Is POE2 an ARPG ?

Hi,

Sound weird but actual question. Is Path of Exile 2 an ACTION roleplaying game ?

Was is marketed and sell as one ? Or is it just another game in the Path of Exile world ?

I see a lot of complaint about the difference between PoE1 and PoE2, about the thinks that define an ARPG and PoE2. But what if the crux of the problem is that PoE2 never was an ARPG in the first place and never aim to be one ?

If I forgot everything I knew about ARPG (and I played quite a few in the last 43 years) and just look at PoE2 about what it is I see a decent and intriguing game during campaign, nice to play with classic CRPG system mixed with some mechanically heavy bosses and a lot of procedurally generated areas and equipment.

It's entertaining and adequately difficult even if things could be streamlined with a better explanation of mechanism.

Then after the campaign end, the game decide to keep on playing with more procedurally generated filler to expand his life time but the content isn't as well crafted, interesting nor good.

And I think that is the crux of PoE2 failing: it lack the endgame this kind of game need. It's not an ARPG in the Diablo-like/PoE1-like ARPG sense, it can't use the same endgmae, it need to find his own.

I am unsure that a seasonal living service is the right economical model for this game. If PoE2 was a PoE1 upgrade sure, but it's a totally different beast, a bit like if someone proposed a Seasonal Live Service for Baldur's Gate 3 or Dark Souls.

I would suggest to split the Frankestein contraption into two separated games:
1- Use all the material of PoE2 as an upgrade to PoE1 with better graphics and animations and some extra content.
2- Use the PoE2 core and system for a MMO CRPG, with the slow soul-like approach but without the Live Service and just release regular new Acts or Character as paying expansion.

Even the campaign throws hordes of opponents at you. The dreadnaught is a famous example, but it starts way before that. In the third zone you are tasked with clearing big groups of enemies before facing the boss. So no, the campaign is not that different from the endgame.

Nope, the only reason this game is called "PoE 2" is for marketing reasons and to generate hype for it. The moment it was decided for it to not be 4.0 and be a seperate game I suspect the "vision" had already taken hold.

This isn't an argg because it lacks most of the qualities of one: loot,meaningful character and power progression,power fantasy,fun combat,loot and being rewarded for doing harder content. And you know, the whole "action" part of ARPG is just not there when it takes you ages to do 1 map.

You can't even call this a "soulslike" or whatever its trying to be either, because its not that either. The game's direction is going nowhere fast, its a mess and it does not know what kind of game it wants to be. That was obvious even in 0.1, but ofc all the people that gave feedback about the direction this game is going back then got insane pushback from all the tourist gamers that have mysteriously vanished now. Almost as if those players were never going to come back after "beating" the game once. Very strange.

They say it's their intention to redo 1 with the updated graphics engine once all the MTX is ported, so expect that in about five years at the rate they're going, by that time everyone may have upgraded their potatoes to cope with it

I think it's far more likely that the gap between 2 and 1 playstyle shrinks and 1 goes into permanent maintenance mode

It is, in it's basic concept, a fail.
The Vision says: Slow and meaningful combat, combo-heavy fights, but the game itself is rushing you with ultra-fast moving/attacking tons-of-enemies, fast mechanics (endgame rift) and is, on the other side, blocking the player with long cooldowns etc. We all know the problem.

We should heavily use crafting, but get no materials. We should heavily use the (outsourced) trading system, but get no currency/items.

So, what the hell do we have to do...???

is diablo II an ARPG? POE2 has a pretty similar playstyle and pace to the progenitor

It is still and always has been advertised as an ARPG on Steam. So no, it never actually being an ARPG is false. It still claims to be one.