Path of Exile 2 Early Access Review

ign.com:

It only took an hour of playing Path of Exile 2’s early access version to know I’d soon be firing up an Excel spreadsheet and saying goodbye to all my loved ones for the foreseeable future. Just when I thought I was out, the heartless maniacs (in a good way) at Grinding Gears Games have pulled me back in with a sequel to one of my favorite action RPGs of all time – a game which has already consumed much of my life since it came out a decade ago. The gameplay, endgame mechanics, and insanely intricate buildcrafting all take massive steps forward, and even though it’s subject to many of the usual “early access jank” caveats and suffers from some seriously stingy loot drops right now, there’s already a lot to love about this fantastic, time-destroying ARPG.

Per all the genre’s usual tendencies, you can expect to spend your time blasting your way through armies of enemies in search of loot, taking down big, gross-looking bosses, and teleporting back to town to sell off your spoils roughly every two minutes due to your insanely small inventory space. In its presently unfinished state, it takes about 60 hours of battling your way through the first three acts of the campaign (of a planned six) twice in a row (on a higher difficulty the second time) before you hit the impressively extensive endgame, where even more angry mobs and shiny gear waits for you. And although it has plenty of technical jank and placeholders labeled “coming soon” where features should be, the vast majority of my multi-day marathon to get there was overwhelmingly enjoyable.

Needless to say, Path of Exile 2 doesn’t exactly rock the storytelling boat – it sticks with the usual tale of horrifying abominations which threaten to destroy the world and immortal beings treating mortals as pawns – but that doesn’t mean it’s boring or without the occasional twist and turn. Getting to know the cast of characters and unraveling the otherworldly culture and history featured in each act is a particular highlight. I