Path of Exile 2 devs acknowledge the endgame is 'too severe' but are sticking to their guns because 'the whole death actually mattering thing is actually important'

pcgamer.com:

Path of Exile 2's first major patch of the year will arrive later this week, with developer Grinding Gear Games saying it will address several common complaints about the game, with more improvements to come. One of the big sticking points for players has been endgame maps, which director Jonathan Rogers says it aims to make «more rewarding» through tweaks to loot and monster numbers, and the feel of the endgame in general. The thing is, though, that some of the stuff people are complaining about is also the point of the game.

This patch will mean players can now attempt endgame bosses more than once, and will ensure there are less deadly explosions that seemingly kill you out of nowhere. All of those things will be welcomed by players, but the biggest complaint remains the fact that you get one chance at endgame maps.

This element of Path of Exile 2 is unforgiving: Die and you're booted out of the map, losing XP and any loot drops you haven't yet grabbed. And while you can restart the map on the Atlas, you'll need a new waystone to enter it, and you'll lose any modifiers that it originally contained. In some ways that makes sense for a game of this nature, a genuinely high stakes looting challenge where it can all go wrong in an instant. But some just don't like sinking hours of time into something and losing it all like that.

«We did discuss quite a lot about whether we wanted to go back on one portal or not,» says Rogers during an interview with streamers Darth Microtransaction and GhazzyTV discussing the patch. «I think it comes down to the fact that it would just not feel the same. The whole 'death actually mattering' thing is actually important.

»We were talking about the pinnacle boss and the discussion came up 'should we allow portals everywhere, should we be allowing checkpoints everywhere' and we ultimately decided we really don't want to go that way if possible. So first of all we try out this pinnacle stuff, make sure it's something where you have true