Premature - Path of Exile 2

Welcome to a new series of articles here on the site. We'll be reviewing early access and feature-incomplete games based on their current playability and future potential. A lot of people might think it unfair to review and be critical of early access titles; I disagree. I think just the opposite is true. We need to be critical of early access titles, as criticism is an important step for anything to improve, and game developers know this. The good ones ask for it.

ADMISSION

I did not play much of Path of Exile. Maybe 20 hours at most. I felt the slower combat wasn't for me and stuck to Diablo 3 whenever I needed my ARPG fix. I wish that I had, in hindsight, as I do feel I missed out on an experience that I would have most likely enjoyed in the end. Between the slower feeling combat and the mechanical bloat curve (so we'll call it), it was like pulling teeth to find myself enjoying it over Diablo 3. Both of these issues I feel have been at least moderately addressed in the sequel. After having tried both the Mercenary (which seems like an intentionally slower combat class) and the Ranger, I can say the combat feels at least a little faster.

Coming into Path of Exile 2 at the start of Early Access feels like a more natural path than starting at the end of the first game. Trying to get into Path of Exile towards the end of its life was a difficult task; right as I felt like I was barely grasping the basic concepts of the game, it would throw even more mechanics and activities and concepts for me to try and learn. It all felt a bit like how I imagine new World of Warcraft players must feel choosing between 9 different timelines to level in. They have no clue what any of it means, and for some it's probably a turn-off. Path of Exile 2 is significantly less bloated, and the campaign so far feels more streamlined and understandable. It does have a few flaws in not quite fully explaining itself at times, and I got the feeling they just expect you to look it up anyway, which I greatly dislike. This could be something improved upon full release, as maybe some core concepts they have are warrant to change anyway. We will see...

THE SKILL TREE IN THE ROOM

When ARPG players think of Path of Exile or its sequel, without a doubt they will also think about its at times needlessly massive skill tree. I almost expected them to introduce an entirely second huge skill tree for the new game, but thankfully this was not the case. Instead we got a new skill tree that is relatively the same size as the first game's. Once you spend some time reading the different branches off the main nodes, the skill tree will start to make sense. Is it still slightly larger than it needs to be, probably, but it serves its purpose well.

I'll take this aside to talk about the huge skill tree trend of recent that has led to the moniker "Exile Like" and how silly I think that is. Path of Exile 2 and its predecessor are ARPGs (Action Role Playing Games). Now Dark Souls could also be considered an ARPG, but not many people will put it in that bucket. There are innumerable differences between Dark Souls and Path of Exile or Diablo. Not because Path of Exile or Diablo are the exception but the opposite. I think it's silly and needless to try and key the moniker of "Exile Like," as Path of Exile is far more aligned with the ARPG genre than many, many other games in the genre.

SMALL STUFF

Now, Path of Exile 2 is in early access. There are bugs, bumps in the road, and connectivity issues as one would expect. I think for the most part it is remarkably polished. The pacing feels... slow. I think the downside to slowing the combat down (which I do believe is a net positive) is that the pacing and progression through the campaign also feels very slow. As it takes far longer to clear through maps than it did in Path of Exile. Besides the pacing, my complaints are few and far between. Enemy variety is great; builds can feel a little light on the impact side, but I'm also no theorycrafting wizard. These are all things I expect to be solved easily before release.

CONCLUSION

Path of Exile 2 is an excellent continuation of everything the first game did right. As well as fixing some of my own personal gripes with the first game. Grinding Gear Games remains one of the strongest developers in the industry when it comes to community feedback, and I hope that continues into the future with their second game. I can see some of the player base missing some of the cut or changed features from the first game, but I do not see Path of Exile living for much time at all after the release of its sequel. As of now, Path of Exile 2 feels well worth the cost for early access if you can't wait for release and are a fan of the first game or the ARPG genre.

Prematurely: A good game that will end up taking hundreds of hours of sleep from many, many gamers.