I know, I know. You read the title and immediately probably shouted “Diablo 2!” at the top of your lungs. All I ask is that you hear me out.
Path of Exile early access review
This Path of Exile 2 review of early access is going to cover the main aspects of this game that put it a step ahead of the competition and make it such a massive success in so many ways.
Path of Exile 2 review is in, and it’s better than expected
Path of Exile 2 brings a new look, tons of content, unique systems, and insane depth to an already success predecessor.
Graphics improvements and quality are worth talking about
If you’ve played the first Path of Exile game from Grinding Gear Games, you will immediately notice the improvement in graphics and visual quality the next installment brings. The spell effects, environment, special effects, and more all stand out as potentially the best of all APRGs on the market.
Even if you haven’t play it though, you’ll most likely notice and appreciate the stellar visuals the game brings.
Depth in almost every aspect of the game gives insane personalization
The real thing Path of Exile 2 brings, however, is incredibly in-depth gameplay. If you haven’t played PoE before, it may seem daunting, but once you get into the meat of it, it’s hard to go back.
Character build versatility
The sheer amount of versatility Path of Exile 2 provides for players in not only how they build their passive skills, but also their equipment, but then their support gems, and then also how they choose their ascendacy class, and then which type of content they’re choosing to do which then in turn opens up whole new trees to pick from for that specific type of content — I mean wow.
You have a ton of choices in how to build you character and combine all sorts of different weapons to open up various intertwining abilities that quite literally effect each other in real time. An example of that is firing an ice bolt or a spark ability through a wall of fire and therefore adding fire damage in addition to a fire visual effect on the previous mentioned ability.
It’s incredibly cool to witness, but also opens up more possibilities for how to build your character.
Difficulty, progress, dopamine — the building blocks of content and endgame
The choices don’t stop with just your character, but extend out into what kind of content you want to play. Each endgame activity will end up with a pinnacle boss or encounter that really tests your skills and is something you can work toward and truly feel that progression.
This is something I really want to hone in on when it comes to this Path of Exile 2 review — it makes difficulty and progressing in order to overcome that adversity feel good. That is something I think is tremendously important in leaving a good taste in players’ mouths in the form of dopamine.
You can work your way through so many different types of content, fighting around 100 bosses at release and each of them comes with their own unique abilities, arenas, and gameplay.
They are not just reskinned elites, they are true bosses, that in my experience, are actually difficult and require you to focus or be hit with a “you have died” pop up. Trust me.
In conclusion
I’ve tried to fill this review in a way to provide multiple points, but in actuality, I don’t know that there’s a single thing this game doesn’t do well. Sure, you’ll still find yourself needing to run back to town to sell items to clear space more often than you want, but other than that — it’s hard to find a real flaw.
I recommend this game, hands down, without question. If you want to play an ARPG that gives you an incredibly wide net of options, unique encounters, great graphics, and so much more then you need to play Path of Exile 2.
READ MORE: Can you play Path of Exile 2 on Steam Deck? Here’s the answer
