Last week I made a post on Bitmob where I expressed my disappointment with Diablo 3. In the final line of that piece, I essentially stated that all I really wanted out of Diablo 3 was a slightly upgraded version of Diablo 2. When Diablo 3 failed to meet those expectations, I felt hopeless, like I would never again get to experience a game that made me feel the way I did while playing Diablo 2. If the almighty Blizzard could fail in making a fun Action RPG in today’s game market, than surely all hope was lost. And then I played Path of Exile (POE).
This weekend the upcoming free-to-play ARPG had an open beta. I had been aware of this game ever since I first realized that Diablo 3 was not fun. Path of Exile was one of the first hits I saw on Google when I was searching desperately for any other ARPG that might satisfy the itch to play a click-fest loot hunting game that Diablo 3 failed to scratch. When I read it was free-to-play, I nearly dismissed it completely, believing that any game maker that wasn’t confident enough to charge for its product probably knew it had made something terrible. But when I saw they were having an open beta this weekend, I decided to give the game a try, and I am happy I did.
Two things were clear to me as soon as I logged on to the game server. The first was just how much this game wants to be Diablo 2. The second was just how much the people playing the game loved it for that fact. One of the first quests in the game required me to kill all the monsters in a cave, similar to the first quest of Diablo 2 which required clearing out the Den of Evil. Later in the first act I found myself in a jail filled with skeletons, also similar to a portion of Act 1 of Diablo 2. The waypoint and town portal systems in POE seem to work identically to those found in D2. The inventory tab looks exactly like that found in D2. Just as in D2, maps are randomly generated. Even specific sound effects like those made when using potions and scrolls sound verbatim to those of D2. The overlay map looks the same. The general feel of the combat is similar. Even the mouse cursor in POE seems to have been inspired by the one from Diablo 2.
The most interesting part of my time with POE was how many people in the chat room kept saying this game was better than Diablo 3. Almost everyone chatting seemed to be there for the same reason: Diablo 3 disappointed them and they wanted to play something similar to Diablo 2. And most seemed impressed by how well POE had been able to recreate everything that made Diablo 2 so much fun.
Not everything is exactly the same as D2 though. There is not an active skills tree in POE. Instead players find skills as loot items called gems and insert them into sockets. This is different than D2, but reminiscent to the spell book drops from Diablo 1. There is however a passives skill tree in POE. This skill tree is completely overwhelming to look at, as it contains hundreds of passive skills. Most of these give simple stat bonuses, such as plus 10 to strength. This system is intimidating at first, but once players get the hang of it, it has the potential to provide an unprecedented amount of customization in a game of this type. POE also differs from D2 in that instead of having to join a game with only 7 other people, players will be able to see one another while in town, and then go into an instanced game available only to them and their party once they leave town (similar to the Guild Wars system).
But perhaps most importantly of all, the combat and loot system makes this game feel like playing an updated version of Diablo 2. And the people playing this game appreciated that. At one point in my time with the open beta, one of the game’s developers was talking in the chat panel, answering questions and taking feedback. It was impressive to see the team taking a hands-on approach to getting community reactions to the game.
While my short time playing this game made me very excited to see how the game turns out, I do have one concern. The game will have a micro-transaction system as has become the trend with free-to-play games. The website for the game describes these as “ethical micro-transactions”, which means the items purchased with real money will only give cosmetic benefits. This means players won’t be able to get the best items in the game simply by paying for them. If the company making POE can truly pull of a free-to-play game supported only by micro-transactions that give aesthetic benefits, I would be happy and impressed, but I will wait to actually see the item store after the game launches to get excited about it.
Path of Exile is currently in closed beta, and will hopefully see a longer term open beta before the end of the year. Those who don’t want to wait for open beta can pay $10 to get into the closed beta immediately. If you were one of the many Diablo 2 fans who felt let down by Diablo 3, I recommend at least looking around the Path Of Exile website, and consider paying for the closed beta. This game truly has the potential to be everything Diablo 3 should have been.