A really good summary of the problems of PoE2 (in my opinion)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmqGUt8ztjk

Addresses almost all the issues in a constructive way, points out the reasons, the conflicts and proposes solutions. Might wanna take a look at it GGG. Highly recommend watching every minute of it.

BTW: I dont know who both of these guys even are or what else they do. I dont judge them by their profession or what they play. Just on what they have to say on the matter at hand.

I watched this earlier today. They had a really mature perspective that was kind of refreshing (I haven't been so nice :)).

I think this perspective represents a vast amount of ARPG players. Most of them are not as hardcore as online communities make them out to be. That's a super small % of players.

I am more in the souls-like camp, but even I am not enjoying the combat in this game currently. The fun vs. reward scale isn't adjusted correctly. I love a good challenge but I think the vision isn't quite right. It's like they're taking stuff from PoE1 and still trying to make meaningful combat with dodge-rolling. Souls-likes have meaningful combat because every encounter is highly focused, slower, and more unpredictable.

I'm also just personally sad at how bad demon form feels without layering 5+ uniques. I really want to play it.

PoE2 still needs a lot of balancing and purpose but if they get it right, the combat is going to go down as some of the best not just in ARPGs — but in gaming, period.

"

N3vangel#0037 wrote:

PoE2 still needs a lot of balancing and purpose but if they get it right, the combat is going to go down as some of the best not just in ARPGs — but in gaming, period.

Yeah no.

It's still an ARPG with an isometric view and a fixed camera. No matter how "good" the combat will be, it will never ever get even close to being considered "one of the top".
The combat can't reach the complexity of MMO's like "FFXIV", not the depth of turn-based like "XCOM", and especially not the mechanical ceiling of actual "Action Games" like "Souls-Games", and many more.
Best combat in the genre? Sure, while taste is subjective.
Best combat in gaming? No shot, period.

"

Lunela#2182 wrote:

It's like they're taking stuff from PoE1 and still trying to make meaningful combat with dodge-rolling.

That's because they don't have enough devs to create new mechanics other than at a trickle and things are getting worse with another top dev leaving the company recently.

Adding to the fun, Jonathan opted to use the least-favored mechanics of PoE1 to port to 2. Likely because they are the most difficult and least apt to be playable by the largest number of builds.

When I said “some of the best in gaming,” I wasn’t talking about complexity (which is what your argument is centered around) I was talking about feel — and how satisfying it is to interact with the game moment-to-moment.

You’re comparing two genres that lack the main thing that GGG nails: responsiveness.

Soulslikes trade away responsiveness for weight and commitment(big reason why I’d only ever play Sekiro). MMOs trade it away for rotational sequencing and animation locks.

PoE2, when tuned properly, keeps combat fast, reactive, and dangerous — and that’s exactly why it has a real shot at being remembered among the best.

"

N3vangel#0037 wrote:

When I said “some of the best in gaming,” I wasn’t talking about complexity (which is what your argument is centered around) I was talking about feel — and how satisfying it is to interact with the game moment-to-moment.

You’re comparing two genres that lack the main thing that GGG nails: responsiveness.

Soulslikes trade away responsiveness for weight and commitment. MMOs trade it away for rotational sequencing and animation locks.

PoE2, when tuned properly, keeps combat fast, reactive, and dangerous — and that’s exactly why it has a real shot at being remembered among the best.

Good luck with that. ARPG's trade "responsiveness" because they are "stat check" games.

"

LW187#4876 wrote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmqGUt8ztjk

Addresses almost all the issues in a constructive way, points out the reasons, the conflicts and proposes solutions. Might wanna take a look at it GGG. Highly recommend watching every minute of it.

BTW: I dont know who both of these guys even are or what else they do. I dont judge them by their profession or what they play. Just on what they have to say on the matter at hand.

That video is a fantastic analysis on how to thoroughly interpret a long-term RPG game's design for the current player market.

So, thank you for sharing it, LW!

When comparing the expectation of POE2 VS. the actual product that I am playing now, I am compelled to express the fact that despite my desire to enjoy this game, my ability to do so is incredibly limited.

As stated in this video, the "fun" of playing through POE2 is restricted due to numerous issues, identified as everything from "class build nerfs" to "lacking loot drops".

In conclusion, my primary perspective on this topic is the following:

GGG should have acquired more than enough experience regarding the development of POE1 in order to translate that experience into the development of POE2.
So, why is the current state of the game not reflecting that acquisition of development?
I am sure that the reason for this subpar outcome can not be solely based on a "lack of vision".

"

JakkerONAIR#4902 wrote:

"

N3vangel#0037 wrote:

PoE2 still needs a lot of balancing and purpose but if they get it right, the combat is going to go down as some of the best not just in ARPGs — but in gaming, period.

Yeah no.

It's still an ARPG with an isometric view and a fixed camera. No matter how "good" the combat will be, it will never ever get even close to being considered "one of the top".
The combat can't reach the complexity of MMO's like "FFXIV", not the depth of turn-based like "XCOM", and especially not the mechanical ceiling of actual "Action Games" like "Souls-Games", and many more.
Best combat in the genre? Sure, while taste is subjective.
Best combat in gaming? No shot, period.

I dunno, there are things that could make combat in poe2 be better than mmorpgs, turn based, and even fps's. And things are slowly showing that. Like having parries and blocks in the game being a thing you can tie triggers to offense responses. Timing windows to allow bonuses can easily be turned into timing for special moves. Skills having combo effects with other skills. Can be turned into passives that unlock hidden potential and moves and even unlock combos with certain skill setups. GGG already has some boss mechanics similar to some of the other genres, and they could easily add more to them, like having different move sets based on class opposition, party composition, etc. Do they now? No. But it can be very easily.