Torchlight II Loot, pets and monster confetti

The loop is simple and it never gets old: fight through crowds of monsters, watch the loot spill out, get stronger, repeat. You pick one of four classes, each with several skill trees, so two Berserkers can play nothing alike. Builds have real depth without demanding a spreadsheet. Combat is fast and flashy, with gibs flying and numbers going up. Your pet fights beside you and trots off to town to sell your junk, so the good part never stops for inventory management.

Vilderan is an open overworld with multiple hub towns, and every layout, path, monster pack and loot drop is randomized each run. You fight through rain, snow, day and night, and the varied regions make exploring worthwhile instead of a corridor crawl. Side quests pull you off the main road into dungeons worth the detour. Once the campaign ends, New Game Plus restarts the whole thing at a much higher difficulty with your skills, gold and gear intact. The game is over when you say it is.

Four heroes tearing through a dungeon together is where the cartoon chaos really pays off, and splitting the loot pile is half the fun. It also works as a low-pressure hangout, since the campaign is straightforward enough that nobody has to study a guide before joining. One honest note: getting connected these days can take a bit of fiddling, so set up the lobby before the session, not during it.