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.