I’ve been playing Torchlight in the late hours of the night. Few games can forge that kind of addictiveness in a player -- X-COM, Civilization, Counter-Strike, and Demon’s Souls immediately come to mind. And considering that my eyes are bloodshot with sleep deprivation, Torchlight’s ability to hold my attention at this time is quite an accomplishment.

Core mechanics in Torchlight feel very refined. Character development -- levels, skills, equipment -- are all wonderfully enticing to the player. The loot system is possibly one of the best I’ve ever encountered. But unlike other action-role-playing games with a dash of rougelike, I had difficulty finding motivation beyond loot whoring to continue through the dungeons.

Don’t get me wrong -- Torchlight is loads of fun. The game is crafted for a specific experience and expresses that experience well. There’s a lot to love about Torchlight, but Runic Games’ debut title is just out of reach of greatness.

Torchlight takes elements from previous action-RPG standouts Diablo and Fate and molds them into one. Players descend through a series of dungeons located below town, fight enemies to gain experience and equipment, and use basic attribute leveling and skill-tree selection to shape their characters.

Combat in Torchlight adds variety to the game, as well. All of the basics that players expect are present -- melee, ranged and magic weapons. The game allows players to equip two separate weapon profiles (right and left hand equips) which can be toggled between on the fly. Each character class also comes with three different skill-trees to add both active and passive combat abilities.

Torchlight is certainly a competent action-RPG, but the game isn’t without its frustrations. The first of those is the difficulty.

I don’t mean to say that Torchlight is a difficult game -- it isn’t. Torchlight is actually pretty easy and forgiving of player mistakes. Death in Torchlight gives the player three options -- sacrifice experience and fame (another form of experience which grants extra skill points) to restart at the exact point of death, sacrifice gold to restart at the beginning of the dungeon, or sacrifice nothing to restart back in town.

Even on the harder difficulties, the game feels easy. Playing on hard, I had no trouble mowing down enemies with abandon. But towards the end of the game, the difficulty curve ratchets up to something fierce. Players will unexpectedly face much tougher foes in those final levels.

The other major frustration players may encounter is finicky targeting. Being a completely 3D game, enemies in Torchlight have free-roaming rather than tile-based movement. This can lead to enemies cluttering together, which makes targeting specific foes difficult. In addition, the targeting zone feels a little small, since at times a click to attack doesn’t actually do anything or strikes in the wrong direction.

But these are really minor quibbles. The uneven difficulty curve can be overcome through side-quests and sheer perseverance, neither of which are a chore because of Torchlight’s tight core gameplay and the allure of new gear. Targeting can become frustrating, but players can wreck havoc on mobs with the right skills.

The one thing really holding back Torchlight is its lack of personality. Compared to previous entries in the genre, the quests aren’t particularly memorable at all. In Diablo, being told about The Butcher and finally facing the beast invoked an emotional response. Quests in Torchlight don’t ever stir feelings of trepidation and fear of death which create those moments worth sharing with friends.

Though Torchlight falls a little short of gaming nirvana, the game does so many things right that I’d be hard-pressed not to recommend picking up the title.