2006 action-RPG Titan Quest has never really gone away, through a combination of DLC, re-releases, a mobile version from DotEmu, belated console ports, and expansions released as recently as 2021. It remains incredibly playable today, a game I personally return to every few years, a friendly, approachable Diablo-like. It turns out, however, that there’s now a sequel?! Announced a year ago, but barely ever talked about, Titan Quest II entered early access Friday 1 August.
Released almost 20 years ago in 2006, Titan Quest was the first and last project made by Iron Lore Entertainment–a studio set up by Age of Empires‘ Brian Sullivan–an action-RPG set within Greek and Egyptian mythology. And crucially, it was an action-RPG released midway through the enormous, aching twelve-year gap between Diablo II and Diablo III. It delivered so perfectly, this lower-intensity, more easily accessible loot-hoovering click-fest, and I dearly loved it. Love it, in fact. So much so that just a few nights ago–entirely unaware that Titan Quest II even existed–I suggested that my 10-year-old give the original a go on his Android tablet, given the game and its many DLCs are all free on Play Pass. He’s been playing it obsessively ever since, fueled by his love of Greek mythology and his innate understanding of game systems…and his love for hitting stuff with sticks.
It was only because of his boasting that I even learned Titan Quest II existed, let alone had released into early access. He got me to start the game over on my own tablet, and was then boasting that he was a higher level than me. Can’t have that. So I re-installed the game on my PC to see what saves I had. Sadly, everything from the original preceded even Steam, let alone cloud saves, but fortunately I had at least a low-level character still higher than his own on the Tenth Anniversary Edition. And in the process of putting him in his place, I noticed “Titan Quest II” coming up as a search result. I assumed it was some sort of wishful thinking, checked it out, and, er, it’s a thing!
It’s honestly just weird not to have heard this game was coming. Even though I have a few massive gaps in my perception, as a games critic I tend to have a decent idea what’s in development–but that I was unaware of a sequel to one of my all-time favorite games remains just weird. Then again, a similar sentiment was shared on Reddit’s r/ARPG earlier this year, with a post titled “How in the hell is no one here talking about Titan Quest 2 Playtest?” No one there continued to talk about it.
It perhaps doesn’t help that it’s nothing to do with the original game. While 2006’s Titan Quest was published by THQ, that company ceased to properly exist in 2013 when it went spectacularly bankrupt, auctioning off all its licenses. Eventually the trademark was bought by Nordic Games, the company that would go on to be called Embracer Group, and THQ Nordic remains a publishing arm that handles a lot of former THQ properties. Also, developer Iron Lore is long gone, unable to secure funding for a second game in 2008, with a bunch of the developers going on to form Crate Entertainment, creators of the wildly successful Grim Dawn. Instead Titan Quest II is developed by Grimlore Games, a studio created by Nordic Games in 2013, but that has since only released a barely noticed remake of Spellforce III. It’s all so strange!
I’ve just started playing, and honestly, after barely 15 minutes, I’m delighted! This looks and feels like Titan Quest, but updated in a bunch of useful ways. I will continue on and report back in much more detail soon.
