Absolutely disapointed -- This game is hard, and not in a fun way.

+1 to the OP.... I play a game to relax and unwind... I don't want to beat my head against a wall... I am a GenXr and I am "as gud as I'm gunna git"..... There are alot of players like me out here.


GGG missed the mark on much of its long time casual/normal playerbase here... this game feels crafted to make Asmongold and DarthMicrotransaction upload videos... not for the huge playerbase who loved POE because it was fast and you could explode things as you leveled up... then in End Game you were able to find and craft gear to do well.

Just like the OP, I played about 4-5 hrs, got to lvl 9 (that says something right there) and got tired of beating my head against some boss in a cemetery that I should have been able to fight.

For those that want to laugh at the "5 hours" ... if I am tired of playing it that fast, that is a GGG problem, not a me problem.

I'll play POE1 for as long as they support it, but as this game sits... nope.

"

y'all are just whining.

That's just dismissive of valid criticism and is just toxic. It is entirely valid for players to expect a sequel to a game to not alienate their enjoyment of why they liked the genre/franchise to begin with.

"

Verdonix#5948 wrote:

I'll play POE1 for as long as they support it, but as this game sits... nope.

I'm sure PoE 1 will not go anywhere, because it is a different game for different players, and it's absolutely great for many of them. Other players will enjoy only PoE 2 and will never play PoE 1, it's good to have variety, no?

Think i'll wait a few months and try it again after some balancing, this just isn't fun for me..

"

Suchka_777#4336 wrote:

"

Verdonix#5948 wrote:

I'll play POE1 for as long as they support it, but as this game sits... nope.

I'm sure PoE 1 will not go anywhere, because it is a different game for different players, and it's absolutely great for many of them. Other players will enjoy only PoE 2 and will never play PoE 1, it's good to have variety, no?

You know this harder, slower type game already exists in POE1 as ruthless mode.

Those who want that kind of game experience can choose it, those who do not, can elect not to play Ruthless.

Why maintain two games? Where do you think the most resources and best content is going to be spent?

Likely where the money is.

It's best for everyone if people can choose to play the game as they want to play it. Forcing people into an un-fun experience (for them, and fun is subjective) is not going to make money.,

"

Suchka_777#4336 wrote:

"

Verdonix#5948 wrote:

I'll play POE1 for as long as they support it, but as this game sits... nope.

I'm sure PoE 1 will not go anywhere, because it is a different game for different players, and it's absolutely great for many of them. Other players will enjoy only PoE 2 and will never play PoE 1, it's good to have variety, no?

Sure variety is good... but this should not have been marketed as POE2.. it should have been a new game. Those of us who have played POE1 for years, deserved a "better version" of POE1... a sequel that gave us what we loved about that game only better... Instead they created a basically whole new game genre and sold (I say sold metaphorically, I understand it is a FREE game) it to us as the sequel we all wanted.

Look, for the elites and the streamers... this is a great game I bet.. for folks like me (and there are ALOT of folks like me) ... this game missed (at least as it is now)

I've been playing ARPGs for over 20 years, and yet here I am—one-shotted by a boss in Act 2. It’s a humbling reminder that even with all those years of experience, there's always room to learn and improve. Now I’m back to farming gear, devising a strategy, and diving deep into the game’s mechanics. This isn’t a game where mistakes are forgiven; it demands precision, adaptability, and intelligence.

What strikes me the most is how the game mirrors its art in its gameplay. The beauty of its world is haunting, almost melancholic, and reflects the suffering I feel as I navigate its punishing but fair challenges. Every death, every setback, feels like a lesson—one I’m determined to master.

There’s no way I’ll complain about the difficulty. This is exactly what I want: a true test of skill and resilience. To those who feel frustrated by the challenge, I say embrace it. The reward is not just in the loot or progression but in the growth you achieve as a player.

Back to the grind—I’ll find a way through. This game isn’t about giving up; it’s about rising to meet it on its own unforgiving terms.

Slow movement, poor clearing skills, no rewards from extensive fights.
It's okay to repeat a fight and learn mechanics knowing that you'll get something but thank you for the 10th level one skill gem and the shard + two white gear items.
Rerolled act one at lass boss thinking which is not balanced. Raider is also freaking weak, slow and where loot ?

Elder ring much ?

Feels like everything is just there to slow you down which is not fun.

+1

If this is indeed the intended experience, they should have called it a different name, and made the control and system changes to PoE 1 as well, and keep the "dark souls hardcore game" as a separate thing.

I love WASD and controller support on PC. I like the gem system in its idea, having only utility support gems for the most part, and keep the damage scaling as part of gem level, gear and passive tree. I love the look and the sound of the game, the enemies, the boss design.

I initially thought the dodge roll to be cool, but as I got to act 2 to the end, it got very boring very quickly, not being able to dodge through small corridors, having to pull and kite mobs so you can make your way through.

I wanted to play a physical spell witch, which was ok in the beginning, but got very bad in act 2. The bosses are fine, they just take too long too fight. I don't understand how someone can defend a boss fight which takes 5-10 minutes. This game doesn't have boss fights which are that interesting. I've gotten all of them up until act 3 in 1-3 tries, but I never felt like I've mastered anything, the mechanics are confusing at first, so you die, then you dodge the things and that's it, there's nothing special here. Even if act 3 somehow introduces better boss fights, I don't see how someone can call this game "hard but not tedious".

Boss fights as ranged just devolved into circle strafing and holding down a button, with the occasional doge. I never had fun while I did it, and I got no reward out of doing it.

Trash mobs are way way wayyyyy too tanky, and some rares have the same problem as Poe 1, they are boss level of annoying. Also, they are not highlighted like in PoE 1, for some reason.

Using skeletons early feels like a sick joke, did someone actually try to play the game that way? They die way too fast, and it takes too long for them to respawn. Its ok for it to be intended that you would need other spells, but then why go minions in the first place? Why all the physical spells that witch can access just suck and have no scaling?

Why can't we buy uncut gems? I've wanted to try another build before ascending, but I didn't have enough skill gems to do a full switch, and 0 support gems available. I'd rather have the good old system of just buying what you need.

Where are the item drops? Why do the dropped rare items have at most 3-4 affixes? I swear I never saw a dropped item with 5 affixes. Why are there so few rare items? I saw maybe 20-25 in 10 hours of play. How are you supposed to generate regals?

Where are those famed crafting items they kept mentioning? I saw 2 essences, a few runes, 3 exalts in 10 hours. What are you supposed to craft with these? You know how many items I've augumented trying to get +spirit on them, so I can run one more skelli?

Early game melee feels really weird, not good at all. I heard that the damage gets better, but controlling Leaping Slam or whatever its called feels really bad. Dodging boss attacks at point blank range is very inconsistent. I felt that PoE 1 melee leveling was actually fun and engaging, with PoE 2 I have to stack armor and resistances and pray that the hitboxes are not wonky for that boss.

Yup, it's not "hard" it's just tedious. Also, wasd is not revolutionary. Balancing melee and skill choice would have been, but... oh well.