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Titan Quest II Devs Discuss Sparta

T0@st

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Ah, Sparta! Home to the finest warriors in all of ancient Greece, a marvel of a city, a true superpower on the Peloponnesian Peninsula, protected by its mighty city walls... wait a second. Wasn't Sparta famous for its walls being its army only? So why can we see Spartans riding home through a massive wall in Titan Quest II's announcement trailer? The latest dev diary for the upcoming action RPG Titan Quest II highlights Sparta and explains how Titan Quest II offers a fantastical twist on the actual ancient reality.

For a deep dive on the music and world design of Titan Quest check out the previous dev diaries. Forged in the creative crucible of Grimlore Games in Germany, Titan Quest II is currently under development. This epic odyssey is destined for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S/X, eagerly anticipated to launch when the time comes.




Sparta in Titan Quest II
Sparta. Whether the name calls to mind Lacedaemon, Helen of Troy, Leonidas, or the Peloponnesian Wars, Sparta's legend stands apart. In classical times, its influence stretched across the Peloponnesian peninsula and as far away as Italy.


So naturally, we wanted to feature Sparta in Titan Quest II. But we didn't want these to be the same old Spartans. In keeping with our philosophy, we wanted to present a unique and fantastical twist that was nevertheless rooted in the history and classical stories that inspire us. Ours is a world in which the monsters of myth are real, and they pose a real threat to the humans who live among them. Until recently, the Spartans and their powerful military served the role of protectors, defending the towns and villages of Greece from these mythological threats.

But what happens when Sparta falls, and that protection is gone?



Eagle-eyed observers may have noticed that our intro cinematic shows a wall ringing the city of Sparta. Of course, historical Sparta had no such wall. We don't want to spoil too much, but imagine what happens when the most powerful city-state on the Peloponnesian peninsula turns inward and walls itself off, while seeking a power that can drive back the monstrous hordes and make them rivals to the gods. Imagine what happens when their hubris draws the attention of Nemesis, goddess of retribution, and she takes it on herself to punish them.

This is just a teaser of what's going on in the world of Titan Quest II when the player starts the game. As they try to evade Nemesis's wrath and free those she's punished, their journey will reveal more about what happened to Sparta and why.



And as for that Spartan hipparch featured in the cinematic? He has a role to play, too, and he's sure to cross the player's path. To know more, you'll just have to play the game. We don't want to reveal all our secrets.

Wishlist Titan Quest II on Steam: https://thqn.net/tq2-steam
Learn more on the official website: https://titanquest2.thqnordic.com/
Follow Titan Quest II on X: https://twitter.com/TitanQuestGame
Follow Titan Quest II on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TitanQuestOfficial

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What a wonderful announcement; Titan Quest is one of my favorite games of all time. I hope it lives up to expectations. :)
 

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The real Sparta was far from what the movies tell us. I did some classics at Uni, and this article explains a lot more of the nuance.

 
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The real Sparta was far from what the movies tell us. I did some classics at Uni, and this article explains a lot more of the nuance.

Yeah, the romanization of Sparta is probably one of the weirdest pop-culture phenomena I have seen from the historical perspective. But we as a species seem to love “honor and glory warrior culture” as a concept for some reason, hence the obsession with chivalric knights (mostly baseless) and bushido abiding samurai (same) too.
 
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Yeah, the romanization of Sparta is probably one of the weirdest pop-culture phenomena I have seen from the historical perspective. But we as a species seem to love “honor and glory warrior culture” as a concept for some reason, hence the obsession with chivalric knights (mostly baseless) and bushido abiding samurai (same) too.

IMHO if Pirates and Vikings and Barbarians can be romanticized then anything is possible. Just imagine which factions that are universally hated today will be portrayed differently in a few centuries. In this case it's typical Titan Quest which leans heavily on fantasy and mythology anyway.
 

bug

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The real Sparta was far from what the movies tell us. I did some classics at Uni, and this article explains a lot more of the nuance.

Eh, which part of the history is close to what the movies tell us? 300 included.

That said, TQ/TQ:IT was great, here's hoping this comes to GOG.
 
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For history buffs:

Titan Quest and its expansion Immortal Throne were made by Iron Lore Entertainment in 2006/2007. The studio shut down in 2008 (there's a good rant from THQ's creative director about why) and some of Iron Lore's members formed a new studio Crate Entertainment in 2009. Crate released Grim Dawn in 2016, which was built on top of the Titan Quest game engine.

THQ Nordic dusted off Titan Quest in 2017 to release the Anniversary Edition. Various studios made several more TQ:AE expansions.

Titan Quest 2 is developed by Grimlore Games, who made SpellForce 3 but didn't work on the original Titan Quest or its expansions.
 
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The crab pic straight up looks like Path of Exile.
 

bug

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The crab pic straight up looks like Path of Exile.
Yes, it resembles the Brine King. But it also resembles the original TQ artwork and atmosphere.
 
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Titan Quest is SUCH an amazing game, even today, you can pick it up right now and enjoy the heck out of it.
The powers, the world, the lore, the TONS of memorable voice acting, the music and ambient sound.

This is one of the VERY VERY VERY few games im actually looking foward to.

The crab pic straight up looks like Path of Exile.

and path of exile is straight up copying other isometric rpg games that came before it....like ya know...Diablo...Baldurs Gate...and of course...Titan Quest
 
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