Honest Review from a Casual Player

Honest Review from a Casual Player

Before diving into the core of this review, I want to set the stage by sharing some context about myself and the perspective from which this feedback is written. This review is grounded in a simple principle that Grinding Gear Games (GGG) has emphasized: "We just want to make a fun game we want to play." My observations and critiques stem from this sentiment and similar statements made by the developers.

About Me as a Player

First and foremost, I am a casual player, and I believe this represents a significant portion of your player base—the group that likely contributes the bulk of your revenue (though I could be wrong). While I don't presume to speak for everyone, I suspect many casual players will resonate with the points I outline below.

Here are some facts about me as a player:

• I have played 4,340 hours of Path of Exile (PoE 1) but have never soloed Uber or other major endgame bosses. I know why: the time and effort required to master damage algorithms and mechanics simply don’t fit into my busy life.

• I rely heavily on the community for quick, digestible build guides at the start of each league, picking builds that seem the most fun. Winging it is rarely an option for casual players, as it often leads to frustration.

• I love PoE and have supported it financially, spending hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars despite being a disabled veteran on a strict budget. Let’s keep this between us so my wife doesn’t find out!

• I’m a true gamer at heart: 44 years old, with my first gaming memory being Asteroids on the Atari 2600. My gaming history spans everything from physical sports to tabletop RPGs, and my Steam library includes over 1,000 titles from every genre (yes, even the “degenerate” ones—I’m only human, after all).

Now that you know more about me than you probably wanted, let’s get into the meat of this review. My goal is simple: to help make PoE 2 the best game it can be.
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The Campaign

Let’s start with the campaign. Overall, I love it. The visuals are stunning, the story is engaging, and the pacing feels natural. However, some fundamental issues need addressing:

1. Slower Combat + Larger Maps + Death Penalty:
o PoE 2’s maps are 2-3 times larger than PoE 1’s, combat is intentionally slower, and dying respawns all mobs. While these changes are fine individually, together they create a frustrating experience for casual players.
o The result? A campaign that takes 20-40 hours to complete instead of the 4-8 hours typical of PoE 1. This effectively removes the “Action” from Action Role-Playing Game (ARPG).

2. The Casual Experience:
o Casual players often invest significant time reaching endgame, only to realize their chosen build doesn’t suit them. With the extended campaign length, rerolling a character feels like an insurmountable task.

3. Recommendation:
o Consider scaling back map sizes or rethinking the respawn-on-death mechanic to restore the fast-paced, action-packed experience that defined PoE 1. While the campaign should feel substantial, it shouldn’t feel like a grind.
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The Gem System

The revamped gem system is an exciting concept, but in practice, it feels more restrictive than innovative. Here’s why:

1. Weapon-Specific Skills:
o Forcing players to use specific weapons for certain skills stifles creativity. For example, why should dropping a bell on an enemy only work with a quarterstaff? This feels like an arbitrary limitation.

2. Delayed Skill Access:
o In PoE 1, most skills became accessible by level 38. In PoE 2, that threshold has been pushed to level 52. This extended wait for core abilities limits experimentation and feels unnecessarily restrictive.

3. Six-Link Drop Rates:
o After 80 hours of gameplay, I’ve yet to obtain a six-link gem. Artificers should drop at all levels, albeit with low chances, increasing as map tiers progress.

4. Support Gem Limitations:
o Restricting support gems to one use per build removes flexibility compared to PoE 1. Again, this feels like a step backward.
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Balancing

Balance changes in PoE 2 have been a major sticking point for the community. Let’s focus on one example: the Cast on Freeze Ice Meteor build.

1. Nerfing vs. Balancing:
o Nerfing freeze mechanics into oblivion feels like overkill. A true balance would leave the build viable with adjustments, but this build’s complete absence post-nerf suggests otherwise.

2. A Better Approach to Scaling and Rewards:
o Focus on scaling endgame content to better differentiate casual and hardcore experiences. Here’s a detailed proposal:
 Map Tiers Beyond 20: Introduce map tiers up to Tier 30, with each tier beyond 20 adding significant mob difficulty. For instance,
 Tier 21: Mobs receive a +20% boost to all stats (HP, damage, AoE, etc.) compared to Tier 20.
 Tier 22: Mobs receive a +40% boost.
 Tier 25: Mobs are boosted by +100% compared to Tier 20.
 Reward Scaling: Item quantity scales with map tier. At Tier 25, players receive a 100% boost to item quantity and caps out at 200% at tier 30. This incentivizing skilled players to push further.
 Item Drop Improvements:
 At Tier 31, lower-tier item drops (e.g., Tier 1) are removed.
 By Tier 40, both Tier 1 and Tier 2 items are excluded, ensuring higher-quality loot for those capable of reaching extreme endgame.

3. Balancing Builds:
o Evaluate build performance at higher tiers (21-30) before considering nerfs. If a build trivializes Tier 31+, it warrants balancing. This approach keeps casual players engaged while ensuring hardcore players have challenging content.
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Final Thoughts

GGG, you have the foundation for a masterpiece with PoE 2. However, I urge you to reflect on two critical questions:

1. Are creative ideas worth sacrificing the core fun that made PoE 1 great?
2. Is balancing builds more important than developing challenging, rewarding endgame content?

I love this game and this community. I’m proud to support a studio that raises the bar in an often-stagnant industry. My hope is that this honest review helps you fine-tune PoE 2 into something truly spectacular. At the end of the day, all we want is to have fun—and sometimes, to just go "Big Dick" without getting that same dick stomped for it. (LMAO!)
Wishing you all an amazing holiday season and continued success!

I mostly agree. I'm a casual player as well witch a pretty similar history with PoE. 3k+ hours, never killed Ubers solo and I love the game and supported it with hundrets of dollars.

That game is beautiful but all maps/regions are too big both in campaign and endgame, so they take way too long. Bosses are amazing, just shorten the time between them.

As a caster, the weapon skill system is not bad because the base type limits the elemental rolls you can get, making it easier to get a weapon that fits your build.
For now I don't feel punished by not having more links on my gems, just because I don't feel like there are more useful supports that I would want to use. Limiting supports for single use should be fine once the game is released and you have supports to choose from (hope). But they really need to up the drop rates of jewellers. I don't even have a 5-link yet which was very easy in PoE1 once you've reached maps.

As a cold spell caster, the trigger nerf hit me very hard and I almost quit. I've somewhat recovered the char but it still feels mid. I agree that there should be a difference between balancing and nuking an entire playstyle.

I hope everyone reading this has a great holiday.