Story, Writing, Immersion

Before seeing PoE 2 EA, my biggest problem with this game's lore was the use of crossbows to try and fit the modern assault weapons into the medieval RPG setting. I'm sure the devs at GGG have been made aware of how a real crossbow functions. Yet they decided to proceed with this immersion-breaking charade.

After seeing the first 3 acts and the endgame dialogue, I have much bigger issues with this game's writing.

Act 1

The main character is not an exile. This game is not PATH OF EXILE. Really? You couldn't be bothered to maintain the most recognizable aspect of the hero's identity? Wow. 'Path Of Ogham Refugee' writing right from the start.

But at least Act 1 keeps the dark medieval atmosphere, and the story is interesting enough to follow. Not much to say about it. It's predictable and cliche. But it's fine for the first chapter of the story.

Act 2

Then we go to the desert and the story gets super dull and boring. Just like the gigantic empty locations seemingly designed to waste the player's time for no reason at all.

The loading screen depicts some zombies pulling the Caravan. Surely, those are undead. A clever use of some necromantic magic by the Maraketh. But when the hero gets to the leading cart, they comment about the use of slavery. WHAT? Those are human slaves, and they are ALIVE?! There is no way a human being in that sort of condition can even walk unassisted, let alone pull a 500-ton caravan.

As the Act 2 storyline unfolds, we learn about the Faridun. Who they really are. What they do. And what the Maraketh really do. Combined with the repeated demonstration of the loading screen.

About half way through Act 2, I started feeling like an American WWII soldier in Dachau. Sure, RL historical parallels shouldn't apply to medieval fantasy games. But I couldn't help the feeling. We should be using our 'crossbows' on these Nazis instead of helping them crush La Resistance.

Hey GGG. How about a plot choice right here? I want an option to side with the Faridun, kill the Maraketh, and fight Sekhema Asala as the alternative Act 2 boss. Nothing that happens in Act 2 matters in the main story arc anyway, so this would be a 100% improvement.

Act 3

Then we arrive in the jungle. Most of Act 3 is again a boring slog with gigantic locations where nothing happens. But then it gets REALLY WEIRD. Suddenly, the game stops being a medieval RPG and goes full sci-fi.

The moment Doryani starts talking, immersion gets completely destroyed, and the whole PATH OF EXILE atmosphere gets flushed down the toilet. A guy who lived several thousand years ago and practiced human sacrifice speaks about "civilization", "teleportation", "coordinates"... Yes, he literally says those words!

Who wrote those dialogues? This is so bad, I just can't...

In PoE 1 there is quite a bit of technology. But it's always spoken about in a way that doesn't break immersion. It's a mix of mechanics and magic. It opens portals to imaginary worlds. As opposed to "teleporting you to these coordinates".

Overall

So far in Early Access:
- we start playing Path of Not Exile;
- then we help Sekhema Hitler;
- and we end up playing Path of Stargate SG-1.

This is just atrocious.

While I could argue with a lot of the commentary on Acts 1 and 3, your assessment of Act 2 is pretty much spot on.

If you play a Witch, she even says 'this would be much more efficient if they were zombies', which immediately made me think two things: 'They're not zombies!?' and 'Why aren't they zombies!?'

The Faridun Dreadnaught further shows us that there are gigantic lizard-beasts capable of pulling such things along. So...so even if you can ignore the question of whether the number of slaves we see COULD pull that caravan, why would the Maraketh use weak, malnourished slaves rather than zombies or giant lizards? Tradition?

I feel like the very existence of the Faridun - outcasts tossed out of Maraketh society for little-to-no reason - already gives us a Maraketh society that's morally gray (which seems to be the overall thrust of every society introduced on or around Wraeclast). Zombie caravans would be a nice touch and a creative use of thaumaturgy. Slave caravans are dumb and pointless.

Literally, all GGG would have to do is change a few lines of dialogue and a handful of in-game models. Based on the loading-screen art, I assumed they WERE zombies before I was told otherwise, so nothing would need to change there.

Bump.

There is still plenty of time to fix the issues with the story and writing before the release.

1. Get the main character actually exiled somewhere in the remaining acts.

2. Change the Maraketh to be less evil, or give us an option to side with the good guys (the Faridun).

3. Re-write the dialogue for Doryani (and his associates) to be less sci-fi.

Your act 1 criticism is honestly a little silly imo, it's a little like complaining there's no Diablo in D4.
Technically speaking they could've named PoE something else, but it's still set in the same universe and ultimately name recognition matters it would be harder to market it and it'd have less reach with a new name.
''PoE2'' tells everyone what they need to know and that it's set in the same universe and is a sequel rather than a completely new thing.

That particular criticism is just honestly pretty pedantic.

Edit: Also your criticism is just generally very rude, which is pretty unnecessary.
I think generally speaking people are less likely to listen to you and take you seriously when you're rude towards them.

So your act 1 criticism is merely pedantic. And even your mock suggestion is wrong (You're not a Refugee, you're a Fugitive, as you're on the run from your lawful execution order).

Your act 2 criticism is very valid, I generally agree. While I'm fine with it overall, I wish more characters (Sin and the Player) where a bit more vocally opposed to it, or perhaps Zarka / Asaila further clarifying how those people got there (Volunteers redeeming themselves for a crime, etc), rather than just "We captured these people and hooked them up). It's more galling that they have a stable of beasts of burden in Rhoa they already use as mounts, AND the Fairdun prove there ARE large beasts of burden capable of the task (since THEY don't use humans for it). It's fine for the Maraketh to suck (they've been one of the worst civilizations in setting since their inception, right along side Oriath). Though I'm fine with the Witch being awful about it. She's clearly evil anyway.

Act 3 your complaints fall fully flat. The ability to transpose locations via magic has obviously been around in setting for ages, of course the Vaal, the insane corruption wizards have a word for it. The most brilliant mind the world has ever seen when it comes to magic and science, Doryani of course uses specific language like Coordinates. It's a little telling to me you seem to think a Vaalish wizard / scientist shouldn't even be using the word "Civilization", a concept that has existed since before Rome existed. He's not like Grust's tribe, a group of Azmeri who've been scraping it out in the Phecia for a thousand years. I can get Grust or Silk having a rougher use of language. But someone like Doryani or Atzeri should be smooth, good communicators, at the height of logic or passion respectively (as that's their archetypes).

I'll add on there's literally a teleportation machine in PoE1, it's how you get from Highgate to Oriath, with an actual Terminator reference as part of it. There are straight up Robots. And not a small number of them, there are TONS of robots, from the Vaal's 'Ancient Constructs', to the Unbreakable. And lets not forget Isla and Nenet's Housekeeping Golem. Doryani bringing up that he has Coordinates is hardly immersion breaking if actual factual maid robots are not.

I think they should rework the story into something more "survival crafter" like "Exile does whats necessary to survive" I'm guessing they will do nothing of the sort. But I love survival crafters for their lack of leading by the nose and lack of "quests"

Agree with the OP though I am so underwhelmed by instant fetch quests and NPC's expecting heroic help.

WTF we just escaped a hanging bitch... And killed a giant arsehole outside the door to your fuckin town... I should shank everyone in the fucking town and take all their gear and keep moving.

Imagine the subversion of expectations: you enter town and have the option to cooperate, or tie everyone up and take their stuff except maybe 1 vendor who sides with you, or kill everyone except a different vendor that sides with you.

Probably sounds like I am a phycho but I am just so over questing and automatic altruistic heroic motives in videogames. its so fuckin boring and 10 years past due for something thats not the same old shit. POE1 started out this way and kinda completely lost the plot with "ten acts".

I still resent that POE1's narrative become such a predictable save the world trope.

Look... I agree with OP criticism... but, knowing GGG and how PoE 1 extended second half was (Acts 6 to 10), I'm expecting some turn tables when the Beast is unleashed and Doryani allies with Balbala to kick some Sekhemas Nazi behinds.

Act 1 Una singing is like mermaid Nessa, a backstabber.

Act 2 Asala as that moral choice between the three "salvages" or Eramir, the slaver will go down. (But, at first I thought those pulling the caravan were revives like Tolman).

Act 3 eerrrr... the SciFi BS has no explanation. Just hope Doryani will take over and lead the charge against the Countess and the beast.

I had to chuckle at your ending paragraph Kelv and those are all valid points. We're no exiles by any standard, just some random villagers that happen to have some inherent skill that are escaping from being executed by some random madlad (by a fat ass execution rope randomly ripping at that!) that just so happens to have somehow captured Sin, a fucking god, and getting whatever the fuckery he kept in his mantle that becomes another Beast - by the way very misleading because it can't be the beast of PoE1, but whatever.

All in all the story is very unrefined and needs a lot of improvement.

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LibraExAnima#1943 wrote:

becomes another Beast - by the way very misleading because it can't be the beast of PoE1, but whatever.

Why can't it be exactly?

yeah story is a mess already, and we only have half of it. the moment they introduce time travel without any need I`m out. who writes this shit?! what happens next, multiverse?!
it`s the same crap as Last Epoch, it is so needlessly convoluted and boring. they learned nothing from the simple elegance of Diablo 1 & 2 he time.

and yeah, don`t get me started on the bizarre slavery thing when there is a world full of zombies and magical beasts, it is retarded. or at least show us 5000 slaves pulling this huge ass caravan, not 30...

Oh and has anyone realized we don`t get to kill a single boss in the campaign? talk about anticlimactic.