Eighteen years. That's how long I've been waiting for Titan Quest 2. And now that it's finally here, was it worth it? Well, slight spoilers, but yeah - it's pretty good!
Hey folks, I'm Ash, and allow me to show you what makes Titan Quest 2 good, what still needs a bit of polish.... and also where the game falls flat on its face.
Video version of this review (~12 minutes)
Gameplay feel
Let's start with the most important question - does it feel good to clobber enemies? And the answer is... yeah. Attacks have a good bit of weight to them, making each hit satisfying, and most of the special effects are flashy without being an eyesore. Combat is also noticeably slower than in most ARPGs, even once your build comes online, which I actually found refreshing. That said, you can still build with speed in mind and hop around like a rabbit with a fresh pair of batteries, but it's never going to be quite as frantic as Diablo 4 or Path of Exile.
Spells are especially fun to use. My favorite ended up being Ice Shards tweaked so that they fly out in random directions before slowly starting to orbit you like a deadly halo, just begging for some stupid fishman to wander in and get turned into sushi. Basic attacks, though, those could use some work. The swings sometimes feel a bit floaty, and staves in particular have stiff, awkward animations that make them less fun than they should be. Which is a shame, because Titan Quest 2 has this cool feature where some abilities change their animation based on the weapon you’re using - and let’s be honest, casting through a staff is badass.
Ice Shards are an absolute blast to play around with!
Performance problems
While I'd love to keep praising the game, and I'll get back to that in a moment, there is one burly bugbear that constantly kept trampling over my fun: the performance. It's about as stable as a drunkard in an earthquake... during a tornado! I'd be cruising at 144FPS one second, then crash all the way down to 20FPS the next, and the more enemies there were on the screen the more likely this was to happen.
I tried everything to fix the problem, even dropping all of my settings to low, but it didn't help. The framerate continued to swing wildly between silky smooth and slideshow mode. My PC isn't top of the line anymore, sure, but I'm able to run every other ARPG out there without breaking a sweat. Titan Quest 2 looks great, but it isn't that graphically demanding, so this is purely an optimization issue. And one I really hope gets patched quickly, because it’s a serious blemish on an otherwise remarkably fun game.
Story and presentation
Since I already brought up the visuals, let me just say that Titan Quest 2 is gorgeous. In terms of raw graphical fidelity it can't really compare with most AAA games, but that hardly matters when its world is so full of little details that you can instantly tell someone truly cared. I especially love how grounded and immersive it feels. It actually takes itself seriously, and in an era full of self-referential 'wink wink' humor, I respect the hell out of that.
The same goes for the story. Even though it's a bit cliché as it's all about a chosen one, a prophecy and ridiculously incompetent gods, the characters go all-out and do their best to really sell the stakes. Because of this there's a real sense of urgency, and so I found myself getting unexpectedly invested. So much so that I was honestly annoyed when the first chapter ended on a cliffhanger. I wanted more!
And then there’s the voice acting, which ranges from good to great across the board. Even the silliest side quests, like the one where you help a lost jar back to its podium, have a surprising amount of weight and gravitas purely thanks to the delivery. So hats off to the voice actors - they've done wonderful work.
The cinematics also come in a variety of cool styles
Modernized design
Given that it's been nearly 20 years since the original Titan Quest arrived, it should come as little surprise to hear that Titan Quest 2's design has been modernized. For example, you can no longer carry around an entire pantry's worth of potions. Instead, you only get two healing potions that recharge by smacking enemies, and one energy potion that regenerates over time. There's also a newfangled dodge button that lets you zoom around at high speeds... as well as avoid deadly attacks.
Unsurprisingly, this has been accompanied by an increase in enemy complexity. Not only is there a bunch of different enemy types to contend with, but the tougher variants also have highly damaging abilities you'll need to avoid or cancel to stay alive. Don't worry, however, this doesn't turn the game into a bullet hell as only one or two enemies per pack have special abilities and they are clearly telegraphed.
As for the bosses... well, I hate to rely on this comparison because it's ridiculously overused, but it gets the point across quite well: the bosses are kinda like the Dark Souls ones. They're less about standing still and trading blows, and more about dodging high-damage attacks and then striking back when they leave themselves open. It’s a big shift from the original Titan Quest, but aside from performance issues making certain fights messy, I really like the change. It makes the battles feel tense and memorable, especially if you crank up the difficulty and have to actually learn the fight or get your face used as a mop.
Speaking of difficulty, I found Titan Quest 2 to be decently challenging - enough that it managed to kill me a couple of times, but not enough that I felt like I was slamming my head against a wall in the hopes it cracks before I do. And if you have masochistic tendencies, you can increase the difficulty quite considerably by visiting the Shrine - and this can be done very early in the campaign. So despite only just launching, the game has struck a nice balance between casual and hardcore play.
Circling back to the previous topic, some design elements have wisely remained untouched by time. The map is not randomized - it's hand-crafted. There's all sorts of neat places to explore and plunder, including secrets that can give you everything from piles of loot to permanent buffs. So while this does mean the replay value is lower, I love having a pre-set world as it makes those first few playthroughs a lot more exciting.
The scenery is often stunning to look at
Endgame and multiplayer
As for the loot itself, it's a bit too early to judge, but I think it has a lot of potential. There's a ton of different stats to play around with, and those can appear on all sorts of different gear - from caster staves to melee bonk-sticks - so crafting unique builds should be a lot of fun. That's something for the future, however, as right now we only have access to the early game so it's all fairly subdued.
On the same note, I can't really talk about the endgame or even multiplayer as both are still unfinished. What I can say is that there are plans for "dynamic and repeatable experiences" in the endgame, probably something akin to Path of Exile's maps if I were to hazard a guess, but right now this is all speculation. As for multiplayer, it's currently in a WIP state and thus not yet ready for the spotlight.
Talents and builds
One of the most pleasant surprises for me was just how easy it is to create fun builds. On my first run I decided to challenge both myself and the game by going for a mage knight build - a combination that in most games tends to be doomed from the start since there's no real synergy in the gear and stats needed for the two options. But you know what? Titan Quest 2 actually makes it work - and quite well at that!
That’s largely because each of the four main attributes - Vigor, Agility, Might, and Knowledge - also boost related secondary stats. For example, putting points into Might or Knowledge will also increase Resolve - a stat that governs Fire and Cold damage. Because of this a tanky mage build is perfectly viable, since you’re never truly wasting points.
It's a simple system, but it works well
On top of attributes, you'll also get skill points to put into active and passive abilities, and this is where Titan Quest 2 really won me over. Each skill has a bunch of modifiers you can unlock by investing points, and these can significantly change how the skill behaves - similar to how gems work in Path of Exile. You don't even need to max out skills in order for them to be useful. All it takes is a couple of points to unlock key modifiers and you can completely reshape your playstyle.
And if you feel like you've gone down the wrong path, or you just want to play something different, you can respec your entire build at any time. It's quick and painless. Just press a couple of buttons, and suddenly you've gone from being a sword & board fighter to a lightning mage!
The only real drawback with the current system is the limited number of individual skills, presumably due to the game still being in Early Access. What we have is genuinely good, but I would like to see a few more variants as right now every frost build is going to be using some form of Ice Shards since they're the only early-game option.
The spells are fun, but I wouldn't mind a bit more variety
DLC and monetization
Last but not least, let's talk about those ever-present questions in modern gaming - what's the monetization like, how expensive are the skins and is the Battle Pass worth your time? And you know what? I'm delighted to say that there's none of that!
And I don’t mean "none yet, because it’s Early Access." The Grimlore Games team has explicitly stated the only monetization the game will have is expansions or DLC further down the line, and I could not possibly be happier about that!
Obligatory giant enemy crab
What's the verdict?
Titan Quest 2 undertook the daunting task of updating and modernizing an ancient classic, and despite the odds, it has pulled it off! Even in this early state, it's already a great ARPG and a worthy successor to the original. There's a ton of potential here, and I'm excited to see just how far it'll go once it's fully finished.
So, would I recommend it? Absolutely... but with a caveat. Right now, the performance is still a bit rough, and I can't promise you a smooth ride if you jump in today. So unless you're really eager, I’d suggest holding off until the next big patch or two for the best experience. Either way, enjoy!