Titan Quest II Preview

It's nearly been 20 years since the release of Iron Lore Entertainment and THQ's Titan Quest. Taking control of your player-made protagonist, gamers embarked on a journey across Ancient Greece, Egypt, and China, setting on a quest to bring down the Titans after their escape from the Olympian-made prison.

This original entry, once judged for its traditional gameplay, triumphantly returned in the 10-year remaster, bringing Titan Quest Anniversary to modern-day gamers. Its Diablo-like gameplay in a market that was — and oftentimes still feels like — all too missing the ARPG genre was a welcome change of pace, though ironically, the developers in the now-defunct Iron Lore Entertainment competed against their old behemoth during the development of Grim Dawn. With Creat Entertainment's ARPG gargantuan releasing in the same year, a few months before Titan Quest Anniversary, it was a wonder that the relic of the past managed to accrue such a massive audience.

The seemingly one-off feud returned once again in 2023, as Grim Dawn received an expanded content update for long-term fans... and Titan Quest returned for what looked like an impossible sequel, now that the development team had been disbanded. A head-to-head between the team that established the original grand series and what has now become a staple of the genre, and the return of Titan Quest in the hands of Grimlore Games, the team behind SpellForce 3 Reforced. So let's delve into that a bit more.

I'm far removed from the ARPG genre, with my limited exposure taking me through a venture into brief Diablo III runs and a 60-hour escapade with Grim Dawn that was too early in my gaming career to drop my hubris and play it on Easy. Yet, having enjoyed the far more extensive Grim Dawn options and the incredible customisation that oftentimes felt endless, its overwhelming nature led to an analysis paralysis that became all too deep-seated, and as strong as my passion for the game burnt, it just as quickly burnt out.

Titan Quest II joined the fray not a few months later with its original announcement trailer, and with its Early Access release drawing ever nearer, I felt enticed and excited at the prospect of joining this titan of a franchise to see if I could find love for the genre. So when given the opportunity, I leapt at the chance and gave it a shot.

Titan Quest II starts off with a brief explanation of what's occurring: humans aimed too high, gods didn't like that, and then the deities caused an apocalypse-like scenario upon mortal-kind. At the helm of this all was none other than the entity of retribution, vengeance, and balance: Nemesis. The introduction cutscene paints a grim (yet strangely optimistic) picture of the dire situation at hand, leaving with one final message: this would be a story about hope.

If you squint, this guy could be Johnny Depp.

The character creator was surprisingly simple, though it was a welcoming opportunity to pick characters from preset options, freeing me from the chains of being forced to spend three hours before I begin my adventure, only to regret a minute feature. The game starts with the choice to pick from 16 characters from each gender (32 total) and a name, beginning straight into the action with nary a cutscene to introduce our protagonist.

On an island seemingly unplagued by the goddess' anger, we begin our journey equipped with a blade, no class in sight, and the guttural instinct to go down the right way. From the mountain peak, we're slowly introduced to the nuances of the world through simple-to-follow tutorials: fight an angry bird, get a weapon, equip the weapon. The by-the-numbers approach that Titan Quest II offers feels like a refreshing take as a newcomer, and it wouldn't be long before the nitty gritty began that makes the experience feel all the more enjoyable.

The two-hour demo essentially served as a tutorial, introducing key areas that might play a prominent role throughout the full experience. Character building revolved around armour and spells, but the main draw was the ability to choose a starting class from three options: Storm, Earth, and Warfare.

Choosing a class boils down to reading a few tooltips, understanding what kind of build you want, and then making your selection. While the usual analysis paralysis rears its hideous head, the promise that picking a second class later down the line helps with the uncomfortable feeling of making any compromise. With a limited selection that seems to lean towards spell-casting, no arsenal is void of magical abilities.

Up to this point, Titan Quest II had intrigued, yet not impressed: smooth movement and enjoyable bow-and-arrow gameplay only took my excitement so far. Hesitantly, I picked Storm as my first specialisation due to how much fun long-range combat (and the brutish damage caused by my ranged abilities) had been, but it was at this point that the experience really opened up.

Veterans, be warned: the customisation is far from holding a candle to Grim Dawn, which is a boon for newcomers who can't — or couldn't — handle the in-depth knowledge included in this industry standard. What I got from Titan Quest II, however, was a refreshing feeling of freedom that didn't feel punishing or worrisome; the limited options wouldn't be my undoing later down the line (though that could have been the demo high speaking).

But what wasn't offered to me in the form of customisation was strengthened by a feeling of unadulterated power. With the click of a button, my new spell (bound to the numbers 1–4) cast a lightning strike at my cursor, and gone were the days of pointing at enemies and — Olympus forbid — shooting a bolt that could (would) miss.

I'm not one to don the silk robes wielding a great staff at hand to smite my enemies, but the magic system in Titan Quest II allured me to the point in which I dropped the heavy chest plate, unequipped my pauldrons, and I ran rampant smiting foes like my name was Zeus (a joke The Thunderer would not tolerate... before becoming The Thundered). Strength and sparks at my fingertips, the combat went from an "okay" experience to something I looked forward to doing, and it felt nice that, for the first time in a while, I genuinely felt like the raid boss in the setting.

The short venture only offers access to two spells per category, with six total across the three classes and a few passives to help quell the mana thirst from spamming the arsenal's mightiest ability. But after having enjoyed a good run with all three of the possibilities, I can say that it feels great to include magic as your primary build or an additive to Warfare, even if I was a bit too spark-happy throughout my run.

 

The boss at the end of the demo, a mighty, carnivorous, and — strangely — talking gryphon, offered me the capability to experience traditional boss fights that felt close to home from the far-removed soulslike experience. Predictable patterns and clear telling signs meant that I was dodging and shielding through attacks in a way that felt reminiscent of games of old: masters of boss combat like Zelda came to mind, bringing a refreshing new look at an old and tired mechanic.

The praises I sing don't come without downsides that plague the experience. And while I do look forward to experiencing more of Titan Quest II, I fear that the tutorial's newcomer-friendly coat might later drop to become more veteran-compliant.

The greatest issue that I stumbled across Grimlore Games' ARPG was the heaps and bounds of performance woes. The computer I ran this on is no wimp, and as an early build, it's too early to call it broken, but the problems didn't end at three disappointing crashes and glitches that looked like the game was tabbing out. Framerates downright plummeted upon entering a town, and any amount of particles quickly nosedived any semblance of smoothness from my screen, making an uncomfortable choppy feeling that made it challenging to smite enemies with ease.

Again, as an early build, this isn't entirely worrisome. But in a year plagued by Rise of the Ronin's PC port and Monster Hunter Wilds' downright laughable performance, it's troubling that it feels like, time and again, optimisation is becoming an afterthought. And though I did stand at too many cliffs overlooking the graphics of a surprisingly beautiful world in my OLED display, it would be no excuse for an ARPG to run poorly should these issues not be addressed come the Early Access release.

Titan Quest II seems to have potential, and it might offer something that ARPG fans may have been missing: an accessible entry point that isn't plagued by terrible business practices or panic-inducing levels of customisation. As a new oldcomer (old newcomer?) of the genre, beginning my adventure worry-free felt like a refreshing change while not surrendering challenge altogether, but this customisation may very well be limited to the island I wreaked havoc across.