Path of Exile 2: Disappointing Preview Build
I’m a big fan of Path of Exile, so I was immediately excited when I heard about the upcoming sequel. A fresh campaign with new mechanics and more replayability sounds exactly what I want from an ARPG sequel. But from what I’ve played so far, Path of Exile 2 looks set to disappoint fans of the original – particularly those who enjoyed its Ruthless difficulty mode.
Despite my initial excitement, the Path of Exile 2 preview build left me disappointed and uninterested. The improvements on display are immediately apparent: animations are smoother, combat is more impactful, and the environments are stunning. But they’re put to poor use in what feels like a much harder and far less forgiving sequel.
Path of Exile 2 is a lot harder than its predecessor. It’s still possible to get through the campaign on normal mode without dying, but deaths come much more frequently in the later acts. This can be partially attributed to the new dodge roll mechanic, which assists melee characters in avoiding attacks. As someone who loves melee builds in Path of Exile, this is a welcome change – but it doesn’t work for all attacks, and boss fights become increasingly difficult and frustrating as a result.
Boss fights in Path of Exile 2 are inspired by the Souls games, and it shows. They require a lot more patience and planning than other fights, but they’re also incredibly satisfying when executed correctly. Unfortunately, Path of Exile 2’s insistence on making every single fight a boss fight eventually becomes its undoing. Every single monster, even a lowly Goatman, requires the same amount of strategy as an end-game boss.
It’s not just the difficulty that feels off; crafting has regressed in some ways, as well. Gear upgrades largely rely on random chance, with no way to determine exactly what an upgrade will look like. In the original Path of Exile, you could at least craft a few items at a time on a crafting bench to ensure you got something good, but that’s been removed entirely.
It’s shaping up to be a sequel for fans of the Ruthless difficulty variant introduced in 2022. Ruthless was a way to make Path of Exile even more challenging than ever before, with permadeath and other hardcore mechanics permanently enabled from the start of a new campaign. It combined flexible buildcrafting systems with intense combat, similar to what you get from the best Soulslikes.
But Path of Exile 2 might not appeal to everyone. I personally do not enjoy crafting perfect items or clearing maps quickly; instead, I love getting lost in complex systems and discovering fun skill combinations along the way. That’s the part of Path of Exile that I was really excited for, but it’s also the part that the sequel seems to be neglecting. The build I played left me uninterested in continuing, but if you’re a fan of the harder difficulties and love combat-focused, flexible buildcrafting – this could be right up your alley.
While I have a lot of concerns about Path of Exile 2, it’s easy to see why some people might be hyped for what it’s offering. The genre combination it’s shaping up to offer isn’t one I would have thought of before, but it’s something I’ve always wanted. If you’re a fan of the Souls games, flexible buildcrafting, or just want something new and different – Path of Exile 2 might be for you.
