang tribe:
Day 12
I was a fool to have stayed away for so long. Though I grow ever stronger with each kill, Excelsia is my equal in combat. My time spent in quiet and isolation has made me feeble. Today, some ethereal wizard in fancy robes appeared. My eyes met Excelsia’s and we both realized that this was a stranger. The newcomer never spoke. With his power at our side, we bathe in the blood of our enemies. It is all I can do to keep up with both of them. Curse these old bones.
Extract from the log of Excelsia, Marauder of the Frostfang tribe:
Day 13
After finding both parts of the key, we were able to open a portal to another realm. After fighting through a dungeon, we found yet another portal that led to a platform suspended in space and time. A horribly strong foe appeared before us and began summoning the stuff from nightmares (large purple creatures as well as tentacles straight from the ground!). Our fight was progressing well enough, if slowly, when I had a blackout. Time seemed to be suspended. Stalwartly, I continued to beat upon our foe. Then time suddenly snapped forward again and I found myself on the ground, mortally wounded, though I had perceived no fatal damage up until this point. As I gasped what I thought to be my last breath, I blacked out once again for hours. Afterwards, I found myself in town, completely well again. Though DjinniMan and I planned to go back and defeat the foe, we best felt it was suited for another day. We must get to the bottom of these strange time gaps.
Extract from the log of DjinniMan, Marauder of the Frostfang tribe:
Day 13
I am beginning to question my sanity. It used to be simple: kill, or be killed. Blood and rage, spirits and anger, these I can understand. What happened today can only be described as a nightmare. The horror was so great that I blacked out, only to be revived at the dungeon’s entrance. Again and again I fell, then was reborn. Eventually, I… shifted locations back to the merchant with the elixirs. I traded a purse full of gold and many scavenged weapons for the precious, life-giving potions. Transported back via some foul magic, these arcane liquids were enough to keep me alive. Excelsia was nowhere to be found. Perhaps if I commune with the spirits, I can learn her fate.