You'll forgive me, but I have to begin with the fact that I'm a Diablo fan. Born and raised, ever since I knew about Diablo, I've played Diablo. Got me through some hard times, bought all the Collector's Editions I could afford, clothing, etc. Up to my chin in lore, deep-diving in theory-crafting - you ask a question about Diablo 1, Diablo II, Diablo II LOD or Diablo III, I can probably answer it. But after years and years of grinding the same game over and over on Hardcore only (as I see, there is no real value in arpg's/rpg's if you play them in softcore), maxing out achievements at 98% - I've become disillusioned. The community raging, the Community Manager for Diablo not doing her job, no real feedback taken on board and so on. I felt betrayed. 20 years of support for nothing.
And somewhere last year, my girlfriend asked me to try this game. I was one of those reluctant idiots "blah blah blah, it sucks, it's not Diablo, Diablo is the king of RPG's forever and ever, hurr-durr"; but I downloaded the game. Managed to play a solid 4 hours, my girlfriend guiding me in a party so I understood key mechanics, answering questions, etc. I got bored by the knock-off storyline, I got scared by the amazing passive tree, and I got overwhelmed by the gem system. This all changed this October. After deleting Diablo and even the Blizzard Launcher with shift+delete+enter, I downloaded this game. I needed something fresh. And boy did I get it.
As a hardcore fanatic, I tried hardcore. Thinking I'm an RPG King, and I can manage anything this game might throw at me. I died. I died approximately 12 times (bear in mind most of the bosses are already nerfed, Avarius doesn't do his 1-shot flameball thingy anymore - *edit - I was wrong, Avarius still does the dividing oneshot fireballs skill, and it still pretty much oneshots you. I just died to it in the Metamorph League) 'til I managed to get to Kitava. Then I died some more. I reached the end game content. I died to bleeding, I died to reflect damage, I died to traps in the Lab, I died to Argus, I died to Tsoagoth... I felt a challenge. I loved starting over, I loved changing my build, my passives, my gems, my style, I loved that this game doesn't hold your hand, takes time to get into - but once you're there, there's so much content you'll literally play hundreds of hours in every League.
For now, I've bought both the Blight Supporter Pack and the Grand Sanctum Supporter Pack too - I feel I have so many ♥♥♥♥ games in my Steam Library that are not worth it according to Spoole's Rule - but for POE, I've decided to support this fantastic team and this amazing game with 60 dollars per every 60 hours I play. I feel it's fair, since I can afford it, and it also compensates for the people who can't be supporters and play for free.
I'm genuinely considering on buying the top tier core supporter packs - this game has left a huge impression on me, and as a lifelong Diablo player, I feel appreciated, cared and catered for with new content, and I can genuinely appreciate the open discussion, the clear and friendly communication that I see on forums and that I've heard while watching Exilecon.


PROS:
· Steep learning curve: you'll need to spend at least 40 hours in-game to grasp the basic mechanics, but they are presented in a step-by-step foolproof method.
· Graphics are the best in the current lineup of ARPG's and RPG's I've seen this year, water and light mechanics are brilliant.
· The progression, passives, gems - and the genuine core content of the game has been polished to brilliance. You will use your brains to craft your own style, and you will definitely need to think even if you use community favourite builds.
· I found both the storyline and the music as a cheap copy/replica of D2/D3 elements at times. At the 9th playthrough, when I understood more and more of the lore (I want to buy the comics now to get Victario's perspective!) - I couldn't have been more wrong. It's an hommage at times, sure, but it's no less original than Diablo. And to be totally fair, Kitava scares the living ♥♥♥♥ out of me still, while Diablo is a mainstream B class villain at this point.
· The game is free. You can play it without paying for a single MTX and have tons and tons of fun. I've spent 100 hours before I decided that I want to support the devs, and I want to look nice.

NOT CONS, BUT CONTROVERSIAL POINTS:
· Steep learning curve: you'll need to spend at least 40 hours in-game to grasp the basic mechanics, and as a HC Diablo quick GR 100+ farmer, I failed getting into this game the first time around.
· Scaling issues I've felt at times include randomly overpowered events/items - and this after a time when I got to understand all of the affliction mechanics and other core game elements. I see the challenge in this, so no real complaint, more of an observation.
· Randomly generated maps, like Lab sometimes suffer from the two ends of the stick: you either get ripped to ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ shreds by 4 overlapping traps, or you just stroll through without a care in the world. I see it as mildly imbalanced, but I can appreciate the RNG that goes into it, so not a real complaint again.
· Item design seems a bit lackluster, and you're genuinely going to look like ♥♥♥♥ without MTX - but as this game is free, and they use MTX to sustain themselves, I can definitely understand this - I just come from a different, more boring mentality in Diablo III.
· The game is free. While you can definitely have tons of fun not spending a dime, you'll realize that the specific currency/unique/mapping/delving stash tabs are a must. In the era of EA type lootboxes and "surprise mechanics" I feel GGG isn't lying to their customer base, but there is still room for improvement on how these are marketed and how they can bring QOL changes to your game experience.

VERDICT:
I'm a lifelong Diablo Necromancer. Nothing's changing that. I'll probably play D4 and love it, with all it's flaws. but GGG and POE has carved out their place in my heart, in the fraction of the time that Blizzard and Diablo had to achieve the same thing.

P.S.: I still find the story and lore behind Merveil and Daresso one of the most heartbreaking parts of this game. There is lore waiting for you to uncover.