Path of Exile 2 Early Access Review

It’s hard to believe it’s been over a decade since the original Path of Exile entered Open Beta. The story behind the ARPG was simple enough: a small group of ARPG fans felt the genre had become stale and lacked new releases, and they aimed to fix that.

Over the next decade developer Grinding Gear Games would continue to update and add to Path of Exile, turning it into one of the staple ARPGs in the genre. With consistent quarterly updates, PoE ballooned into a massive game with a simply insane amount of content.

Today, Grinding Gear Games releases the sequel to its popular ARPG, Path of Exile 2. While PoE still has a massive fan base—and will continue to receive its frequent updates—PoE2 seeks to serve as an updated version of the game with more streamlined and modern systems, a more tactical approach to content, and of course, a fresh set of paint.

Path of Exile 2 (PC [Reviewed], PS5, Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: Grinding Gear Games
Publisher: Grinding Gear Games
Released: December 6, 2024 (Early Access Launch)
MSRP: $29.99

I had the opportunity to play Path of Exile for about ten days leading up to its release. As a longtime fan of Path of Exile, with nearly 2,000 hours of playtime, I was excited but also somewhat nervous about getting my hands on the sequel. Could a sequel in Early Access really build upon a game that I adore so much while also having enough content to make it worth playing over its predecessor, which had been receiving new content for over 10 years? Well thankfully, the answer is quite simply yes.

Grinding Gear Games has managed to create a sequel that not only builds upon the original but innovates in a way that makes me believe we can truly exist in a world where both are actively maintained and played. Similar in many ways, but different enough to make them each their very own game.

Don’t let the Early Access moniker fool you. While PoE2 is launching into EA with only 6 of its 12 classes and 3 of its 6 playable acts, even in its current form the ARPG has more content than most $70 AAA games. And for those who get through the acts and are wanting more, GGG recently revealed a massive trove of end-game content awaiting players who reach it.

In Early Access, the six playable classes are Mercenary, Monk, Ranger, Sorceress, Warrior, and Witch. Each of the classes is unique in playstyle but also comes with two of their eventual three ascendancy classes, allowing you to further specialize your character to fit the playstyle you are going for. Most of my time was spent switching between the Mercenary and Monk, the two classes that, in my opinion, are the most unique additions.

The Mercenary specifically makes use of the all-new movement system available in PoE2. While the original only supports movement by clicking with your mouse, the sequel allows you to pick between the same style, or you can move using the WASD keys. With the Mercenary class, which wields a crossbow, being able to move with WASD and aim using your cursor feels like a completely different game. I thought for sure I’d prefer to stick with the system I had used for thousands of hours. But after trying the new WASD movement, I honestly had trouble going back. I found myself using it even while trying out the melee-oriented Monk class. They’ve nailed the new movement, and those worried about the change shouldn’t be; it feels right. But even if it’s not for you, you can still use the click-to-move style of the original.

For comparison, playing as a Mercenary feels like a tactical top-down shooter. You’ll get access to varying types of ammunition that you can load into your crossbow, ranging from fast-firing bolts that feel like a machine gun to slow buckshot-spread ammo that feels like a shotgun. As you level and unlock more Support Skill Gems, you’ll be able to create strategies that allow you to switch between ammo types.

For example, a powerful strategy I found is using ice-shots to freeze enemies, before switching to fragmentation shots that explode said frozen enemies, dealing massive amounts of damage and allowing me to weave in the two attack types based on if I was fighting groups of enemies or a single enemy like a boss.

It took me about 25 hours to get through all three acts available in the Early Access, having done most of the optional content along the way. Speaking of optional content, it works a little differently in PoE2. While some side quests still give you level-appropriate gear to try out, others grant permanent buffs to your character, like resistances. Everything can be tracked on a new and improved world map that shows the act you are in as well as all optional content and even bosses that you can encounter, as well as where to find them.

Bosses in Path of Exile 2 is where the biggest changes have been made. In the original, most bosses, except for a few stand-out ones and end-game pinnacle bosses, are relatively easy and are often able to be bursted down quickly. That’s not the case in PoE2. Each boss encounter is a big deal, using multiple telegraphed attacks and a plethora of skills that can literally one-shot your character. You’ll have to be a bit more tactical and learn the bosses and their mechanics as opposed to just zerging them down. And there are a ton of bosses as well, with many main storyline encounters as well as a plethora of side-bosses you can seek out to slay as well. There are over 100 unique bosses in the Early Access build, which is very impressive to say the least.

Most of the systems in Path of Exile 2 will be familiar to fans of the original. They haven’t reinvented the wheel in terms of its core systems; the passive tree is still massive, loot explosions of loot without a proper loot filter still exist, etc. However, each of the systems has been streamlined and massively improved to be more accessible to both new and returning players. In many ways, PoE2 feels as though GGG took everything from the original ARPG they built over the last decade and said, alright, let’s do it again, but with everything we’ve learned along the way.

Due to time constraints, I didn’t get to try out the end game. In its Early Access state, you’ll finish Acts 1-3 at around Level 45. Then, you’ll play through them again on ‘Cruel Difficulty,’ which offers some subtle changes, increased difficulty, and increased rewards. After completing Acts 1-3 on Cruel, you’ll be around Level 65, which is where the end-game begins.

Even the storyline in Path of Exile 2 is lightyears ahead of other games in the genre, except for maybe more story-driven ARPGs like Grim Dawn and Titan Quest. Of course, at the time of Early Access release, we’re only getting half the story with Acts 1-3, which of course means that right as the story really starts to ramp up, we reach the current end. According to GGG, they’ve changed the current ending slightly so that it makes sense as you head into the end-game, but the true proper end will return once the future acts are added.

I get why Path of Exile 2 has the Early Access moniker since GGG plans to have double the classes and campaign acts, not to mention other types of content added before launch. But even in its current state, Path of Exile 2 has set a new bar for the ARPG genre. I’m ready to pour thousands of hours into it over the years to come, and I’m confident that GGG will only make it magnitudes better over the next year as they continue to grow the game towards its full release. See you on the shores, exile.