It has been over a decade since developer Grinding Gear Games launched the firstPath of Exile, and many other ARPGs have been released since then in an attempt to overshadow it. Now,Path of Exile 2, which was originally supposed to be an expansion for the first game, has arrived on the scene taking bold steps to be more approachable to newcomers without compromising its depth. While it remains fundamentally the same as its predecessor,Path of Exile 2has taken steps in the direction of more modern ARPGs to be a worthy competitor in the arena, despite entering that arena in an early access state.
Path of Exile 2isn’t content with just enhancing its predecessor’s formula. It introduces a more deliberate and challenging combat system, reminiscent of themethodical gameplay seen in Soulslike titles. The game’s unforgiving difficulty demands vigilance and strategy, offering a sense of accomplishment that few ARPGs can rival. Combined with its immersive visuals, rewarding exploration, and a robust endgame bursting with options,Path of Exile 2doesn’t just raise the bar for ARPGs — it has the potential to reshape what the genre can be. After spending over 50 hours withPath of Exile 2, I feel I’ve only scratched the surface of what could become one of the best ARPGs ever made, and it’s only in early access.
Path of Exile 2 Visually and Mechanically Raises the Bar for ARPG Gameplay
Path of Exile 2’s Best Quality Is Complete and Total Freedom
One thing that has long beenPath of Exile’s standout characteristic is the amount of player power it offers, thanks to its unbridled customization. Not only isPath of Exileknown for having one of thelargest passive skill trees of any ARPG, but also the opportunity it allows players to craft a highly personalized build is unmatched, as it doesn’t limit them to a specific class.Path of Exile 2is still the same in that regard, although some changes have been made to the overall system to make it more welcoming to new players.
There are six character classes available inPath of Exile 2’s early access — Sorceress, Warrior, Ranger, Witch, Mercenary, and Monk — with six more to be added at a later date. There are more than enough playstyle options available already and the fact that even more are yet to come increases customization potential even further. While I primarily played a Monk during myhands-on preview ofPath of Exile 2, I played a Sorceress during my playthrough of the early access demo, and it was just as satisfying.
Using Skill Gems acquired through completing quests and defeating bosses, players can unlock new skills for their characters. Support Gems, on the other hand, allow players to modify and enhance those skills to make them behave differently. For instance, the Sorceress' Frostbolt skill fires one projectile with no Support Gems attached to it, but it can be modified to fire multiple projectiles using the Scattershot Support Gem. WherePath of Exile 2’s build customizationtruly shines is in the opportunity players have to attach Support Gems to any supporting skill, which means Scattershot doesn’t necessarily need to be applied to Frostbolt and could instead be used on a different skill.
The same could be said ofPath of Exile 2’s passive skill tree, which doesn’t limit players to any one path for their character, though there is still an optimal path for them to take.
One significant wayPath of Exile 2was made more accessible for new players is its recommendations. Firstly, players can essentially unlock skills from any class in the game for their character to use, so long as they have the necessary attributes for those skills. However, when it comes to Support Gems,Path of Exile 2automatically recommends specific Support Gems for each class, but that option can also be easily turned off to allow more options to be presented. The system as a whole offers an unprecedented level of freedom and player power not typically present in ARPGs, and now thatPath of Exile 2has been made more welcoming to new players than its predecessor ever was, it has more potential to grow its audience than ever before.
Path of Exile 2’s Combat Is a Refreshing Departure From the ARPG Norm
For the most part, especially when it comes togames likeDiablo, ARPGs want their players to feel like gods among their foes. In a way, the originalPath of Exiletook this route, as it allowed players to eventually reach a point where they could mow down enemies with very little thought, so long as they built their character well.Path of Exile 2, on the other hand, is on an entirely different level here, as it encourages players to fight smarter, not harder. Specifically, as opposed to the chaos wrought by its predecessor’s combat,Path of Exile 2encourages players to take a more deliberate, slow, and methodical approach to combat, much like a typical Soulslike would require.
Speaking of Soulslikes,Path of Exile 2is as close to an isometric Soulslike as it could probably get without actually being one, on account of its unforgiving difficulty. It is this increased challenge that ultimately requires players to be more intentional with every move that they make and to always have their wits about them. There were moments during my time with the first game where I would zone out, clearing areas with the utmost ease, only to snap out of it later and not remember the journey. It’s safe to say this kind of approach won’t get anyone anywhere inPath of Exile 2, as it requires quite a bit more vigilance than the ARPG genre is generally known for.
There are limited checkpoints scattered throughout each zone, and if players die, they will be sent back to the last checkpoint they discovered. For my own playthrough, this often resulted in me being sent back to the other side of the map after I had already spent half an hour battling through hordes of enemies. And sincePath of Exile 2’s enemies respawn immediately after players die, there’s no choice but to fight through them again to get back on track. There is also generally no avoiding enemies inPath of Exile 2, as it’s extremely easy to become surrounded and immobile, so fighting through them again is the only option.
Any items that aren’t retrieved before dying also disappear, allowing death to take an even greater toll on players who let their guard down for even a second.
Despite the extreme challenge thatPath of Exile 2offers, it’s that characteristic that makes the journey so fulfilling. Much like the thrill of finally downing aboss in a Soulslike game,Path of Exile 2’s difficulty offers that same feeling to players willing to fail multiple times to succeed. The most important thing thatPath of Exile 2players should remember at the end of the day is that no encounter is ever impossible to overcome, and finally achieving victory is every bit worth the effort.
Path of Exile 2’s Boss Fights Never Grow Stale
The peak ofPath of Exile 2’s challengeis its boss fights, which never grow stale thanks to their varied mechanics and personalities. There are countless bosses inPath of Exile 2, each one with a different skill set and place in the game’s world than the last. There were plenty of bosses I encountered during my playthrough of the game that had me scratching my head after multiple defeats, due to not fully grasping their mechanics. This is just a sign of each boss’s diversity, and that players should take each one they encounter as seriously as possible.
One thing I personally found refreshing aboutPath of Exile 2’s boss fightsis that they prioritize dialogue and other audio telegraphs over visual telegraphs. More specifically, many bosses will even call out the names of their attacks before executing them, as if they’re in an anime. Not only is it often horrifying when they announce their attacks, but it’s also a creative way to teach players the mechanics for each fight and to give them a unique way to know what to expect.
There are also plenty of optional boss fights to find throughoutPath of Exile 2’s Wraeclast, many of which players might encounter before their character is strong enough to put up a decent fight. That being said, one thing that is refreshing about this type of approach to boss fights is that it often comes down to the player’s skill rather than their build, though it’s still possible to return to the more challenging boss fights later on and dominate them with better gear and weapons than before.
Path of Exile 2’s Visuals Are Incredibly Detailed and Immersive
Path of Exile 2may have fulfilling gameplay, but its incredibly detailed and immersive visuals are just as satisfying to behold. AlthoughARPGs likeDiablo 4also feature brilliant visuals,Path of Exile 2’s graphics showcase a level of realism not often seen in the genre, to the point that its most horrific images could make anyone with a weak stomach sick. These visuals ultimately reinforce the darker tone ofPath of Exile 2, which is foreboding enough to make anyone feel alone and powerless in the vast world of Wraeclast.
Path of Exile 2’s visuals don’t just enhance the experience and design of its world, but its bosses as well.Each boss inPath of Exile 2is just as terrifying to look at as it is to battle. In fact, there were some boss introductions that had me expecting an early death, even before the fight began. Arguably, this is one of the areas where ARPGs need to shine the brightest, and the spotlight doesn’t just shine onPath of Exile 2in this arena — the game seems to become the light itself.
Path of Exile 2’s Endgame Is Going to Keep Players Busy for a Long Time
Path of Exile 2’s Campaign Is Its Story-Driven Path to the Endgame
While the primary goal ofPath of Exile 2’s development has been to provide an endgame that would keep players busy for hundreds of hours, it’s impossible to get to that endgame content without playing through its campaign first. Unlike the first game, however,Path of Exile 2’s campaign is quite a bit more story-driven, although much of that story and lore is revealed through players intentionally choosing to exhaust the dialogue of the game’s various NPCs. Looking back atPath of Exile 2’s potential to be anisometric Soulslike, this approach to story and lore tracks.
Path of Exile 2begins with a horrifying and intense cinematic to set up its narrative, and while there are no more cinematics to be found throughout the game’s story, it is still a cinematic experience overall. It took me around 40 hours to get through what is currently available inPath of Exile 2’s early access campaign, which involved me going through the first three of its six acts twice, with the second playthrough being harder than the first due to its Cruel difficulty. That being said, by my second playthrough of the first three acts, I had become well-versed in my Sorceress, and she was powerful enough that even the harder difficulty still felt normal.
Path of Exile 2’s campaign will eventually have six acts, but only three at the start of early access, along with Cruel difficulty, which requires players to complete the first three acts again in order to reach the endgame.
Path of Exile 2’s Endgame Is the Best Kind of Overwhelming
Even after spending 50 hours withPath of Exile 2, I feel I’ve only just scratched the surface of its endgame. I spent around 10 hours doing the endgame content and I feel like I could still spend hundreds more. There are so many different paths to take inPath of Exile 2’s endgame, with seven different systems in play, though I only got to experience a few of them. To go into detail about every system here would take ages, but it’s safe to say that sentiment alone is descriptive enough of just how much there is to do.
One of the main reasons I didn’t spend too long onPath of Exile 2’s endgame is because my character won’t carry over to the official release, and I personally didn’t want to spoil my time with the game ahead of that. However, the 10 hours I did spend doing endgame content was enough to convince me that I would want to do a lot more once the game officially enters early access. The amount ofcontent available inPath of Exile 2’s endgameis overwhelming, to say the least, but it’s the best kind of overwhelming, as it doesn’t force players onto any one path. Instead, it presents options, and it doesn’t condemn players for taking one route over another.
Path of Exile 2 Is Not Without Its Issues in Early Access
It seems unfair to say thatPath of Exile 2has issues in its early access because they aren’t prominent enough to warrant complaints. Overall,Path of Exile 2is one of the mostpolished early access gamesI’ve ever played. However, it’s difficult to deny that there are issues present that may and hopefully will be ironed out duringPath of Exile 2’s early access period.
I can’t speak about the experience that others may have during early access and whether this issue will repeat itself, but there was a moment after an update went live in the demo I played that saw most of the Skill and Support Gems that I had previously unlocked completely wiped. This was most likely due toGrinding Gear Gameschanging some things with the class skills I was using, but it was still pretty painful to experience. Since my Sorceress had already been almost Level 40 at this point, this issue ultimately meant that I was now facing enemies that were much stronger than I was equipped to handle. Even so, after a couple of hours of gameplay from there, I was able to reacquire everything I lost.
There’s a chance this could happen to others as updates roll out forPath of Exile 2during early access, and while that’s understandable as the game’s mechanics are refined and polished, I can see it turning some players off from the game completely at that point.
Another “issue” I would sayPath of Exile 2currently has is that its open areas are massive andexploration is very rewarding, but the size of these open areas is not too often complemented by the amount of activities and events available within them. Some open areas can take over an hour to fully explore, and with very few events available in them, they tend to feel empty. For the most part, exploring an open area inPath of Exile 2is comprised of frequent battles with enemies. That being said, the mob density inPath of Exile 2is so high that there’s rarely a dull moment during exploration, as the enemies certainly kept me busy.
Regardless of these issues, the fact thatPath of Exile 2is already so polished has my hopes very high for the future. Even in its current early access state, it’s undoubtedly one of thebest ARPGsI’ve ever played, due to the unprecedented player power it offers, its detailed and immersive visuals, its satisfyingly challenging combat, its rewarding exploration and boss fights, and its thoroughly extensive and unbridled endgame. It’s hard not to comparePath of Exile 2to other, perhaps more prominent ARPGs likeDiablo 4, but I would be remiss not to suggest thatPath of Exile 2has more than a fighting chance against the ARPG big shots currently out there.
