Is it worth it? PoE review
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Intro: Path of Exile is a game that some what flew under my radar for quite a while until the last couple weeks when my friend showed me the game and I was compelled to give it a go myself. PoE is an ARPG for those who don't already know and is most easily comparable to Diablo. As a player of all Diablo games my favorite is Diablo 2 however D3 really let me down as it was so far off from the formula that popularized the genre and the series in the first place. When I played PoE for the first time I felt instant nostalgia and was brought back to the days of the first two Diablos. That right there is the best praise I can give the game because it is either on par or better than the grandaddy of the genre itself. However the game is not perfect yet by any means and there are somethings I would like to praise the developers for and put the issues out there so they are aware.
Pros: 1. This game is the darkest and most horrifying ARPG since D2. The environments have a very real gritty look to them and the lighting and shadowing in particular is very well done. In fact the zones in the game in general are just very compelling and explorable the game is constantly switching locales and each one is just as horrifying and twisted as the last. 2. The absolutely HUGE skill tree. I can't emphasize huge enough the multiple options and paths to morphing your own character is staggering and while it can be a little overwhelming at first once you come to grips with it you truly can make a character that feels different than anyone elses. 3. The multiplayer of the game is also very well done with a 6 player co-op mode, pvp arenas, a dark souls-esque pvp mode where you drop in and out of other players worlds in hopes of killing them and stealing there precious loot. The game also has all players together in towns while the zones are instanced and it may not seem like a big deal but I truly do feel that the game feels more alive and the community is stronger for it. 4. While the combat starts off semi-sluggish as you put points in skill trees the combat becomes slick, intense, and very empowering. 5. The currency system is also a very interesting point of discussion as there really isn't any to speak of. Yes I said it no gold, no silver, no dollars, nothing. Money is nonexistent in this game instead the economy is purely player driven as since there is no money players must barter with each other and while I'm not entirely sure what the outcome of this design decision will be it certainly is a very interesting concept that community really seems to have come to terms with it well. (It also will keep gold farmers at bay which is always a plus. 6. A truly selfless developer with only love for their creation. Most developers these days are in it for the money alone and all it is a payday to them but GGG has made PoE F2P and simply ask for money as a means of support. They are constantly on top of helping the community out from my experience and developers will even hop in the channel to talk with you and your feelings about the game which is something I have never seen before and really wish I would see it more often. 7.The skills in the game take the form of gems and can be morphed together for different effects and can be used by any class which allows you to have a marauder that uses fireballs or witch that swings around hammer attacks which isn't always a legit build but the freedom to these things at will gives a very liberating sense of freedom. 8. The community as of right now is great and is always willing to help and actually willing to have a mature conversations in the general chat. 9. End game maps that guarantee you always have something to do with you and all of your friends. Now the cons to this game are few and far between but still need to be mentioned because I know GGG wants all the feedback they can get on the game. Cons: 1. The game does not have an inspect player option which is odd considering the entire game is a loot based dungeon crawler and it would be really nice to be able to check out the stats on the beastly looking character in town with you. 2. Waypoints are strewn about in somewhat random locations and sometimes are just outright difficult to track down making it especially frustrating when you die and have to run back through and clear areas you had passed up already. 3. Skill tree can be potentially too varied and deep for it's own good because you do have the potential to get locked up on a difficulty because you specced your now high level toon incorrectly and there is no legit means of a complete respec which could end up causing you to have to create an entirely new character. 4. Difficulty can spike dramatically with bosses on normal difficulty one shotting my duelist at times for no apparent reason and sometimes if you are melee character only and a boss is good against melee then you are forced to run back over and over to widdle the bosses health to 0 over time and that isn't fun it's just monotonous and boring. 5. The game also requires you to hold down the alt button to see the text for item drops which ends up causing a lot of unnecessary wasting of items as you simply do not see the text over the item and end up leaving items behind from time to time. Conclusion: This game is quite possibly the future of ARPG's and in my opinion already stomps Diablo 3 and Torchlight 2 out of the water and the game hasn't even been fully released yet. The game screams intelligent design, creativity, innovation to the genre, and just plain balls to the wall fun. It has a great community and possibly some of the best developers I've ever came across. You can just tell that GGG has nothing but love for their baby and is always to improve and expand upon their astounding foundation of a game. Whatever niggling problems I have with the game are completely diminished by how many things are just right about the game. Step to the side Diablo 3 because the true successor to the throne has arrived. I send all my support out to GGG and wish them the absolute best of luck with the future of PoE and to anyone reading this help these guys out and just tell one person about the game because everyone needs to play this game if they have any interest at all in the genre and the developers deserve at least that much effort from us for all the effort and love they put into this masterpiece of a game. Score:9.5/10 |
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you can press Z to always show the loot (about your #5 con)
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" waypoints need to be in random places or you would have no need to explore the map, if just went for point A to point B all the time that would get very boring. as for the breaking your build, you get respec points along the way and orbs too that u can find. if your build is so bad that you need to respec more then 5 or 6 points to make it come back into playability then i dont think you would have gotten to far in the game by that time anyway so a new chr. wont be so disheartening to make anyway. there is a place in the UI to make item text on the ground always see-able so you dont miss anything and you can also make it so you only can pick them up if hold down the button |
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I'm sure that inspecting will be added. Probably just not a priority right now. And like the others said, Z to show loot all the time. That would be my #1 con if i had not discovered it yet. Nice write up though. One thing to keep in mind is they are moving from a closed beta to an open beta. There are still MANY planned improvements.
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There are class forums for an reason, where people can post their builds that work or ask for advice. Its 2013 people, time to learn how to use the internet.
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" I would say that characters and locations have been rather made on the base of D1. But still D1 seems darker and more horrifying to me. Not because of the graphics, but soundtrack. PoE's tracks are good, but nothing can compare to those strange sounds from D1 (especially from the caves). |
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Good review, but as previously mentioned, most of your more negative points about the game can be nullified.
I've always found enough respec items or earned enough respec points (via quests) to back track when I wanted to. I think having full respecs would be overkill. As for you getting 1 shotted, that isn't necessarily a balance issue for GGG. I've never been 1 shotted in normal difficulty but I have died to those teleporting pirates. Sometimes, it may look like there are only 1 or 2 attacking you, but they are sneaky bastards so you have to be very careful when in the ship graveyard. If you really are getting 1 shotted, it may be because you have stacked too much Evasion and not enough armor or HP. Pure evasion builds are just that, evasion caps at 95% (like most everything else), so you are still going to take damage 5 hits out of 100 even with a perfect character. Quick deaths are meant to be learned from. That's the challenge and fun of hardcore play! I don't want to have to play easy-mode for 30 levels before I feel challenged, this game is awesome about making you pay attention from the very beginning. Cheers and keep spreading the good word about this bad ass game! |
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Realy good review! Wrote one myself thats not realy worth reading and noticed now that i stole your titel on the thread! xD srry!
My serious review of the game 9/10 Negative- to litle blood and gore (i know it will be fixed or atleast in microstransactions) to much making new character and to litle focusing on 1 single character (as i personaly like to do) Positive- Everything else.. |
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Yeah I apologize about some of my negatives such as holding a button to pick of things have been nullified for me as I have figured out fixes also yes the respec points are there and you can ask for build advice but I'm simply stating that the fact there is no total respec it can be a little not noob friendly which people should be aware of it but as of right now in the score department the review stands as it is.
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cons
#2: Dont have this problem when you play on hardcore.. dont die. |
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