My Feedback - My Opinion (Not yours, Not others) Mine.

A little background about myself as a 37-year-old hardcore gamer with a family and one child:

The first ARPG I played was Ragnarok from 2003 to 2005.

Then came RF Online (2 years).

Followed by SEAL Online (1 year).

Black Desert Online (BDO) – over 10,000 hours.

Lost Ark – over 6,000 hours.


While playing these games, I spent money on various in-game needs. For two games, BDO and Lost Ark, I accumulated a total expenditure of around $30,000. No regrets at all about this spending. I had the money, and I had the time.

Feeling bored with Lost Ark, I decided to try Path of Exile 2 (POE 2), which many have hyped as the best ARPG of the year.

After 250 hours, reaching level 93 as a Monk with decent equipment to conquer all endgame content, here’s my opinion:

1. POE 2 Early Access Is Not for Newbies. Why?

Lack of Explanation from the Developers.
Nearly everything in the game lacks proper explanations.

Overwhelming Details in Active/Passive Skills and Support Mechanics.
There’s no comprehensive guide, and players must rely on streamers/YouTubers who are not even part of the game’s development team. Isn’t it the developers' responsibility to provide this information?

Item Mechanics Are Barely Explained.
As a newbie, I expect at least some guidance. A better use of loading screens would be tips or mechanics instead of useless wallpapers.

Basic Functionality Is Obscure.
For example, zooming out the endgame map (press Esc + Zoom out) – I had to search YouTube to figure this out. Efficient? Absolutely not.


2. Outdated Quality of Life Features.

No Auto Loot Pickup.

No Auto Inventory Management.

Developers sell stash/storage upgrades but not inventory expansions? I’d rather pay for a larger inventory than waste time running back and forth to manually organize items.

No In-Game Trading House.
Players must use a website to trade, wasting even more time, especially when trying to understand each item’s intricate details. It feels like 2025 is stuck in 1999.
Bots and other issues? Every game eventually deals with bots. Stop using them as an excuse not to innovate.


3. Graphics.

This game does not offer the best graphics of 2024. Lost Ark is far superior in complexity, detail, and breathtaking effects.
On my RTX 3090 TI, Lost Ark runs smoothly on the highest settings, yet I experienced crashes and stuttering in POE 2. Extremely disappointing!

4. Gameplay Difficulty.

Mechanically, this game is easier compared to other ARPGs. Want a real challenge? Try Lost Ark’s endgame dungeons. You’ll lose your mind if you think POE 2 is hard.

The challenge in POE 2 comes from frustrating elements like:

Instant-death animations from trash mobs or bosses.

Dungeon lighting and enemy skill effects blending indistinguishably into the floor.

No Restart or Checkpoint options, forcing repetitive and dull dungeon runs.

Tedious dungeon traversal, where even 25-35% movement speed feels the same. At least make travel more engaging, such as with mounts or faster movement options.


Final Thoughts.

I could go into more details, but at this point, I’ve lost interest. My disappointment as a new player is overwhelming. If this game is meant for POE 1 veterans, just update POE 1. Stop marketing POE 2 as a "new" game when it feels outdated in so many ways.

I spent around $300 on POE 2 to conclude: Your game is completely outdated! It’s just a dopamine boost game where you smash and gamble for everything!

Dude had 10k hours in bdo and says poe2 is all about gambling and smashing like its a bad thing.

Ok.

(I have 8k hours in bdo btw).

"like it's a bad thing" Your words, not mine.

Still, too many downside compared to BDO.
I rather gambling and smashing on Vegas thn in Suburban City.

i agree on most of those , but wtf are you comparing lost ark and poe.

Lost ark endgame dungeons all have basically a version of maven's memory game
on every single boss , there simply a mechanic that if done wrong just wipes the whole party .
Lost ark dungeons are more like Wow raiding .

and poe is a power fantasy,well i was about to defend POE but i cant think of anything , POE one shots are all so random , everything in poe is random .

closest thing to a real boss fight in poe 2 is arbiter but even that is random as in order of abilities he uses .

Im comparing just In terms of "ARPG" genre.
And WTF i must admit i like your honest comment tho! Thanks.

"

Oneverything#8270 wrote:

"like it's a bad thing" Your words, not mine.

Still, too many downside compared to BDO.
I rather gambling and smashing on Vegas thn in Suburban City.

I just find it amusing you shelled out 10ks of $ on a bdo and yet you cant really do that legally in poe2, and so in poe2 gambling is bad.

You do you my guy.

"

H3avyM3tal#0791 wrote:

"

Oneverything#8270 wrote:

"like it's a bad thing" Your words, not mine.

Still, too many downside compared to BDO.
I rather gambling and smashing on Vegas thn in Suburban City.

I just find it amusing you shelled out 10ks of $ on a bdo and yet you cant really do that legally in poe2, and so in poe2 gambling is bad.

You do you my guy.

Lmao,
Thanks brother. I hope you nothing but the best.

"

Oneverything#8270 wrote:

Basic Functionality Is Obscure.
For example, zooming out the endgame map (press Esc + Zoom out) – I had to search YouTube to figure this out. Efficient? Absolutely not.

Just a small fyi here: This functionality isn't explained or shown anywhere because it's unintended. It's basically a bug.

"

Oneverything#8270 wrote:

This game does not offer the best graphics of 2024. Lost Ark is far superior in complexity, detail, and breathtaking effects

wat

I agree with most of this post besides the graphics. could care less what it looks like compared to how well it plays. The stuttering and frame drops getting me killed and amount of time I'm spending with having to trade items and not playing the game is what is killing my motivation to keep playing. That being said, I do like this game a lot and hope they can figure these out.