#torchlight 2

Anyway, I found a great example of the kind of thing it does kind of mediocrely that Grim Dawn does very well, which I will explain with very minor spoilers for both (and possibly mixing up some minor details, but whatever).

In act 3 of TL2 there's what basically amounts to a non-optional side quest to get an item you need to progress the main story. Said item is in a logging camp on the other side of the Spooky Forest you're in, and when you get there it contains no woodsmen but many werewolves. To progress the quest you move through the area, killing werewolves and reading notes left by one of the last survivors, and eventually notes from his wife after he's gone. In the end it turns out everyone's dead or werewolfed or something, and you kill the former foreman who's actually the Alpha Werewolf (sadly no betas or omegas, but I guess those were the rest of them in the area even if they weren't explicitly labeled).

Problem solved, everything wraps up neatly, it's all contained in its own little separate map, and you literally can't miss any of it because it's mandatory to proceed through the main story and everything is glowing and also highlighted on your map. The writing for it is serviceable and conveys the stock footage equivalent of a story fine, but nothing stands out about it in any way.

Meanwhile in act 3 in Grim Dawn there's a similar story. Once again it's centered around a man and woman and their child in a difficult situation, but I think I'll let this one tell itself because it's a quick read on the wiki. The quality of the writing is substantially better, the story is much less generic (even if it's not completely original), and the tragic ending hits so much harder.

And here's the thing: those are just three random notes you can find on the ground walking through the area they take place in. Completely optional, completely missable, and entirely just there for flavor. And the game is full of stuff like that. It's not really my preference in terms of aesthetic or my favorite genre in terms of story or setting, but even with that going against it it still impressed me many times with its commitment to worldbuilding. The main story is decent but nothing super amazing, but there's so much really interesting stuff scattered through the world if you want to look for it. Dozens upon dozens of notes like that, journal entries and letters and log books and so on, and lots of little details in the way the world is put together and things the level artists snuck in here and there.

It's not quite on the same level as The Witcher 3, where nearly every side quest is more interesting and better written than the main story of 95% of other games out there, but like the Witcher series it's one of those games where I read every little scrap of text because it's frequently fascinating and contributes so much to the feeling of the world. Unsurprisingly the lead designer for Grim Dawn is a huge nerd who I've seen talk before in interviews about his interest in history and mythology and stuff, and it shows in how complete and coherent the world feels.

SolikarXTorchlight crossover: Torrik of Kessig and Beth Ravencoft jojo-pose finished

OH MY GOD IS THAT A torchlght II REFERENCE?!!