Last Epoch is a diablo-style ARPG that is close to rivaling the scope of the big players in the genre like Diablo 3, Path of Exile, and Grim Dawn. It is content-incomplete (campaign not finished, missing unique items, some missing specializations), feature-incomplete (there is multiplayer now, but no trade yet), and quality-inconsistent. However the upward trajectory of the game is undeniable. The increase in quality of things like voice acting, art, 3D models, enemy design, responsiveness/feel of skills, and class depth has been ramping up in a big way. Most of the game has a new coat of paint and it makes a big difference. Normally when a project suffers from scope creep the way this one does, the result is a buggy mess that is nothing more than undelivered promises. But I'm here to say that this game is the exception, and good enough to enjoy right now IMO, and there's many reasons to feel optimistic about the game's future.

The best aspect of the game, the big reason Diablo fans need to play the game. This game bucks the trend of class-agnostic progression and doubles-down on making players commit to specializing in a unique class, using skills that evolve in more interesting ways than changing skill runes in Diablo 3 or slotting in support gems in POE. Do these restrictions limit the number of possible builds? Technically, but it doesn't feel like it since it allows the design of skill interactions to synergize with each other in more clever and hand-crafted ways. This means whatever build you do develop is NOT going to regress into the infamous 1-button spamathon that is every other class-agnostic ARPG.

To accomplish this, the game has a meticulously crafted skill tree for each and ever skill in the game that you will level up separately from your character. The passive nodes in these skill trees often directly relate to other skills available to the class you're playing, and these interactions create meaningful layers of choice both in your build and, more importantly, in the moment-to-moment gameplay. This game wants you to use your whole skill bar all the time and it does a better job than any other ARPG I've played, and I am constantly making new characters. I have played the majority of masteries in the game and I am constantly imagining what each of them would be like if I built differently. Even among every specialization there are many viable ways to play. I am just super impressed overall with the dedication and depth to each playable class, this game will ruin you if you are an altoholic.

This didn't used to be pretty game. In fact there used to be two paragraphs here talking about how ugly and slow the game ran. This multiplayer update they release optimized the game more than I've ever seen a game be optimized. The game looks literally twice as good in many places, their new artists are producing significantly better assets, and they've worked a lot of expensive shaders to use deffered rendering. Despite all the visual improvements, the game actually runs 50% faster than it used to on my machine. Auto HDR works now, the new composer is doing a great job with the new music tracks added, and many skills have revamped behavior that feel so much better. This game actually feels good to play now and isn't being carried by it's deep customization alone.

Unfortunately, before this update I had said that this game virtually no major bugs. Unfortunately, the switch to server authority has put a dent in that. The past couple days there've been a ton of bugs making the game feel more like a beta than it did back when I first started playing. It's only been a couple days and they've been tracking things well so hopefully they'll be able to deliver fixes for that.

The rough edges on the campaign got filed down in a big way this update, and it feels like a more cohesive experience than it used to. There is actually a story here with some voice acting that's been touched up big time. The campaign is also skippable in several places, if your alternate characters are strong enough to beat the dungeons, they can skip large parts of the campaign and get to endgame more quickly.

I really like the endgame currently, it offers a lot of ways to target loot and a lot of decisions to make about what zone to run and what nodes to chase, but they're not so complicated that setting it up requires you to stop playing the game to craft maps or something. The monolith system right now is a whole lot better than D3, and a whole lot less complicated than PoE, That doesn't necessarily means it's lacking in depth, although it could still be better. Outside of the monoliths, you have the high tier dungeons that offer unique, bespoke rewards, and an endless arena to push online leaderboards.

All of these activities have exclusive uniques to chase, but the chase doesn't stop there. Ultimately the goal is to ascend the best uniques to legendary by actually combining them the best rare items you can muster and get the best of both worlds. This system is, IMO, a big stand out in the genre, and creates a ton of wild possibilities for late-game itemization that is super deep without being an unintuitive cluster ♥♥♥♥ of remote probabalistic ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥.

- controller support is a big plus but you can't aim with the right analog stick and that's a big problem
- In-game UI and documentation are good, but could be better. A lot of subskills and obscure status effects still lack sufficient in-game explanation.
- No item linking in chat yet, coming soon in hotfix with other fixes
- There is an offline mode you can play if the servers die
- Entire game is playable coop, but the coop rules for certain activities like dungeons still feel like a first draft. If you die in a dungeon, you are essentially removed from your team and cannot play with them until they either finish it or die. This is terrible design IMO.
- Regular item crafting is useful and accessible at all stages of the game and won't brick your items out of the blue.
- I really don't have much bad to say about this game, it's in a damn good spot right now and I believe it's going to be among the cream of the crop by time 1.0 rolls around, even with major AAA competitors around the corner.

[h1] Big Picutre [/h1] Last Epoch is a diablo-style ARPG that is close to rivaling the scope of the big players in the genre like Diablo 3, Path of Exile, and Grim Dawn. It is content-incomplete (campaign not finished, missing unique items, some missing specializations), feature-incomplete (there is multiplayer now, but no trade yet), and quality-inconsistent. However the upward trajectory of the game is undeniable. The increase in quality of things like voice acting, art, 3D models, enemy design, responsiveness/feel of skills, and class depth has been ramping up in a big way. Most of the game has a new coat of paint and it makes a big difference. Normally when a project suffers from scope creep the way this one does, the result is a buggy mess that is nothing more than undelivered promises. But I'm here to say that this game is the exception, and good enough to enjoy right now IMO, and there's many reasons to feel optimistic about the game's future. [h1] The Skills and Classes Are What Sets This Game Apart [/h1] The best aspect of the game, the big reason Diablo fans need to play the game. This game bucks the trend of class-agnostic progression and doubles-down on making players commit to specializing in a unique class, using skills that evolve in more interesting ways than changing skill runes in Diablo 3 or slotting in support gems in POE. Do these restrictions limit the number of possible builds? Technically, but it doesn't feel like it since it allows the design of skill interactions to synergize with each other in more clever and hand-crafted ways. This means whatever build you do develop is NOT going to regress into the infamous 1-button spamathon that is every other class-agnostic ARPG. To accomplish this, the game has a meticulously crafted skill tree for each and ever skill in the game that you will level up separately from your character. The passive nodes in these skill trees often directly relate to other skills available to the class you're playing, and these interactions create meaningful layers of choice both in your build and, [b]more importantly, in the moment-to-moment gameplay[/b]. This game wants you to use your whole skill bar all the time and it does a better job than any other ARPG I've played, and I am constantly making new characters. I have played the majority of masteries in the game and I am constantly imagining what each of them would be like if I built differently. Even among every specialization there are many viable ways to play. I am just super impressed overall with the dedication and depth to each playable class, this game will ruin you if you are an altoholic. [h1] Performance is Many Times Better, But the Online is Buggy [/h1] This didn't used to be pretty game. In fact there used to be two paragraphs here talking about how ugly and slow the game ran. This multiplayer update they release optimized the game more than I've ever seen a game be optimized. The game looks literally twice as good in many places, their new artists are producing significantly better assets, and they've worked a lot of expensive shaders to use deffered rendering. Despite all the visual improvements, the game actually runs 50% faster than it used to on my machine. Auto HDR works now, the new composer is doing a great job with the new music tracks added, and many skills have revamped behavior that feel so much better. This game actually feels good to play now and isn't being carried by it's deep customization alone. [h1] Online Mode Is Way Buggier Than Offline [/h1] Unfortunately, before this update I had said that this game virtually no major bugs. Unfortunately, the switch to server authority has put a dent in that. The past couple days there've been a ton of bugs making the game feel more like a beta than it did back when I first started playing. It's only been a couple days and they've been tracking things well so hopefully they'll be able to deliver fixes for that. [h1] Campaign and Endgame in a Good Spot [/h1] The rough edges on the campaign got filed down in a big way this update, and it feels like a more cohesive experience than it used to. There is actually a story here with some voice acting that's been touched up big time. The campaign is also skippable in several places, if your alternate characters are strong enough to beat the dungeons, they can skip large parts of the campaign and get to endgame more quickly. I really like the endgame currently, it offers a lot of ways to target loot and a lot of decisions to make about what zone to run and what nodes to chase, but they're not so complicated that setting it up requires you to stop playing the game to craft maps or something. The monolith system right now is a whole lot better than D3, and a whole lot less complicated than PoE, That doesn't necessarily means it's lacking in depth, although it could still be better. Outside of the monoliths, you have the high tier dungeons that offer unique, bespoke rewards, and an endless arena to push online leaderboards. [h1] The New Legendary Item System is My Favorite End-Game Loot in the Genre [/h1] All of these activities have exclusive uniques to chase, but the chase doesn't stop there. Ultimately the goal is to ascend the best uniques to legendary by actually combining them the best rare items you can muster and get the best of both worlds. This system is, IMO, a big stand out in the genre, and creates a ton of wild possibilities for late-game itemization that is super deep without being an unintuitive cluster fuck of remote probabalistic bullshit. [h1] Speed Round [/h1] - controller support is a big plus but you can't aim with the right analog stick and that's a big problem - In-game UI and documentation are good, but could be better. A lot of subskills and obscure status effects still lack sufficient in-game explanation. - No item linking in chat yet, coming soon in hotfix with other fixes - There is an offline mode you can play if the servers die - Entire game is playable coop, but the coop rules for certain activities like dungeons still feel like a first draft. If you die in a dungeon, you are essentially removed from your team and cannot play with them until they either finish it or die. This is terrible design IMO. - Regular item crafting is useful and accessible at all stages of the game and won't brick your items out of the blue. - I really don't have much bad to say about this game, it's in a damn good spot right now and I believe it's going to be among the cream of the crop by time 1.0 rolls around, even with major AAA competitors around the corner.