Grim Dawn was released a little while ago, but before it came Titan Quest, an action RPG that I've spent countless hours playing, both the normal game and expansion that came after that. In some ways, it was better than other ARPGs, some ways that even stand true today, regardless of the progress in the genre. I was delighted to hear that some bizarre version of THQ was re-releasing it, with updates. Engine changes, of course, but balance changes on items, skills and enemies as well! TQAE definitely feels like the old game that it is, but I would rather play it than many other available ARPGs.
The big technical changes this time around are the increased maximum resolution limit, the fact that you can zoom out your camera real far, allowing you to see more of this fondly-remembered map design where you wouldn't get lost and most importantly a toggle for game speeds. TQ is kind of a slow game, especially if you're using slower weapons, and even at the Very Fast settings, it is still a bit sluggish and you're waiting a few seconds to kill tougher enemies, but this option makes the whole thing more palatable. I understand that they couldn't have made the game go too much faster - it would've been too difficult to play - but this change is pretty great.
Otherwise, this is pretty much the same old Titan Quest's core gameplay. I wish they would've tweaked some abilities that had weird targeting in the original version, like timed buffs that you have to cast on yourself by moving the mouse over your character before hitting the hotkey for that ability, but oh well. I'm not immediately privy to all changes they've done to the balance of the game, but there seems to be a bunch of skills that had values tweaked, and now dexterity gives bonuses to bleed and poison damage as well, it seems. Speaking of which, they could've improved the DPS value, or at least give a good breakdown of the damage you're doing, like in Grim Dawn or a more recent title.
There isn't much else to say about TQAE, not because it's a game unworthy of talk, but because this is only a look at what changed since the original. If you've used to play Titan Quest, this might be a good game for you to get back into - it's free for people who had bought the original on steam - and if you're into ARPGs and haven't played this one, it's also a great one. Its age shows, but this is in no way a deal breaker.
