Titan Quest 2…truth be told, I never thought I’d live to see this sequel come out. Iron Lore’s beloved cult classic spoiled ARPGs for me in 2006 with its unique, Ancient Greek-inspired mythology and the now-iconic dual-class system. While TQ’s legacy lives on through the excellent Grim Dawn, fans have been yearning for a sequel (not expansions) since forever. In the absence of Iron Lore, SpellForce veteran Grimlore Games stepped in and made Titan Quest 2. Dear friends, let’s all welcome Titan Quest back! Ah, I’ve been dying to say that out loud…
But first, let’s address the Typhon in the room. Titan Quest 2 is currently in early access, very, very early access. As is the norm, there are some caveats. First and foremost, the available content now is just a fraction of the planned content. There are around 10-15 hours of content available right now, which largely makes up the first major biome in the game. There are four Masteries (think classes) to choose from, with more on the way. Features like crafting, a proper character creator, and subsequent chapters are yet to be implemented. Secondly, everything, starting from the balancing, is subject to change during development. The developers are planning to release a major update every three months or so, while minor updates like bugfixing and balancing patches are expected every 1.5 months.
With that out of the way, it’s time to answer the real question — what’s Titan Quest 2 like? Is it a worthy follow-up to the cult classic, or do we have a Diablo 3 situation on our hands? My fellow adventurers, it gives me great pleasure to declare that Titan Quest 2 is good. Yes, even at this early stage. I had an absolute blast rampaging through the beautiful and dangerous Greco-Roman ruins, lush forests, and dungeons teeming with mythological threats. Titan Quest is back and it’s here to stay!
The above paragraph does nothing to convey what it’s like to play Titan Quest 2. Let’s fix that. Titan Quest, in all intents and purposes, looks and plays like a current-gen version of the classic. The everlasting ARPG formula of “kill, loot, kill with the loot” is retained in this sequel. Everything you expect from a Titan Quest sequel can be found here. Gorgeous visuals? Check. Fantastic beasts? Check. Varied class customization? Check. Satisfying loot’em up gameplay loop? Check. The combat is super satisfying, and there is a wide variety of quests to take on. Since this is the early access version, I won’t comment on the story. But from what I’ve seen, it’s going to be another grand adventure of cosmic proportions. Titan Quest 2 is truly one of the Titan Quest games of all time.
My playthrough consisted of picking the Warfare mastery at the start, opting for a two-handed build specializing in massive war clubs. I was having a jolly good time bashing mythological monstrosities to the underworld. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Titan Quest game if there were no multiclassing. For my second class, I went with the Earth mastery, resulting in the creation of a powerful Battlemage who can dish out a spear to the face in close quarters as well as hurl flaming rocks from afar. The early access build is a far cry from the robust Mastery system of the first game, but it’s a start. More ARPGs should let the player mix and match classes imo.
Right, so far, Titan Quest 2 is clearly Titan Quest, but in Unreal HD. However, there is one aspect of the sequel that deviates massively from the original—the skills. Titan Quest 2 features both active and passive skills for each mastery you pick. What’s different there, you ask? Everything starts off similar enough, with the player being able to pick both active and passive abilities each level up. Rather than upgrading abilities by using the tired and true incremental level-up system, the game lets you upgrade each ability to apply a slew of handy mutators and modifications. For example, the classic 360-degree sweep of the warrior can be further upgraded to siphon health from enemies, slow enemies on hit, and apply further ailments, or just mix and match to your leisure. Pretty much every active ability comes with its own set of modifiers for you to play around with. This brings a new dimension to class customization, and I can’t wait to see the full potential of.
The way you gain access to higher tiers of Mastery levels has also been changed. Instead of distributing the level-up points between mastery levels and skills, there is a new resource called Divinity Points that is required to increase Mastery levels. Divinity Points can only be gained by leveling up, progressing the story, or completing specific tasks. The core attributes have also been changed to play off each other more. Titan Quest 2 introduces a new attribute system built around four core stats: Might, Knowledge, Agility, and Vigor. These primary attributes shape three secondary stats—Cunning, Resolve, and Fitness. Each core attribute influences the secondary ones in distinct ways, which then affect damage types and gear selection. A very streamlined, but welcome addition.
This being an early access title, you’re bound to run into a few hiccups here and there. From my experience, there are a few balancing issues, especially when comparing melee vs magic builds. The performance also seems to be a bit taxing on my poor RTX 4060 mobile GPU, as I’m having a hard time maintaining 60+ fps without frame generation at 1440p, regardless of the setting. But hey, on the flip side, the game environments actually look gorgeous to demand that kind of GPU power. It’s safe to assume that performance will improve down the line. Thankfully, I did not experience any crashing or bugs. Grimlore understood the assignment!
What We Think
Titan Quest 2, despite being in early access, shows great signs of promise. The game includes, or at least plans to include, everything that makes an ARPG great and doesn’t deviate too much from the beloved Titan Quest formula. The apt regional pricing is just the icing on the cake. These are enough to get Titan Quest 2 an early recommendation from Gameffine.
