After playing Path of Exile 2, it is clear to me that, although it is similar to Diablo, it gives off its own essence with a tremendous amount of hours ahead of it.

Since I started playing the first Diablo I have declared myself an unconditional fan of the saga, but I have friends who have always recommended that I give Path of Exile a chance, because they were convinced that if I liked the series created by Blizzard I would love to hit this one action RPG developed by Grinding Gear Games.

Now I can affirm that they were not wrong at all. And not because I decided to try this game in question, but because during the trip to the Summer Game Fest in Los Angeles I had the opportunity to play Path of Exile 2 for an hour, the second part of this series. In fact, it gave me such a good feeling that I wouldn’t have minded at all having more time to continue enjoying your epic fantasy world.

A brutal action RPG capable of capturing you with amazing ease

As soon as you start the campaign, the first thing the game asks you to do is choose one of the six available classes with a somewhat curious selection screen, because it turns out that all the characters are about to die by hanging. However, the rope you choose ends up breaking, allowing our hero to flee across a river and thus escape safely, although fate did not smile on the rest in the same way.

Before continuing, I must say that This test version was carried out on the console version, so I was able to use a control knob with a very intuitive interface and perfectly adapted for those who prefer to choose to play on these platforms. The controls are very simple and all the skills are assigned to their corresponding buttons, so there is no problem in that sense.

So, even though I opted for the Huntress, there was also the possibility of choosing the Witch, a new class which will be very familiar to players of Devil for his ability to become a Necromancer and thus summon all types of creatures that can fight at his side. On the other hand, the one I chose fired arrows at full speed to which altered effects could be applied, such as freezing or releasing electric shocks.

For anyone who is new, as was my case, there is a series of very well designed tutorials They provide the necessary help to know how to play. The action is brutal with a very frenetic pace in this adventure that first begins in somewhat linear scenarios until reaching the first main city, where there are several stores to purchase pieces of equipment, sell objects, rest, etc.

From there, the trip presents a very complete map with different areas that can be accessed, either to continue with the main missions or to carry out certain secondary objects that are entrusted. In order to explore, I entered a forest full of infernal creatures of all kinds, because if there is something that is not missing in this game, it is a wide variety of monsters and the truth is that all of them can boast of having very aggressive behavior and their respective patterns, so do not be careless at any time, not even at this early point.

Here the most linear areas were left behind, so I did not miss the opportunity to explore every corner to discover what secrets they held and thus continue putting my hunter’s skills into practice. What’s more, one of the biggest novelties lies in some gems that are capable of granting upgrades and changes to existing abilities to make them even more devastating.

But what struck me most of all when I started leveling up is his gigantic skill tree. I have never seen one as huge as the one in this game in my entire life, with hundreds of skills, passive and active, to choose from as the character gets stronger. Just opening the menu and taking a look at it will blow your mind at how massive it is, ensuring that it is almost impossible for two characters to be identical.

Also added is the fact that the six classes to select present another combination, which in principle would make a total of 12 classes. However, all of them have three specializations, so in reality they are 36 types of ancestry exist. A true savagery that demonstrates how complete and how deep this game can be in terms of hours, I wouldn’t be surprised if it is capable of easily captivating you for months.

Returning to the forest, I ended up finding the grotto to a somewhat labyrinthine underground passage where new enemies were waiting for me and at the end of the path a final boss in the form of a giant worm. The truth is that it was a very challenging fight that took me a few tries, so I decided to go back to get a little stronger and optimize my equipment. This one also reminded me of Devil being similar in terms of design and distribution, as well as the fact that you have to use scrolls, very rare to find, which are used to identify magical items and thus unlock all their statistics.

When I went back for the second round, this time even with new vials that, depending on which one you equip, you can use more potions, the situation took a 180º turn. So I was able to give this worm a good beating to finish this test session on a high note. Path of Exile 2 that couldn’t have left me with a more satisfying feeling. The time I spent at the controls it went by quickly and it seemed to me to be a more than worthy alternative for those who like this type of games.

In another vein, I found the quality sublime, because their settings look scandalous with that dark and sinister touch. In addition, performance does not drop at any time, with action that runs at a constant 60 fps, regardless of the number of enemies and effects that parade across the screen. And don’t forget that it will be free-to-play with microtransactions, so even more reasons to give it a try.

Path of Exile 2 Release Date

It has not yet been confirmed when the launch of Path of Exile 2. In principle it is expected to be in November when its early access is enabled on PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC, while its final version would arrive in 2025.

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