I made an article through which I detailed my negative relationship with the latest Diablo game. I principally outlined that all I longed for out of Diablo 3 was a somewhat upgraded expansion of D2. When the latest Diablo game failed to live up to those desires, I felt hopeless, like I would not ever again get to play a game that made me sense the way I did while enjoying the last Diablo game. If the legendary Blizzcrap could fall short to make a fun hack ‘n’ slash in the modern gaming market, then it was reasonable to think that all hope was lost. I have since discovered Path of Exile.
The small F2P Action RPG is now at soft release. I have been aware of this title ever since I first realized that the latest Diablo game was not fun. PoE was one of the first results I discovered on Bing when I was searching desperately for any other Action RPG that might satisfy the desire to play a click-fest loot hunting game that D3 wouldn’t ever scratch. When I read it was F2P, I almost banished it consummately, believing that any game publisher that was not brave enough to offer a box price for its product probably felt it had designed something disgusting. As I realised they were opening the game to the public, I decided to give the game a try. I am happy.
Two things were made aware to me as I logged on to the game. The first was how unashamedly this title wants to be the last Diablo game. The second was just how clearly the people logged into the ARPG worshipped it for that. The first adventures in the ARPG asked me to kill all the mobs in a area. Later in the first act I discovered myself in a prison containing skeletons and zombies. The checkpoint functions in POE seem to work similarly to those encountered in D2. The bags tab looks exactly like those used in the last Diablo game. Just as in D2, maps are randomly engineered.
Surely the most fun bit of my time experiencing Path of Exile was just how many people in the chat stream kept mentioning how this ARPG was better than Diablo 3. Almost everyone chatting seemed to be there for similar reasons: the latest Diablo game disappointed them and they aspired to commit to something along the same lines to Diablo 2.
Not all things are precisely the same as the last Diablo game. There isn’t an active skill system in Path of Exile. Instead players discover skills as gear called gems and put into holes. There is a passive sphere grid in PoE. This sphere grid is quite shocking to look at, as it features thousands of passive skills. Many of these give simple stat improvements, such as 20 to strength. This function is shocking at first, but once fans get familiar with it, it has the possibility to add an diverse array of diversity in a title such as this. Players of PoE can also buy Path of Exile items.
Path of Exile is currently in closed beta, and will certainly see a wider term release before the end of 2013. Those who can’t wait for final release can register right now.