Titan Quest

[Johan]

I've been absorbed by the world of Titan Quest, and I'm having a blast. I have to say that I haven't found a game as addictive and engaging as this in ages, especially in terms of loot drops and the obsessive need to continually upgrade my gear. I was literally grinning like an idiot over my most recent acquisition and the effect it had upon my resistances and stats/abilities.

The good:
- grind-worthy. There's plenty of reason to want to continue to grind upward in level, and a reasonable variation in enemies to make it worthwhile.
- along with the above, there's a continual drive to upgrade your gear, with loads of drops to make it frequent, possible and fun.
- pretty looking. I'm enjoying the color palette a lot. It's brighter than many of the games from this generation that I've been playing. I suppose I've been starved for something beyond gray/brown.
- single-player friendly. Sometimes I just want to play a game alone (more often than not nowadays), and this one is great solo. I can't comment on its multiplayer, as I haven't tried it, and probably won't.
- a reasonably coherent storyline with decent voice-over work. Not badly done. I recognized one of the voices from an educational video I had seen on the Anglo-Saxons, in fact. I'm pretty sure of it, though not definitively certain.
- replay value. I'm on my second play-through, on epic, with a third to go on legendary. The enemies, loot, relics, charms and the like are suitably empowered on the higher difficulty.
- customizable. I like being able to tweak the weaponry and armor with relics and charms of varying effects. It feels a lot more like 'my' character that way.

The bad:
- Some battles have felt a bit like they follow a :drink health potion -- attack -- run in circles to evade and survive -- drink health potion -- repeat: cycle. I've succumbed to that necessity with some of the tougher creatures, when my kit wasn't up to the challenge. I'm not fond of the need to lug around a few dozen health potions, slugging them down while I go.
- Some of the respawn points are a bit too far from 'boss' battles, making me hoof it in order to get back there when I die and respawn. Do I need to be reminded that I've died a ton of times by having to walk back from a ways away?

The ugly:
- I can't, for the LIFE of me, get a complete set of gear. Argh.

If you haven't played this game, do. It's a terrific third-person, dungeon-crawling, loot-collecting, hack-and-slash game.

[biosc1]

I went nuts with this game back in November. I played the heck out of it, but got sort of burned out just after the beaches. I really need to get back into this game (among many others). It really scratches that Diablo itch.

[roboninja]

I have enjoyed this game recently as well. I am still not that far into it, but it has been a blast so far.

[Tayaya]

I own this and its expansion: Immortal Throne. After my friend and I just blew through Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms, we have been thinking about popping this one back in the ol' PC.... good choice on your part, though! Makes me wanna play again.

[Gwinny]

Thanks for reminding me this is sitting on my hard drive. It was on sale for ~$3 several months ago and I grabbed two copies, one for me, one for my friend. Finals are this week and then we'll actually have time to play it! It sounds like a lot of fun, I can't wait to try it.

[GigaFuzz]

Originally Posted by Johan

The ugly:
- I can't, for the LIFE of me, get a complete set of gear. Argh.

Unless you're insanely lucky, farm areas/bosses as a full-time job, or trade with someone online, you're probably not going to. The OCD part of me hated that.

That said, Titan Quest provided hundreds of hours of entertainment for me and some friends for a few months a while back, although I did get a little too obsessed with the meta-game of charm/relic collection and artefact creation. I've got multiple inventories literally full of artefact recipies, artefacts, charms and relics, and more time was spent farming than actually playing normally by the end. Sabre Claws still give me nightmares.

Also, for anyone who hasn't gotten all the way through, do not despair, and give it another go. Act 3 in the Orient is my favourite and IMO has some of the best levels and monsters in the game. It's certainly the nicest looking. Makes up for the drab-ness that is Egypt.

[Scaryfaced]

I'm a big fan of the game, but I ran into a wall at the very end. At least, I'm pretty sure it was the very end. I had created a rather odd niche class that was alot of fun to play, but just couldn't put out the damage needed to beat the final boss. I'm sure it would have been easy with a group, but after working on the boss for over an hour straight, i gave up. It was a little upsetting as I wanted to see what the expansion had to offer. But seeing as you have to beat the game to play the expansion, I never made it that far.

I can't really recommend it, but I had a ton of fun playing a Hunter/Defense character. I had just seen 300 and wanted a spear and sheild character. It was a great combination up until the very end.

[GigaFuzz]

The last boss, assuming we're talking about *spoiler*

Typhon, at the top of Mount Olympus

shouldn't be too hard, as long as you move whenever he's about to attack.

[Acidpoptart]

You know, I just started playing this the other day. It is a ton of fun. I agree that a bunch of the harder battles end up being Slash --> Run & Potion --> Slash --> ...

I just love the physics engine. Knocking some monster flying into a wall is so satisfying.

[Scaryfaced]

Originally Posted by GigaFuzz

The last boss, assuming we're talking about *spoiler*

Typhon, at the top of Mount Olympus

shouldn't be too hard, as long as you move whenever he's about to attack.

Yep, that's the one. I doubt he's that hard to take down in most fights, but it just wasn't working on the character I had made. It's been a while since i played so I'm a little foggy on the details, but I clearly remember not being able to do enough damage. I'd struggled through the last few levels as well, but I'd learned to use the hunter's net ability to single out my targets. It was a very niche play style and it came back to bite me in the end.

If i ever get my computer virus free again, I'll be giving the game another go.

[Johan]

Originally Posted by GigaFuzz

Unless you're insanely lucky, farm areas/bosses as a full-time job, or trade with someone online, you're probably not going to. The OCD part of me hated that.

I'm doing my best to hold on to the best pieces I come across (limited inventory space sucks), in the hope that I'll get a few more pieces to go with them. I got insanely lucky at one point recently and got two pieces of one set (weapon and an armor piece for a crystalline set) to drop in one area. I also have two pieces of a battle mage set, but I'm a melee fighter. Still, I'm hanging on to these pieces, as they're as close as I've gotten to completion on a set.

That's been my only real frustration, honestly. I'm not one to go the route of the TQ Vault, or whatever that program is which allows you to save and swap pieces. It's not worth that kind of investment/bother to me. I'll just keep playing and hoping for some luck.

Great game. Such a blast. Very addictive.

As for the final boss, I went in with 100 potions and just pulled a "hit--potion--run" routine. It worked for me, but felt a bit lame.

Originally Posted by Tayaya

...Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms...

If there's anything that makes me want a PS2 or BC-PS3, it's those two games. I loved the Baldur's Gate Xbox games; different from their distant PC relatives, but a heckuva ton of fun.

[jpublic]

My entire problem with the game is that its the SAME THING every time. Makes it so that I have to take long breaks between playthroughs.

When playing, I find I want to be able to A) Hit hard and B) take a hit. That usually means I have to take Defense somewhere. My last game was Earth/Dream, and man, did I get tossed around a lot.

[tacitus]

Originally Posted by Scaryfaced

I had created a rather odd niche class that was alot of fun to play, but just couldn't put out the damage needed to beat the final boss.

Same problem; it was a hunter/melee (not sure which kind) hybrid but I could never cause enough damage and get out of the way quickly enough. I sort of figured I would have to go back and strengthen up a little, but I never did. I really don't mind bosses being bosses, but when they are so overpowered compared to even other bosses you do wonder what the devs were thinking.

[GigaFuzz]

Pro-tip: For massive damange, go Warrior/Dream. Phantom Strike is obscene. In fact, I think the whole Dream tree is a bit overpowered.

[jpublic]

Dream is obscene. I wouldn't play it on your first game, it ruins you for the other sets. My first playthrough of the game (years and years ago) was Dream/Defense, and I was unstoppable.

[Kryopsis]

Dream is a ridiculous tree since it has the combined utility of several trees at once and yet the individual skills are as powerful (if not more) than the other abilities of the game.

I am not a fan of Titan Quest, I found the setting rather bland and while the visuals are high quality, the game has a complete lack of style (at least to me).

[Wilkz07]

definately one of the better pc games i have ever played. i got the base and expansion. single player was awesome and co-op was pretty solid too. if i can find where i put the discs i'll be up for some co-op.

[Crowe]

I enjoyed this when I played it, it didn't have the kick-ass loot table like Diablo II, I remember getting awesome gear early on, gear that I equipped for a little too long. But it had nice graphics and a nice change of scenery.

I'm glad the lead dev on Diablo III wants to fix the problem with sets that DII and Titan Quest had. By the time you found the whole set you were too high a level.

[Zrikz]

I might have to pick this game up, I always hear pretty good stuffs about it and I miss playing a Diablo type game.

[Commissar Rob]

Titan Quest is the sort of game I'd love to see on a console with local co-op.