The next important thing about the classes is that regardless of their default function, each of them can modify their tech tree to include the abilities of the others. So the Vanquisher can do some melée, the Destroyer can do spells and gadgets, and the Alchemist can attack from a distance, all depending on where you spend your points.

Unlike Diablo or Mythos, you will always have a pet; you can choose between a canine or a feline. In the demo I was shown, the player character was running around with a lynx. And it's not just a companion; the pet can fight alongside you. It can learn spells as well, but one of the best innovations Torchlight brings is that your pet can go back to town without you and sell unwanted items off, obviating the typically tedious trudge back yourself. And for the hardcore purists who insist on tackling it all themselves, you can even have an imaginary pet; it's invisible and it won't fight, but it will carry inventory!

Another interesting pet-related tidbit: there are pools and wells in the various environments you'll explore. You'll be able to fish in these wells, and the different fish you bring up can be fed to your pet. When you do, your pet will change into a different animal for a short duration -- I watched the character toss his lynx a fish, which turned his pet into a giant spider, able to shoot webs and everything. Can't wait to experiment with that!

Speaking of giants, there seemed to be a good variety of enemies running about. They range in size from tiny and quick to colossal and lumbering. I saw some good swarming activity, keeping the player on his toes. Runic has made sure that you'll get a good mix of antagonists to battle in the dungeons that, by the way, are randomly generated, making sure you won't get the same experience upon replay.

Also, it's got a story that's a bit above the standard fantasy-themed hack 'n' slash. Apparently, there is an ore that confers magical abilities, and it's this that powers your weapons. Unfortunately, that ore is also slowly poisoning the populace, so the overarching goal is to discover why this is and how to correct it. The "dungeons" aren't really that at all -- they're the remains of previous towns and cities that had fallen victim to the ore. This explains why you'll find randomly-scattered treasures and items about. In practical terms, they didn't have to account for that at all, but it's nice to know that someone's thinking about things like that.

There are a ton of tiny improvements that add to the overall effect. You get a shared stash between your characters. When your character is passing behind an object, you get the same kind of Mythos-like x-ray vision, only this time it's color-coded -- blue for you, red for enemies. You'll get Horadric Cube-like recipes to experiment with to combine items. And visually, the game is stunning. There's a wonderful color palette in place that manages to be vibrant and lively without being oversaturated and ridiculous. The characters are the perfect combination of the expressiveness of a cartoon and the detail of realism. And it's fixed the flat plane look of Mythos, in favor of some parallax depth and a general improvement in graphical fidelity. It's sharp as hell and moves wonderfully.

Runic has made sure that this game is going to be available to all. First of all, it can run on even lower-end machines. The demo I saw ran on a laptop that was at least three years old, and yet there were no performance problems. Second of all, they're making it available as a download on Steam on October 27th. Third of all, it's $20. TWENTY DOLLARS. You can't beat that with a Flaming Stick of the Whale.

Finally, Runic Games will be making the dev tools available for modding. And that's everything, not some dumbed-down version that limits what you can do. This company understands and believes in the power of the community to enhance everyone's experience.

And did I mention that they're going to release a Mac version of Torchlight? Yes. Clearly, the Blizzard Method is in full force here. If you'd like to get even more information about this game before you get it, you can check out some gameplay trailers and the first developer diary right here on Big Download (in HD, no less), and some video on how to use the dev tools to mod your own experience.

Torchlight is the game you want. It's fun, it's deep, it's inexpensive. Grab it on the 27th!