Titan Quest II’s Early Access launch is compact but promising

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I’ve invested around 200 hours into Titan Quest, the original game by Iron Lore Entertainment, well before it was even available on Steam. To this day, I still possess the original installation disks and manuals with CD-Keys on them. When THQ Nordic announced in 2023 that a complete sequel was finally in the works, I eagerly looked forward to returning to this action role-playing game series. Now, with Titan Quest II’s early access phase underway, I’ve delved into the currently accessible story content and here are my initial impressions of the team’s latest Greek-themed loot adventure.

In Titan Quest II, you assume the role of a character pursued by Nemesis, a goddess who, after devastating Sparta decades ago, is on a mission to eliminate you, considering you as her only potential threat. Despite it being early access, the game offers around five hours of storyline, and this brief experience has left me eager for more. The narrative entices with several subplots, while also allowing you to flee the destruction of your homeland, engage in battles against deities, delve into celestial mysteries, and battle countless crustaceans – yes, plenty of crabs!

What I’ve always admired most about the original Titan Quest game was its unique approach to character classes and skills, allowing you to choose two distinct skill “specialties” and combine abilities from both. This versatile system appealed to me more than just picking a predefined class like Barbarian, Wizard, or Thief during character creation. It’s exciting to see this freedom return in the sequel, with only four schools (Warfare, Rogue, Storm, Earth) available at launch, but with plans to add more, aiming for at least six by the version 1.0 release.

In my game session, I chose a Warfare and Storm combination to craft the Tempest class, a bulky melee fighter who charges into battle, pummeling enemies until they are defeated. As I level up, I receive three types of skill points: Divinity points, used to boost a specific school to access more advanced abilities; Active skills, which include special attacks or magic; and Passive skills, providing various enhancements. At any moment, I can respec my character for a fee, reassigning my points in the chosen schools, but as of now, this doesn’t allow me to change the selected schools.

Over the past two decades since its initial launch in 2006, this latest installment boasts numerous enhancements and new features to bring it up-to-date with contemporary games, not only visually enhancing its appearance but also offering significant improvements.

In terms of abilities, Titan Quest II builds upon the free-form aspect I mentioned earlier, incorporating skill modifiers and additional skills that have gained popularity in games like Diablo and Path of Exile. As you allocate more points to a particular active or passive skill, they will not only become stronger and more versatile but also unlock slots where you can add extra traits to the skill.

As a dedicated gamer, my go-to move in my Tempest character is the Heavy Strike. Imagine if this skill had an unexpected twist – a secondary follow-up swing every time I unleash it! And what about my Storm Armor? How about it freezes enemies and rains down lightning bolts at regular intervals? These extra features could even be leveled up for added perks.

The Earth and Rogue trees are on my exploration list, eager to discover their secrets. I’m also keeping an eye out for new schools in the pipeline. While these enhancements are impressive and quite common in Action Role-Playing Games (ARPGs), there’s one feature that left me genuinely astonished – the ability to boost even the most ordinary abilities of my character, like my basic attacks for both weapon sets! This attention to detail has truly set this game apart.






In simpler terms, although enhancing your visually stunning skills might seem more thrilling initially, the ability to upgrade basic attacks with modifiers like “Hamstring,” which slows enemies you hit by 30% for a second, and altering movement actions such as Dodge from a dash to a teleport, which allows you to evade danger even when rooted or fixed in place, is surprisingly intriguing. These new mechanics in Titan Quest add an unexpected layer of strategy and excitement to the gameplay.

Returning to the fresh mechanics of Titan Quest II, it has a contemporary feel for an action role-playing game (ARPG), incorporating features such as dash and barrier systems similar to those discussed earlier. Dashing helps you swiftly avoid attacks from large enemies, often signaled by marks, and using a barrier absorbs a specific amount of damage. Following in the footsteps of Path of Exile 2 and Diablo 4, Titan Quest II offers two playstyles: mouse-click control or WASD movement, with both providing smooth and comfortable gameplay. Although I’ve been praising Titan Quest so far, it should be noted that this is an early access title, meaning there are aspects that I look forward to seeing improved in the future.

My main gripe at the moment is the limited variety of enemies, with only a few types appearing during exploration. During my five-hour adventure, I mostly encountered crabs within the available story, but I fought roughly five distinct enemy groups, with crustaceans being the most common. Other encounters included spiders, fish people, birds, and cultists, but I didn’t notice any special versions of these enemies appearing during that time.

In ARPG games, I experience a unique thrill when I encounter a distinctive adversary, curious if a captivating new magical artifact might appear, or what unusual combination of skills they’ll present as a challenge. Unfortunately, this exhilaration seems to be missing (for now) in Titan Quest II, with such intriguing encounters only appearing during side quests, like the four fishman commanders I had to eliminate. Here’s hoping that one of the early access updates will introduce these challenging surprises while exploring freely.

The early access of Titan Quest II hasn’t dampened my eagerness for the complete version; instead, it’s stoked my anticipation even more. Even with just a peek, I’ve fought formidable bosses, marveled at places I’ve traversed, and brainstormed character build concepts. This has left me eagerly waiting to see what unfolds next.

Titan Quest Ii is now available in Early Access on Steam.

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2025-08-27 03:26