Path of Exile 2 Early Access - A beautiful mess with a Ruthless Core

Let’s give credit where it’s due:
the graphics and lighting are stunning. The environments look downright gorgeous, and the animations? Chef’s kiss. Combat feels impactful visually, but some skills, like Spark, just disappear in the chaos. Not to mention, Spark still feels visually weak—it’s like watching a tiny firecracker get lost in a fireworks show. GGG, please, this skill deserves better!

The OST? It slaps, as usual. Grinding Gear Games has always nailed the music. It sets the tone perfectly, and there’s no denying they’ve got top-tier talent in this department.

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What I perceive as negative
Oooooh boy, where do I begin with the gameplay?



Let’s talk about loot first:
It’s terrible. Drops feel so sparse that I’m questioning if I accidentally toggled some Ruthless mode setting. And even when something does drop, it’s almost never exciting. Nothing feels rewarding, which kills the dopamine loop that makes ARPGs so addictive in the first place.

I get that GGG wants players to rely more on crafting—that the goal is for us to build powerful items from scratch, starting with white bases, or to make vendors more powerful (which, honestly, feels like a bad idea).
But this approach doesn’t feel satisfying; it just amplifies the frustration. Which brings me to my next point: crafting.

Crafting, though:
That’s the real kicker. The crafting system has been stripped down to something that feels completely hollow. No crafting bench. No alt rolls. No deterministic upgrades. It’s just pure RNG, and it’s awful. Crafting in POE1 was already RNG-heavy, but at least you could work toward something. Here? It feels like I’m throwing currency into the void for no reason.

And here’s what I don’t understand—if the devs want us to craft more and claim they’ve “simplified” the system to encourage that, then why are there no meaningful drops for crafting materials? Currency drops are practically nonexistent, leaving you with barely anything to even attempt crafting in the first place. It feels like a contradiction: they want us to engage with crafting, but they’ve made it so frustrating and unrewarding that most players would rather not bother at all.

Monster Design:
The challenge isn’t dodging or skillful play—it’s whittling down these spongey health bars. It feels less like a test of skill and more like a test of patience. Run in, smack a pack, retreat, repeat. Three steps forward, two steps back. That’s the gameplay loop. It’s awkward, clunky, and frankly, not fun.

Movement Issues:
Movement feels downright awful. The map sizes are massive, and without movement skills or Quicksilver flasks, getting from point A to point B becomes a tedious grind.
The roll mechanic might seem like a fun addition at first, but it quickly becomes frustrating. The range is far too short, the cooldown feels overly punishing, and the lack of phasing is a disaster. Getting surrounded by enemies feels less like a challenge and more like an unfair death sentence when your only escape tool gets you stuck in place. It’s clunky, restrictive, and completely kills the flow of gameplay.

Not having movement skills is a complete disaster:
It feels like they took the worst parts of Ruthless and applied them wholesale to POE2. No Flame Dash, no Dash, no Leap Slam—nothing to make traversal feel smooth or responsive. Every step feels like a chore, and when you add in the absurdly large maps and constant backtracking, it becomes outright unbearable.

Bizarre Reset Mechanics:
Boss areas resetting after death is fine, but resetting entire areas with all their mobs? That’s next-level bad. This doesn’t add challenge; it just adds tedium. Nobody wants to redo 15 minutes of clearing because of one death. Stop it.

Build Progression:
Builds don’t feel like they scale. Whether you’re level 10 or 30, it’s all the same. And even at higher levels (watch some Lv 90+ gameplay), the progression is underwhelming. This lack of meaningful improvement sucks the joy out of leveling.

Skill Gem System:
Uncut gems sound cool in theory, but the lack of Support Gem drops makes it frustrating in practice. Give us vendor recipes or some way to balance the RNG. Sitting on a perfect main gem with no supports feels bad.

Forced Multi-Key Gameplay:
Instead of challenging gameplay, we’re just juggling more key presses. Right-click spam is now left-right-left-right spam. This doesn’t feel innovative—it feels exhausting.

And then we have Trials:
Look, I hated Sanctum—it’s always been a miss for me—but even if I liked it, Trials are somehow worse now!
They’re clunky, unfun, and feel like a rushed afterthought. It’s like GGG deliberately ignored what makes these systems enjoyable and instead doubled down on the frustration.

SkillTree Feels Off
Small nodes being selectable might seem like a simplification at first, but it actually takes away some of the decision-making that made POE1’s tree so engaging. In the past, players would sometimes take specific paths to pick up stats they needed, even if it wasn’t the most direct route. Those little moments of creativity and problem-solving are now gone, and the tree feels less like a puzzle and more like a flat checklist.

The absence of masteries is a huge loss, and it’s glaringly obvious. Those options were game-changers that gave builds unique depth and flexibility. Build-defining nodes are also sorely lacking.

Strangely enough, even something as basic as Life nodes feels missing in spirit. In POE1, you could shape your defense by strategically traveling along high-Life paths or deliberately skipping them to invest elsewhere.
Those subtle choices fueled creativity, and their absence leaves the new tree feeling rigid and uninspired. It’s not terrible, but it’s far from what it could have been.

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Divide in the Community

Something else I’ve noticed is how often new players from D4 or other beginner-friendly games shoot down “the old, bitter veterans” in forums and on Reddit. But let’s get one thing straight: most of these newcomers see PoE2 as a one-time adventure, like a Dark Souls playthrough. They’ll clear the story once, maybe twice, and move on. Few will run the Acts repeatedly or stick around for the long haul.

Meanwhile, PoE1 players and veterans think further ahead. This isn’t a game you finish once—it’s a live-service grind where you restart every few months. For us, it’s not just about how the Acts feel the first time—it’s about playing them again and again. And without sufficient currency, proper gear progression, and meaningful crafting systems, the slog becomes unbearable.

Speaking of crafting: where is it? Even veterans are starting to call out how barebones the system feels, and the forums are full of complaints. If PoE2 is meant to attract the long-term crowd, it’s missing vital tools to keep us invested.

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Ruthless Experiment

Here’s my theory: PoE2 is just a glorified PoE1 Ruthless mode.
Gold? No movement skills? Barely any loot? This has Ruthless DNA written all over it. And it’s baffling because Ruthless was widely disliked by the community. Why double down on a system that alienates so many players?

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Let me be clear: PoE2 isn’t garbage!
It has potential, and I want it to succeed.
But we need to stop sugarcoating things—serious issues exist, and ignoring them helps no one.

And can we kill the tired argument: “Remember how PoE1 was at the start?”
No, that doesn’t fly anymore. GGG isn’t a scrappy garage dev team fumbling through game design. This is a seasoned group with years of experience, mountains of feedback, and data to draw from. They know what works, what doesn’t, and what players have been begging for. So when glaring issues persist, it’s fair to call them out.

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Final Thoughts

Yeah, I get it, PoE2 isn’t PoE1, and that’s intentional. It’s supposed to appeal to a different audience. But let me ask you this: how well does _that_ audience stick around in games like this? Look at Diablo 4, Last Epoch, or similar titles—how many players do they have left now?

This “different audience” tends to be wanderers, not long-term players. If that’s who GGG explicitly wants to target, while leaving PoE1 veterans out in the cold, then I honestly don’t see a bright future for PoE2.

Meanwhile, PoE1 grew stronger year after year, not because it leaned into Ruthless-like mechanics, but because it fed into the power fantasy. It’s satisfying to see and feel your progress. That’s what hooked people, kept them coming back, and made PoE1 the juggernaut it is today.

Now, if GGG wants to try a different formula—slower gameplay, fewer drops, a grittier and more deliberate pace—that’s fine. There’s nothing wrong with exploring new directions. But here’s the thing: when you stray too far from a proven formula that works and double down on systems that clearly don’t (Ruthless mechanics, D4-style gameplay, etc.), then you shouldn’t be surprised when the game struggles to retain players.

And let’s address the elephant in the room: the players you’re seeing now might not be the loyal fanbase you think they are. Sure, the numbers might look great during Early Access or launch, but are these the same players who’ll stick around for two or three seasons? Or are they the same crowd you see in other games pulling millions on Steam for a few weeks, only to vanish when the next big thing drops? You can’t build a sustainable game by catering to people who treat it as a one-time adventure.

If GGG wants PoE2 to thrive long-term, they need to refocus on what made PoE1 a success: rewarding progression, impactful crafting, and gameplay that feels good to revisit every league. Without these, PoE2 risks alienating its core audience for a fleeting one. The path they’re carving now feels precarious, and while it’s okay to experiment, doubling down on what’s already been widely rejected doesn’t inspire confidence.

Good write up

Exactly what I was thinking. Especially with the crafting materials. We should get far more exalted orbs in order to get at least our defences up for the boss fights. I am now close to lvl 37 and I didn´t even make it to act 3.

+1

I'm really curious how the game in its current state can be enjoyed by the GGG staff themselves. I guess nobody actually played it through at normal speed.
It's very bizarre to leave the speed, difficulty, and loot in such an unfun spot. But I guess making the game itself feel like work helps the devs work instead of play.

Good write up, beautiful game just not real fun to play as it sits today... Another game overhyped and under performs. tried 3 builds so far none able to complete act 1, because of said issue with unrealistic crafting process and such limited crafting materials. Along with a lack of movement speed. a Dodge that does not even move out of the circle attack ranges is real worthless. At least in POE 1 you could get through most of lower level acts with just basic gear. Not sure if I even want to do another character to level 17 just to find out it will also not be able do withstand act 1 boss and there is not a lot you can do about it without some crafting...

Beautifully written. I could not have said this better myself.

This is spot on.

You can't even mention ONE of these thing without some idiot calling you a D4 player or telling you to get good when they're not even in act II yet.

I didn't play POE1, but wanted to play this one. I agree with you. Personally I don't like souls like and all the dodging you have to do. Especially when you can't dodge through an enemies.

I have played pretty much every ARPG made, D1,D2,D3,D4,Titan Quest, Grim Dawn, No Rest For The Wicked etc. I didn't like No Rest For The Wicked due to it being souls like. But everything else I have played I had fun with.

POE 2 was fun up until I ran into the King of the Mists boss. A boss with a debuff that ccs you if you don't stop moving. Stop and think about that. You stop moving or you can be stopped from moving. Either way you end up in the same place unable to move and probably dying to the boss. That was the first boss that I had actual trouble with. But I dislike the over inflated health and the one shots.

I wish the game had a lower difficulty for those like me with health issues that make gaming hard. Have this difficulty for those who want it, hell give them achievements and leaderboards for the extra effort. I just want to play the game,get loot, feel stronger, and have fun. Right now the game doesn't feel fun.

I don't understand how the testers or devs played the game and thought it was great