A little over 19 years ago, the gaming industry produced a legendary game: Titan Quest, giving players the role of a hero fighting against the three Telkine brothers. The game was remembered for many years for its novelty, interesting mechanics and colorfulness, and of course, the use of Myths and Legends as its setting.
The following DLCs were very pleasant, long and interesting, but the breaks between the release dates of the DLCs were very strange. The first – Immortal Throne – released in 2007, a year after the game originally launched. Then, in 2016 a re-release of Titan Quest in the form of Titan Quest Anniversary Edition arrived, followed by the DLC Ragnarök in 2017 and finally Eternal Embers in 2021.
On August 11, 2023, Titan Quest 2 was announced. The developers promised us respect for the original source and released the first teaser announcement. Finally, on August 1, 2025, the game was released in Early Access. And I will say right away, the developers promised to supplement the game with new content, but also to raise the price in the future.
That is, having bought the game now, in the future you will be able to play its full version that was acquired with this type of discount. The Early Access was released so that players could watch, evaluate and understand what the developers are trying to convey to the playerbase and submit their feedback. It is also the first taste of the game we will get in the future. Titan Quest 2’s Steam page indicates that the game will remain in Early Access for about a year – but possibly more.
Prepare for adventures saturated with ancient magic and dangers! At the center of the events stands Nemesis, the goddess of retribution, who seeks to desecrate the threats of fate and subjugate the entire mortal realm. Her vengeful anger threatens to destroy the balance and plunge the world into chaos. But the ancient prophecies are inexorable: according to legend, a mortal with a birthmark in the shape of the moon will one day rise from the dead and put an end to the tyranny of Nemesis.
As such things usually happen, our protagonist is this very hero, whose fate is intertwined with the fate of the whole world. The goddess of retribution seeks to hunt the protagonist down, turning each clash into the battle for the future of the entire world.
The new chapter of Titan Quest 2 presents itself in an explosion of color despite the gloomy introduction. From the very first frames it evokes a warm feeling of nostalgia. The introductory video is stylized as the 2000s, reminding us of the times when game cinematics were still a real art. And then we are met by a familiar bright and lively world, without any hints of an impending catastrophe or gray melancholy – everything seems to return us to the origins of classic fantasy.
The initial locations, flooded with the sunlight, please the eye with cozy houses, statues and temples. Leaves swirl in the air, butterflies flutter around bright purple flowers, and annoying flies buzz around broken watermelons – all this creates an atmosphere of a living and rich world. Unreal Engine 5 shows itself in all its glory here: the detail is amazing – every little thing breathes life into the environment. Melodic Greek motifs accompany the journey, and in boss fights the music accelerates, reminding us of the fighting spirit of ancient heroes.
The graphics are the real highlight of the game. Compared to its predecessor, Titan Quest 2 looks much more impressive: a rich palette, clean lines and high detail make it almost more technologically advanced than even Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2. However, sometimes it seems that some small objects are excessive – you can only admire them standing still with the camera close.
And then the question arises: how much do you have to pay for such beauty. On a system with RTX 4070 Super at “epic” settings in 1440p without DLSS the game holds about 60-65 frames per second – quite playable, but still a little low for isometric view.
Enabling DLSS in “quality” mode raises the indicators to about 80 frames, with rare drops when transitioning between locations. So the graphical progress is obvious, but the price of beauty is the Unreal Engine 5 tax: the demanding nature and the need to balance between visual beauty and smooth gameplay.
The game greets us with a simple character creator, in which we do not have many options for creating our hero – just yet. A dozen presets and a choice between the Hero’s gender, that’s all that it has for now. The developers promised in the roadmap to rework the character creation into a more detailed and in-depth version.
The gameplay of Titan Quest 2 is a classic hack-and-slash, time-tested and beloved by fans of the genre. We go to picturesque locations, where we fight hordes of enemies, collect rich loot and
power up the protagonist to become faster and more powerful, both by equipping better gear and by using a correct build.
The combat system here is as responsive and intuitive as possible: just click the right mouse button on the enemy – and he already gets what he deserves. Everything is like in the best traditions of isometric ARPGs: simple controls, instant reaction and the ability to immerse yourself in dynamic battles.
In the settings, there is an option to switch to WASD mode or use contextual input – in which all actions are performed with the left mouse button, and target selection and interaction depend on the object. Personally, I played on a gamepad, and the controls were very convenient – although long-range attacks require a little more precision.
As for the enemies, there are a little fewer of them than in some modern RPGs, but the fights are intense and detailed. Bosses like to put on a real show: spamming fire puddles, water jets or poison, jumping and attacking with furious force. On normal difficulty, they can literally take away all your health in a couple of hits – so not only a properly assembled build is important here, but also the speed of your reaction.
The dash introduced into the game is especially pleasing in that regard – a simple dodge button makes the fights more dynamic and adds tactical depth. Now the player needs to not only choose the right skills and equipment, but also react to the dangers of monsters in time. In general, Titan Quest 2 preserves the classic spirit of the genre, focusing on fast fights, a tactical approach and the pleasure of battles.
The build is very important in the gameplay, you can no longer just take what you like and do not think about combining skills with each other, you will have to think through your own build.
The development system is very similar to the original game. When leveling up, the hero receives attribute points that can be invested in one of the basic characteristics, as well as mastery and divinity points. As in the first Titan Quest, the character class is formed by a combination of two branches of mastery from the available ones.
At the start of early access, you can choose from four branches: Earth, Rogue, Storm and Military. Each mastery hides its own tree of active and passive skills. Thus, in the first half hour of the game, the player gets a dual class, which opens up opportunities for creating interesting combinations, but to be fair, in early access, due to level and equipment restrictions, this is weakly manifested: it is often enough to focus on leveling up one ability, additionally studying only those that give pleasant bonuses and effects, such as running speed or teleportation.
This is justified, including by a new feature for the Titan Quest series – modifiers that enhance an ability or change its properties and character. This system is reminiscent of PoE support gems or Diablo 3 runes. For example, one of the rogue’s starting skills, “trick shot”, which is a dagger throw, can be turned into a powerful bow shot or spell by choosing the appropriate modifier, “ice shards” from the Storm tree can be made homing, and the ground-shattering stomp can be a melee attack.
You can activate up to five modifiers on a single skill – they can be “turned on” and “turned off” at will, and skill points can be redistributed at any time for a small amount of gold, which is very convenient for experiments. At the same time, you can even improve and modify basic abilities, such as a dash, energy shield, and basic attack.
The cherry on top of this cake is that passive and active skills can be upgraded independently of each other, which frees the player from the agony of choice and allows you to upgrade one active and one passive skill with each level increase. However, it is not only level increases that can grant skill points.
When it comes to Titan Quest, for me the series has always been more about “adventure and exploration” than about the endless race for the most powerful builds and destroying maps with one click. And, apparently, the developers of Titan Quest 2 fully share this philosophy. They focus on immersion in a world filled with secrets, unexpected encounters and treasures. Already at the launch of the Early Access, we are honestly told: this is “a hand-crafted adventure”, and, frankly, they did not lie.
In the game, exploration is not just a side element, but an important part of the gameplay. To find a rare side quest or secret item, sometimes you have to look around carefully, talk to NPCs and pay
attention to the environment. Moreover, even after receiving a quest, you will not always see a marker on the map – you will have to find the path yourself and solve the mysteries of the world. For example, in one of my adventures, my character turned into a goat — and only after some time did I come across a special herb that could return him to human form. Where to look for this herb? There is no word about it in the hints — I had to search by trial and error. When I finally found the right plant and returned to the witch to return my face, I received not only the restoration of my form — but also an additional passive skill. A small victory but a pleasing one.
In Titan Quest 2, there are moments when you need to pay a little more attention: lighting a fire according to hints, breaking through a hidden wall, or finding escaped cows without markers and hints. These small tasks perfectly dilute the journey and help immerse yourself in the atmosphere of adventure — especially in a genre where everything usually comes down to a mouse-clicking spree and a build calculator. It is interesting to note: after the release, comments appeared on the Internet that this is “not early access, but some kind of demo version.” And they are partly right – the story can be completed in a few hours on easy difficulty without much effort or deep immersion in build subtleties.
But I personally spent about eight hours on normal difficulty, completed almost all side quests and tried out different abilities – and was satisfied. The game is clearly not designed for endless leveling or hundreds of hours of farming bosses. It is rather a classic approach to the genre: go through the story, enjoy exploring the world and setting out on the adventures.
Overall, Titan Quest 2 returns us to the roots of the genre – with respect for the player’s personal time and love for exploring the world. And this is what makes it special among modern ARPGs: it is more about travel and discovery than about an endless race for numbers. As a result, this is one of the most beautiful games, with a slow-motion day and night cycle, with charming graphics and aesthetics. Amazing work with light and lighting.
I can treat the builds in the game in a peculiar way, considering that the game is not designed for hundreds of hours of farming after the final quest – it still requires thinking through the build already at normal difficulty. Now, the game is very short, the words that this is a demo version are more suitable at the moment. But, seeing the efforts of the developers and the work invested in the game – I can advise you to buy the game now and wait a couple of years – get an excellent fully built game then. We believed in BG3, right? – why not believe in TQ2 now.
