Saw you'd beaten Torchlight and had to comment. Yeah, the first game is horrible, I distinctly remember the final boss being atrocious and completely anti-fun. I will say however, that even if Hack and Slash isn't my favorite genre, Torchlight 2 was very good. So don't let it put you off of giving it a try someday. It's genuinely one of the better games of the genre out there.

The first one just happens to be one of the worst.

Brum

I wouldn't really compare Book III to Book I as the two installments after Book I are a lot longer and more alike. And if my memory isn't failing me, they both happen after 20 or something years later. When creating character for Book II (and used the same one in Book III afterwards) I actually pretended it was the son of my Book I character (same name with II xD).
Anyway, be prepared for a lot more hours playing as Book I is the shortest in the series without a doubt.
Also, I loved trying to meet as much Challenges (True Thief, True Healer, Journeymasater, Immaculate, Wealthy Lord, Hellbringer etc) as possible with my character. Don't believe it was available in Book I, but it's a feature in Book II & III for sure. E.g. if you kill 1000 enemies you're a Hellbringer, if you never forcefully break a door or chest you're a True Thief, if you never drink a potion you're a True Healer and stuff like that. Adds a lot of fun and as the name suggests challenge.

Glad to see you finished Eschalon: Book I. Hope you turned every stone as that game does have some interesting secret areas. I also love the cartography in this game, no matter how simplistic it actually is.
Eschalon: Book II is definitely the best in the series, it's been a while since I played it but I think it's safe to say it's twice as big as the first one.
Eschalon: Book III is unfortunately not as good as Book II, and it had some annoying bugs when it was released (maybe it's patched now, don't know) but it does provide a fine closure to the whole series nonetheless.

Has it gotten this bad with your hands? Or is this just another way to prevent further pain?

"Hands free game"?

Oh no, not Ghosts n Goblins.

Cartman: His name is Thumper?