I never played the original Titan Quest, but got this version on a whim. It is the blatant Diablo 2 clone it looks like, but just as enjoyable as the original and different enough to be its own game and not just an imitation. First, the setting: I was a bit sceptical about the game taking place not in a made-up Fantasy world but in historical Antiquity, with mythology-based monsters. But the game creators did their research - they did take some freedoms, obviously, but the world does feel quite authentic, and this makes for a refreshing change for the player. Second, the class system: I was a bit irritated when I did not get to chose a class at beginning, still was confused when I got to select a "mastery" at my first level-up and finally got it when I reached level 8 and had the option to add a second mastery. In this game, you select a class by chosing two masteries, each of which has an extensive skill set. With nine masteries, that is a lot of options, and as far as I can tell every possible combination is viable for playing. Of course, some combinations will be easier than others, but they all work, and all of them are fun. And "fun" is very much the key word here - Titan Quest is not a game which will challenge you intellectually, but if Action RPGs have any kind of appeal for you, chances are you will love this. I certainly did (and still do!). The amount of classes gives a high replayability, and there is lot of loot to discover, too - not just the usual epic and legendary items, but Titan Quest has something called "monster infrequents", special items that drop from a specific kind of monster and which just beg to be farmed. The only issue I have is that there is no character customization beyond male and female. Especially with the amount of different characters your are likely to end up creating, it would have been nice to have more differentiation. But that is admittedly a minor niggle, and overall this may very well be the best ARPG ever.
I'm a latecomer to the Longest Journey series, which has the advantage that I didn't have to wait to eight years for the cliffhangers from Dreamfall to be resolved. Also, I've been playing all three games back to back, and therefore can state with confidence that (judging by the first book, as that's all that has been released at the moment I'm writing this) Dreamfall Chapters is a worthy addition to the series, that makes for seamless continuation of the series in story, character and atmosphere. The graphics have improved noticeably over the years, and while one can see in some places that the design teams has been cutting corners (like some distinctly weird character animations in Kian's prison escape sequence), overall it turned out quite beautiful, due mostly to the gorgeous and imaginative design of the worlds - you can almost feel the love the creators have poured into this game, you can see it in everywhere the attention to detail, there is something to see in almost every corner - I even found a search poster for the owner of a deflated rubber ducky on one of the walls in Propast! The only issue I was having was that they really overdid it a bit with the lens flare - at times I felt like I had strayed into a J.J. Abrams movie, the way the kept popping up everywhere. But that's admittedly a matter of taste. With the patch, I also had no issues with framerate drops, the game played smoothly all the way through. But graphics, no matter how pretty they are, really are not what the Longest series has ever been about - that has always been the story and the characters. At this stage, there is not really much one can say about the stories except that it's off to a promising start. Characters are another matter - even in the short space we have spent with him, Kian comes across as a much deep character than he did in Dreamfall, and Zoe (as she keeps reminding us) really has matured since the earlier game, had moved away from her self-centredness and become a much more outward-oriented person who is trying to make a difference in the world. And it again shows the greatness of the game that it doesn not present this transformation as an easy one, but one that Zoe has to struggle for. And the player is really getting a chance to take part in that process and shape her character - the system of explaining the dialogue choices has been greatly extended compared to Dreamfall, with the result that you can make informed and nuanced decisions. And then there are the Choices (with a capital C) that let you determine the course of the story - they do look like a fascinating feature, but again only the course of the game will show how they bear out. And I for one can hardly wait for Book Two.
