Grinding Gear Games has an immense challenge ahead after kicking off the early access phase of , which began on December 6th. As expected, the first few hours were total chaos: no one could connect to the servers, which caused a direct error. And when I managed to do so, I either faced an insane queue or dropped out after just a few minutes of playing. The number of streamers covering the event on Twitch was out of this world. And all this hype was more than expected, as the fanbase loves what Path of Exile has become in the last 11 years.
The sequence sold more than 1 million copies, costing around R$80 and delighting the most eager, even though the game has a long way to go with several corrections, improvements and the inclusion of new content. Only 6 out of 12 hero classes and 3 out of 6 acts are currently available, but there are so many maps to explore that finishing the game twice and reaching Endgame will be a chore for even the most experienced players.
Too much difficulty, too little loot
To begin with, Path of Exile 2 is very different from the previous game. That said, longtime players are still finding the changes strange. As I haven’t had long experience with Path of Exile, I can’t comment on it. I can only say that this franchise is much more dense and complex than , requiring an insane amount of time to master. The continuation alleviated this complexity, largely due to the new interfaces and general reorganization. You can have fun with the essentials, while die-hard fans delve into the immense tree of skills and class ancestries, playing continuously to test builds, obtain unique loot and survive the high challenges of Atlas.
I’m definitely not the single-minded player I mentioned, although I have tested some of the classes, planned my passive skills in and traded items with other players, after doing a lot of research on . The game’s difficulty is really high, whether playing alone or with others to boost XP gains. To try to alleviate the challenges, Path of Exile 2 now allows your hero to roll on the ground to dodge, which won’t save you from getting stuck in the corner of the stage when many enemies appear. I got beaten up so much that I found myself doing more transactions and planning things, like the skill gems I was going to use, than actually exploring and killing creatures to level up.
The loot doesn’t help either, at least until you complete all 3 acts once. It takes a long time to get a decent drop, even when you face the sub-bosses – who are all incredible, with memorable presentations and combats. Due to lack of patience on my part, of not wanting to waste time repeating maps looking for better drops, I simply stopped playing. Don’t get me wrong, the game is fantastic in many ways, but my interest in Path of Exile 2 has already waned.
Thorough but flawed development
The adventure begins with your hero escaping from the gallows. In just a few minutes you will be surprised by the visual and sound quality of the game. It’s all very beautiful, rich in details, with an impeccable ambience. With each new area discovered, new dungeons, NPCs and enemies are revealed. If there’s one thing that Path of Exile 2 does very well, it’s not exhaustively repeating the enemies you face. However, in the dungeons there was a certain lack of care: most are huge labyrinths with questionable map design. It gives the impression that they were generated procedurally, with staircases that face walls and bizarre things like that.
In terms of graphics, the game presents a satisfactory performance, but it can still improve a lot considering less powerful PCs. Testing with a GeForce RTX 4070 Super, I played at 1440p with all graphics settings on Ultra and High, with Quality mode, with FPS varying between 130 and 170, depending on the area accessed. A very satisfying experience, with eye-catching visual quality. Without DLSS, testing with NIS upscale (default), I also got a good result but I definitely didn’t like the excessive sharpness.
The soundtrack, wow, is fantastic. The songs enhance the tension of the exploration and are a delight, especially in the fights against the bosses of each act. As for the translation, except for a few mistakes here and there, it is very well done. I ended up playing most of the time in English, so as not to get lost in the items and skills when following tips from the web and YouTube. As for dubbing, for now it is only in English.
There is a long way to go to refine Path of Exile 2. After all, we are talking about a game in early access. But what I saw in this first post-launch phase pleased me a lot because of the technical characteristics. It’s a giant leap compared to the original game. Too bad the high difficulty and often weak loot tired me out faster than I would have liked. And just as I abandoned the game, many returned to the original Path of Exile. GGG is trying to bring creativity to the (infinite) cycle of repetitions, carried out for the sake of grinding, but for now this desire remains distant.
