Path of Exile 2: A 200-Hour Review

Introduction

After sinking 200 hours into Path of Exile 2, I've got a lot to say about this game. It's been a rollercoaster ride with some incredible highs and frustrating lows. Here's my take on what works and what doesn't.

First Character Experience
Starting out with my first character was a bit of a grind. The currency and gear drops just didn't come fast enough, making progression feel slow and clunky. It was a relief when I rolled my second character; everything felt smoother and more enjoyable. It's like the game finally clicked, but it shouldn't take a second playthrough to get there. Early game crafting for gear should be more readily available with more crafting currency drops.

Campaign Highlights
The boss fights in the campaign are absolutely amazing. Each one feels epic and challenging in the best way possible. However, the campaign maps are often too large, leading to a lot of unnecessary backtracking. This really breaks the flow and can get pretty annoying.

Movement speed is crucial, but it's tough to get the right gear or craft it. A simple fix would be to make movement speed an implicit stat on all boots, scaling with item level. The same could be done for charm slots on belts to make progression smoother. Somehow GGG seems to think that 35%MS and +2charm slots are top tier stats, while to me they seem like just natural character progression stats. They aren't OP and make you suddenly one shot everything.

Endgame Analysis
The endgame balance is a bit of a mess. One-shot mechanics and after-death effects are way too punishing on top off losing 10% XP and being limited to one portal. This isn't Path of Exile 1's ruthless mode! Bringing back the six portals and removing after-death effects would make the endgame much more enjoyable. Keep the 1 portal and after death griefing for POE2 ruthless mode for the maschochists among us.

Visual clarity is another big issue, especially in party play. The screen gets so cluttered with effects that it's hard to see what's going on. Making party members' skills transparent would help a lot.

Map Mechanics
I love that not every map has a boss, letting you hunt down rare enemies instead. But when there are only one or two enemies left and they're on the other side of the map, it gets tedious. Teleporting these enemies towards the player would keep the action going and avoid boring backtracking.

Citadels
Citadels seem to be missing from the game, which is a shame.

Mana Costs
The mana costs for skills beyond level 18-19 are ridiculous. No amount of mana leech or regen can keep up, which shouldn't be a problem for endgame characters. This needs to be fixed early in the endgame to prevent it from dragging on. Making mana leech scale off all damage and not just physical would probably solve it.

Defensive Layers
Evasion and armour just don't stack up against energy shield. All three defensive layers should offer equal protection to keep things balanced and fair.

Crafting
I miss the crafting bench and orb of scouring

Skill gem socket links
Given how rare the orbs are, they should apply to the gem socket and not the skill gem itself. This change is 100% needed. Even if they buff the orb drop rates.

Ascendancy Challenges
The ascendancy system is another pain point. Unless you're massively overleveled, it feels like a gamble where the house always wins. This can be really frustrating and takes away from the fun.

Trial of Chaos
The Trial of Chaos has some serious issues. You need invulnerability when adding soul cores to altars, as getting killed during this process is absurd. The petrify statues and flying death orbs are way too strong. Same can be said for Impending doom and added boss damage. The bird boss' tornado attack is a death sentence basically.

Plus, having the final boss locked behind RNG is just annoying. Rotating the trial boss at the start of each trial would be a much better approach so you could get your fates from 3 runs. In it's current iteration it's possible to never have the 3 boss rotate due to bad RNG. Have fun running this maybe 100's of times for 1 shot at the boss.

Sekhemas Floors
The third and fourth floors of Sekhemas are a nightmare, mostly because of the enemy types. The dune mobs and snakes are particularly frustrating, making these floors feel like a chore.

Minor Afflictions
Minor afflictions can be devastating. If one takes away all your energy shield, evasion, or armour, it's basically a death sentence. This needs to be rebalanced to make minor afflictions truly minor.

Fourth Boss Fight Mechanics
The fourth boss fight, especially the orb gathering phase, needs some tuning. Without at least 30-35% movement speed or a movement skill, it's nearly impossible to succeed. Adjusting these mechanics would make the fight more manageable.

Conclusion
Overall, Path of Exile 2 has a lot to offer, but it also has its fair share of issues. The game shines in its boss fights and character progression on subsequent playthroughs, but balance issues and frustrating mechanics hold it back. Addressing these problems would make the game much more enjoyable for everyone.