Path of Exile 2 – just a poorer Diablo IV

[Shunie]

Honestly, I don’t get the hype around Path of Exile 2. Looking at the trailers and gameplay, it’s just a rework of the old game with a few cosmetic changes. The only thing they’ve done is add new animations and improve the graphics, but compared to Diablo IV, it looks bland. Even Blizzard, with all its flaws, manages to create more stylish and polished games.

And why split PoE into two parts? Why not just update the original? It seems like Grinding Gear Games just wants to grab more money without offering anything truly new to players. It all feels like a step backward: too much hype, but in reality, the same boring mechanics. Do you seriously think this is the future of ARPGs?

And honestly, how are 400,000 people playing this every day? I just don’t see the appeal. Are people really that desperate for an ARPG that they settle for this grindy, outdated mess?

Before anyone says "nice bait" or "trolling," I haven’t even played Path of Exile, but I’ve watched plenty of streams and videos to try and understand the appeal. From what I’ve seen, it just looks overwhelming, clunky, and unnecessarily complicated. If there’s something I’m missing, I’m open to hearing it, but so far, I just don’t get it

Edit: Just because you use a jester award doesn't mean you're right. Don't bother trying to rile me up because it's not a good look.

[Brandl]

Originally posted by WiDOWZ:

Originally posted by DontEatSmurfs:

people dooming over this game are tourists or just wanted POE 1 reskin

You’re not understanding the problem. The "tourists" were promised something different from D4 and POE1 and yet they have little intention on delivering just that. The game has an identity crisis on its hands, it cant pick a lane and stick in it. It’s self evident after the first act where it slowly devolves into more of the same and then all of a sudden in the endgame.

The "POE1 reskin" you alluded to is the inevitable destination they’re currently headed. Thats ok if you’re a fan of the first but the so called "tourists" I expect will be leaving en masse once they find out.

I agree completely.
I played PoE1 for hundrets of hours and now we got the same old content just in new clothes.
Im very dissapointed from PoE 2 and not very motivated to play on.
My favorite class have been nekro at PoE1. Now its called witch.
I had mummies...now i have skeltons....
So what? Will somebody really tell me that this is a great revolution or innovation or a reason for a second seperated part? And thats only one of so many things that implemented just with another name and small changes.
Ok, there are some improvements like graphics, some sounds....but nothing really new.
But if you have played PoE1 for a long time (and you are not the fanboy hardcore player) what makes you play PoE2?
Whats so good and new? Wheres the revolution to leave your PoE1 chars and start over?
And what makes new players love this game with all the frustrating factors at the moment? (hopefully this will change after EA)
Even the char classes are the same just with other names. Nothing new....so what?

Dont take me wrong. I like PoE 2...but it took me some time and i understand everybody who dont like it anymore.
I thought i get something improved and/or new...at least some new content or classes.
But thats not the fact yet....
Its EA...many things may change yet and new thing will be added but for the moment the game is not worth to pay for....espacially not, if you have PoE1 already.
Unfortunately you learn this when you have tried it already.

[Botslayer]

thx jester, good chuckle lol

[Husbando]

bhahahahahahaaa OP bhahahahahaha

[ZLOE ZLO]

i played 12 k hours in original d2 when it came out, probably another 8k in LoD
i played 10k in poe 1
d3 was uninstalled after 200 hours, and uninstalled again after another 300 7 years later.
d4 was uninstalled after 160, it's not a fun game

[RodHull]

Originally posted by ZLOE ZLO:

i played 12 k hours in original d2 when it came out, probably another 8k in LoD
i played 10k in poe 1
d3 was uninstalled after 200 hours, and uninstalled again after another 300 7 years later.
d4 was uninstalled after 160, it's not a fun game

What do you mean? Do you not enjoy slowly building up to 1 interesting skill that does a bazillion damage by slowly wailing on mobs with under powered generator skills?

[DontEatSmurfs]

Originally posted by Brandl:

Originally posted by WiDOWZ:

You’re not understanding the problem. The "tourists" were promised something different from D4 and POE1 and yet they have little intention on delivering just that. The game has an identity crisis on its hands, it cant pick a lane and stick in it. It’s self evident after the first act where it slowly devolves into more of the same and then all of a sudden in the endgame.

The "POE1 reskin" you alluded to is the inevitable destination they’re currently headed. Thats ok if you’re a fan of the first but the so called "tourists" I expect will be leaving en masse once they find out.

I agree completely.
I played PoE1 for hundrets of hours and now we got the same old content just in new clothes.
Im very dissapointed from PoE 2 and not very motivated to play on.
My favorite class have been nekro at PoE1. Now its called witch.
I had mummies...now i have skeltons....
So what? Will somebody really tell me that this is a great revolution or innovation or a reason for a second seperated part? And thats only one of so many things that implemented just with another name and small changes.
Ok, there are some improvements like graphics, some sounds....but nothing really new.
But if you have played PoE1 for a long time (and you are not the fanboy hardcore player) what makes you play PoE2?
Whats so good and new? Wheres the revolution to leave your PoE1 chars and start over?
And what makes new players love this game with all the frustrating factors at the moment? (hopefully this will change after EA)
Even the char classes are the same just with other names. Nothing new....so what?

Dont take me wrong. I like PoE 2...but it took me some time and i understand everybody who dont like it anymore.
I thought i get something improved and/or new...at least some new content or classes.
But thats not the fact yet....
Its EA...many things may change yet and new thing will be added but for the moment the game is not worth to pay for....espacially not, if you have PoE1 already.
Unfortunately you learn this when you have tried it already.

the great revolution is around the slower combat and balancing, you will have meaningfull bosses that just dont stand there, better campain, eventually better endgame ( remember the endgame now was build in the last 3 months when GGG decided to change their goal )
it feels like you guys never played the first game or even any ARPG, how could you say there is nothing different from the first game ? like AT ALL ? you didnt notice how gems are working now ? really

you didnt notice how the enemies move or the boss react now ?
the heavier and slower movement ?

when i read people like you guys imediately i figure you never played anything related to ARPGs or if you played you never went deep into it, what do you expect from GGG ? did you want the complete balance POE 1 has just from 3 months ?

you guys are unreasonable at LEAST and most of the time you are all looking like karens...complaining about stuff that can change next week or so

when you guys say "i love POE 2 BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT...bla bla bla"

all the time compairing with POE 1, the same game GGG didnt want POE 2 to be like

saying over and over again "whats so different ?" ♥♥♥♥...everything we just had insane drama because POE 2 is not POE 1 because it was too different

i cant take criticisms that comes from people like you, like those criticisms "i have 18k hours of POE 1 and i believe the drop rate of this game is COMPLETE AND UTERLY TRASH why dont have POE 1 drops again ?"

i cant believe it, you may try to look in good faith but if you REALLY read what you wrote i cant take it seriously

the BIGGEST CHANGE the gem system ALONE and you didnt even mention, like i truly dont believe you have experience with any ARPGS

[Chris]

Originally posted by Brandl:

I agree completely.
I played PoE1 for hundrets of hours and now we got the same old content just in new clothes.
Im very dissapointed from PoE 2 and not very motivated to play on.
My favorite class have been nekro at PoE1. Now its called witch.
I had mummies...now i have skeltons....
So what? Will somebody really tell me that this is a great revolution or innovation or a reason for a second seperated part? And thats only one of so many things that implemented just with another name and small changes.
Ok, there are some improvements like graphics, some sounds....but nothing really new.
But if you have played PoE1 for a long time (and you are not the fanboy hardcore player) what makes you play PoE2?
Whats so good and new? Wheres the revolution to leave your PoE1 chars and start over?
And what makes new players love this game with all the frustrating factors at the moment? (hopefully this will change after EA)
Even the char classes are the same just with other names. Nothing new....so what?

you are describing literally every franchise game ever..
what are you expecting?
are you pretending gta5, wasnt gta4 with better graphics and sounds? - and i can garauntee you gta6, will be gta5 with better graphics and sounds.
d4 wasnt d3 with better graphics and nothing else?
mario64 wasnt mario with better graphics and sounds..

[JamieLinux]

Originally posted by Shunie:

Before anyone says "nice bait" or "trolling," I haven’t even played Path of Exile, but I’ve watched plenty of streams and videos to try and understand the appeal. From what I’ve seen, it just looks overwhelming, clunky, and unnecessarily complicated. If there’s something I’m missing, I’m open to hearing it, but so far, I just don’t get it

Not ever playing it completely invalidates your entire argument. Watching someone play is NOT the same as actually playing. No jester for you. not even good bait just a little D4 Defender trying to clout.

[kritze]

played poe1 only a couple of hours. Never gets me.
Now with poe2 ea release i play a lot. Never was great fan von these games. Played the singeplayer campaign and end but here. I enjoy actually every part. Satisfying combat, torture cause of the huge maps, overpowered enemys with weird effect mods and so on, the great success feeling beating a boss after dying 15 times lol

It starts to become a hate-love here.

[Foxens]

a automated jester farm, well done pal what you buying with all those points.

[Shunie]

Originally posted by Arcticbulwark:

Originally posted by Shunie:

Oh, I see, you’ve put a lot of thought into this, how adorable. Let’s break it down:

1. "It plays nothing like POE 1." Right, it’s basically the same, but with slightly nicer graphics and more clutter. Diablo IV doesn't need to throw a million stats at me to be fun - it's clean and polished.

2. "POE 1 is free, and POE 2 will be too." Sure, for now, until the real costs show up. Blizzard at least charges upfront and gives you a complete experience. POE, though, is "free" until it’s asking for your wallet at every turn.

3. "All ARPGs are grindy." Yeah, but grinding should feel rewarding. POE’s systems are like a degree in game design, while Diablo IV actually feels fun without needing a guidebook.

But hey, if POE 2 is the future of ARPGs, I’ll take Diablo IV’s polished simplicity over that headache any day.

1. Right so you are just straight objectively wrong about it playing the same as POE 1 so I really would drop that. D4 had a stupid amount of stat bloat for the first 3 seasons it was out. It was crazy how many worthless stats they had on every single piece of gear so to laud them for this just doesn't make any sense.

2. What do you imagine they are going to do? I bought stash tabs on sale 4 yrs ago for 20 bucks and still have them in their brand new game. Even that isn't required so how does that compare to the 90 dollars I had to spend to play D4 in EA? Not to mention selling expansions and season passes.

3. How would you know what's rewarding you don't play the game or even understand it. The reward in an ARPG is loot but you wouldn't know a good loot drop in POE if it punched you in the ♥♥♥♥.

Your response confirms that you aren't capable of even responding to intelligent feedback so why should people give it? Enjoy D4 bud you guys deserve eachother.

Ah, it's delightful when POE fans try to be snarky. Let’s break down your passionate rant:

1. "Objectively wrong" – oh, of course, objectivity in a debate about subjective preferences. It’s funny you mention "stat bloat" in D4, but what about POE, where every piece of gear looks like a puzzle requiring a PhD to figure out?

2. "I bought stash tabs 4 years ago" – congratulations, that’s quite an achievement. But it’s amusing how you justify microtransactions as "long-term value," as if it’s any different from Blizzard’s way of monetizing their game.

3. "You don’t understand what rewarding means" – classic. If I don’t need a 20-page guide to figure out that I got a good drop, maybe the issue isn’t with D4 but with a game where loot is just a pile of "let’s figure out this mess."

Honestly, I love this POE fan elitism. You’re so proud of enduring inconveniences that it’s almost touching. Good luck with your "strategic inventory management" while I go actually enjoy playing a game.

[Broni-Wan Kenobi]

A lot of it is confirmation bias cause "I spent money on it, so it has to be good! I didn't get scammed by early access!!!!"

But what you said is true, which is to be expected of ...an early access game.
PoE was just a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ rip off of Diablo....at first.

Once the REAL f2p game goes live, they will start to make tweaks and adjustments and ECT that will let it stand on its own.

But for now, it's a shallow, buggy, clone mess .....which again is just early access being early access (when it is eventually going f2p anyway)

[Danテディ]

Blizzard's existence is a crime against humanity.
It may was a good company 20 years ago, but all their newer games (including live service ones are the worst of the worst now)

Poe2 has many flaws still, which is why they use the early access.
Poe1 is better in many different ways but Poe2 has still potential to reach that point.

Eitherway: Poe > d1+2 > grim dawn > last epoch > titan quest > everything else > wolcen > d3 >d4

In all respect, blizzard should close their business (they lost the touch to their players anyway a long time ago)

[Lu2]

Originally posted by Danテディ:

Blizzard's existence is a crime against humanity.
It may was a good company 20 years ago, but all their newer games (including live service ones are the worst of the worst now)

Poe2 has many flaws still, which is why they use the early access.
Poe1 is better in many different ways but Poe2 has still potential to reach that point.

Eitherway: Poe > d1+2 > grim dawn > last epoch > titan quest > everything else > wolcen > d3 >d4

In all respect, blizzard should close their business (they lost the touch to their players anyway a long time ago)

did you tried no rest for wicked ? nioh and stranger of paradise ? eighterway i cant stand diablo clones like grimdawn or titan quest anymore for dull gameplay . i realy like how por 2 actualy wants you to pay attention . bosses are cool and chalenging not braidead encounters

[Shunie]

Originally posted by diploid:

Originally posted by Shunie:

Ah, classic defense mechanism - when you can't argue the point, just claim someone's 'wrong' and ignore the actual criticism. Maybe if I played, I’d see the magic, right? But hey, I’m sure the 400,000 daily players have figured out something that I’m clearly missing. I’m just waiting for someone to explain why grinding the same mechanics for hours on end is revolutionary. I guess if it’s working for them, that’s all that matters, right?

If you haven't even played it then you should definitely stfu, and not knock anyone who points this out.

It's an ARPG, but it's not like diablo. Diablo is mindless and not punishing and has hordes of monsters so huge it becomes only screen clutter. Blizzard introduces seasonal mechanics, which is refreshing, but by comparison are limited to the permanent mechanics in poe.

The crafting system in poe is better than in diablo - similarly grindy, but still better.

Currency is not at all the same.

There are so many unique map mechanics - btw maps is something diablo doesn't have, and ascension. Diablo has pits, and nightmare dungeons, which are pretty overwhelmingly bland in comparison.

Diablo introduced the boon/bane mechanic in one of their more recent seasons but the way the trials and maps does it in poe is so much deeper and stimulating.

Consequences in diablo are not devastating like they are in poe. Poe also has xp reduction as a punishment, diablo does not

I was a big fan of diablo until the expansion because they went overboard with making builds OP and i think that was a marketing ploy and for people like me that's just ugly. Poe2 is all around what diablo should have been - but it's good they both exist because of the face-smashing-on-keyboadx-ease of diablo.

So... I think it's true that you are either trolling or baiting - but more likely you just need to play the game before forming an opinion because if you're not a coward i think you can understand how that's not a fair approach for this situation, or any situation in life. And its ignorant to think you're getting enough of the gameplay experience by watching others play instead of you doing it yourself.

Scrounge up $30, ya poor/broke baby... And give it a try... Or maybe just stop paying any attention to ARPG games since they just might not be your thing

Ah, the classic 'you haven't played it, so your opinion doesn't matter' argument. Always a strong defense when there's no solid counterpoint, right? But hey, I’ll take your word for it - I’m sure grinding the same mechanics for hours on end is some sort of 'revolutionary' experience. Thanks for the advice though, I’ll definitely save my 'poor/broke' $30 and invest it in something with, you know, actual fun. But I guess it’s fine if ‘face-smashing-on-keyboard-ease’ is your thing. To each their own, right?