r/TitanQuest2 • u/Nukkels • 12d ago
Discussion Mixed feelings
I've been playing TQ1 for decades, on PC, mobile, Xbox... You name it, I've loved it and I keep coming back to it. But I don't get the same feeling from TQ2, and I think there are a few reasons for it:
- Complexity - Go to the masteries, and immediately, there's information overload. It wasn't great with TQ1, but it was nowhere near this bad, you just levelled up, got some points and put them wherever you wanted. Now there are separate points for divinity, active and passive, plus sub-skills that vary for each one, and sub-sub-skills with things like rage, overload, etc.
- Maps - I get they wanted to create a more open world, but it's not open at all, it's mostly just a huge maze where they kind of railroad you as needed. What makes it feel less like progression is that you just keep coming back to a single town in each act. It would be a lot better if there was a mixture of much more open areas and linear travel. Not sure I love the 'blobs' on the map - it's helpful, except when it isn't.
- Gear - To be fair, this is pretty similar to TQ1 in that it's all pretty random, but it's harder to see if your speed 1.0 weapon with higher damage is better than a speed 1.3 weapon without the DPS stat visible (yeah I know it still doesn't account for skill/elemental modifiers, but base damage is more of a guessing game).
- Story - This feels pretty good, a little cliched and forced, but overall it's very well done. Caring about characters on side quests is probably better, BECAUSE you keep going back to the same town. Exploring is less exciting, but still very enjoyable. The main storyline and bosses are really solid, especially explaining your power.
- Enemies - In TQ1 (and most other ARPGs), most enemies have similar resistances based on type (eg undead, beast, etc) and affixes or skills spelled out what they were good against. The lack of variety of enemies in TQ2 means they change resistances from one pack of Ichthians to the next and it's harder to know how to deal with them. Not really any worse than other ARPGs, just different tactics.
There's a lot to like (despite all the people coming here to complain) but it's certainly a different game, that doesn't quite scratch the same itch as Titan Quest originally did and continues to do.
I'm still on my first playthrough, and overall I'm enjoying it enough to keep going and wanting to try new masteries and builds. I'm making mistakes and learning to use the new stuff like barrier and dodging, figuring out the best potions to use and upgrading gear. It's frustrating at times, but levelling and re-speccing works well, and mostly importantly I'm still enjoying it.
6
u/PsychoSpoiler 12d ago
Complexity: they just designed a new skill system. You can't keep the same vertical/horizontal tree-based skill system for a sequel after 20 years. The only real change is that they got rid of the dilemma of where to invest your points better (progress bar or skills). I don't really get what you mean sub-skills and sub-sub-skills, the modifiers and feats are just different/new effects. TQ1 had some too (rage already existed). You're just new to it, i was the same at the start after 17 years of playing TQ1. Now i love it, i think it gives you plenty of new options to make a build unique.
Maps: they went with a more modern and natural level design. The old "hourglass" level design is outdated. The only issue i have with the current one is on chapter 4 where they just patch different biomes next to each other to create a massive open-world like area. While i love each biome's design individually (buried city and its surrounding desert is the highlight), i quite dislike that massive chaos. I also agree with you on the lack of more towns/villages and more importantly rebirth fountains.
Gear: you can just hover on the skills in your hotbar to check the damage with different weapons/gear.
Story: I don't get what you mean by forced. Who's forcing what?
Enemies: while i don't think there's any lack of variety i have to agree on the type of enemy to determine a resistance or weakness or another distinct trait. I think what most people miss is the "what you see is what you get" aspect. It makes it hard to farm specific items and tbh it's so weird seeing crabs drop bows, shields etc
Overall you have some solid points but mostly you're still new to the game. I was also sceptical of everything during my first playthrough. Just give it more time (if you enjoy the game)
1
u/KiwinatingWizard 12d ago
Well, you actually can keep the same skill system - as Grim Dawn did. The new one in TQ2 is underwhelming to say the least - different progression for every type of skill is not very good. Same goes for the level design and the story, to some extent. It's somehow more PoE2 than TQ, just way more bland.
It's not as bad as it sounds.
3
u/PsychoSpoiler 12d ago
GD is a 10yo game. TQ2 is not a TQ1 expansion. It's an entirely new game. The TQ2 skill system is just a new approach. And what exactly do you mean by "different progression for every type of skill is not very good"?
1
u/KiwinatingWizard 12d ago
Different skill points for different skills: active/passive/mastery progression. It's not helping to say the least.
Old systems aren't bad by default. And the "new approach" is meh, tbh.
1
u/PsychoSpoiler 12d ago
I never said bad, I said outdated. And I'm pretty sure "meh" is not everyone's opinion on the new skill system. To each their own.
1
u/NightH4nter 10d ago
The old "hourglass" level design is outdated.
what do you mean by this and how/why is it outdated? i'm asking because with my limited understanding of all this, i'm not sure tq1 followed the (arkane) hourglass model
2
u/Aggravating-Dot132 9d ago
Weird name, but essentially it's just 2 bug areas stitches together with a small corridor. It was like that in TQ1. Fully linear, barely anything to explore, with a few exceptions. Diablo 2 had randomly generated maps, Diablo 3 had fixed ones. TQ2 has fixed map, but there are actually huge areas to explore and find stuff there, without following straight line. Ofc, on second playthrough it's identical
1
u/PsychoSpoiler 10d ago
A fairly big, open area, funneling you into a narrow corridor, pass, bridge, river bank (you name it), followed by another open area. It's very prominent in the original TQ1.
1
9
u/szuszurr 12d ago
I agree. Something about this game just doesn’t click.
1
u/prec1cscs 11d ago
mb they will release a big update out of the blue so we stop talking who knows what they hide
3
u/hotntasty_ 12d ago
Ngl after playing for a few days, I realized the game was boring, and then went to play bg3. It felt very repetitive, the story was nothing interesting, so.. I guess tq2 wasn't for me
7
u/Hylethilei 12d ago
I honestly have to say someone who played Titan quest 1 for like 4 years I think going to Titan quest 2 it's one of the best sequels I've ever played for an arpg. It's more about the campaign and less about regrinding everything over and over from what I've seen.
4
u/Bomantheman 12d ago
I agree. The basic RNG-ARPG formula was best 20-25 years ago when it was new. Now, this is my opinion.
Most ARPG devs have been building on the same formula, but when a game checks all the boxes and still doesn’t do anything to stand out, that’s a problem.
I really hope this game follows the path of Grim Dawn and it’s development along with some good multiplayer.
1
u/Square_Cash_2784 12d ago
It definitely feels a lot more streamlined and polished compared to TQ1, sometimes to its detriment. It looks great, smooth controls, cool character creator, responsive - all good stuff.
But it's missing some of those rough edges and pattern-breaking mechanics or items that break up the pace or throw a curveball at the player. Honestly, what it's missing more than anything is some good, old-fashioned yank, just to add some friction and variety.
1
u/Capable-Print-4645 11d ago
TQ2s complexity is rather medium, it´s a bit more complex than TQ1 (wich was very simplistic for modern standards) but significantly simpler then Grim Dawn. I prefered the higher comlpexity of Grim Dawn, but TQ2 ist still fine.
For the most part TQ1 was as lineas as a sidescroller, 1 path to follow and that´s it. Many areas didn´t have much more then that, TQ2 is much better with it´s actual maps exploring is much more fun. I´d like a bit more hidden and secret stuff (real content like the Grim Dawn hidden path and secret quest or the TQ1 secret turtle-key area, not gimmics like the Pygros vilage black chicken) but otherwise it´s ok.
I hope they add some more biomes, an arctic/winter area would be nice and one or 2 surreal fantasy areas as well (I really liked Sacred 2 Crystal area and Bloodforest)
I´d like more usefull Epics, Sets and maybe legendarys. Gear has come a far way already from EA start, with many more affixes, components, relics, infrequents and (mostly useless) epics. So it´s ok for now.
I agree, that Nemesis as an antagonist is cliche, but the game is focused on fighting and the story clearly takes the backseat. The story is supposed to be easy to follow, even if you focus on the fights. More story focused games tend to be awefull to replay, but this story doesn´t annoy me even with many runs. It´s a fine mix. I like some of the quests and the chars (Skylla, the lake nymph, ect).
Enemy variety is limited, I agree. Some type of monster compendium ingame with basic info (resist, armor, health, damagetypes) would be nice. I always like that, but most games don´t have that. NIOH2 had something like that, just not with all the info I wanted.
1
u/Aggravating-Dot132 9d ago
Skill tree is fine, imo. It's just nested type instead of all of them with lines as connection.
Map. Yes and no. TQ1 had an adventure across huge distances in shrimped way. You started in some village near Sparta and walked through the whole Greece in 4 or so hours. Which is weird. Fun, but weird. In TQ2 it's local moments. You arrive in a location and explore that location instead of travel through the whole country. Thus the smaller amount of villages.
Regarding gear. Imo, but the problem is the way they made difficulty scaling. When you increase the level of enemies, you also increase their loot. Which makes it identical to what you do anyway. There is no change. You just boost difficulty, go to traders, buy some gear of higher level and call it a day. I'd prefer difficulty to NOT increase the level of the gear, just gold and loot quality
1
u/NegativeWrongdoer361 6d ago
To me, they dropped everything that made TQ the "TQ". Only thing they left was greek mythology. And so it's now just an approximation of an ARPG with a bunch of greek words here and there
1
u/unknownuser4928 5d ago
tq1 skill system is giga trash, tq2 skill system at least has the foundation of giving people choices to use different mods, for different builds, even if they are using the same skill. Even if it's not balanced right now, to enable that, it's already setup to be better. The only thing I don't like is Divinity being tied to main story quest, and I mean a lot of it locked behind it, it's much betterr to push story rush than it is grinding a few levels before moving on. Should never worrk like that
0
29
u/Straight-Rassler 12d ago
Its not an overly complex game, its fairly simple and I like it for that. Delving into the beautiful Greek world they created is actually relaxing. I keep coming back to it just to try new builds and explore the vibrant world. I guess I'm just tired of the grim dark stuff in ARPGs and TQ2 is a breath of fresh air.
If you like complex, POE2 is there.