Path of Exile 2: Lifespan, Early Access and beginner players … The developers told us about the new features at gamescom

Game News Path of Exile 2: Lifespan, Early Access and beginner players … The developers told us about the new features at gamescom

Of the numerous announcements made during gamescom Opening Night Live, some were worth paying attention to. For example, the announcements of Borderlands 4, the new Mafia or the Secret Level series were discussed.. But some previously announced projects have also come into the spotlight by announcing a release date. While some say Indiana Jones, others say Path of Exile 2.

In fact, Path of Exile 2 is highly anticipated, and that’s a good thing, as Early Access for everyone is coming on November 15th on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series. During gamescom, Grinding Gear Games Studio organized several sessions specifically for the press. After a half-hour presentation of the new features, I was able to try the game out again for half an hour. After playing Path of Exile recently, here’s what I learned.

What’s new

First of all, Path of Exile 2 is artistically a superior development of its predecessor. It is easy to see that PoE 2 visually has all the hallmarks of a modern hack’n’slash : carefully designed environment, careful animations … We are also pleasantly surprised at the ear level. Each skill has its own sound design and we particularly enjoyed being guided by the shamanic incantations of an old local witch (not easy to defeat either!)

Of course, some of Path of Exile 2’s new features are intended for beginners. The game’s director, Johnatan Rogers, explains that they wanted to make the title more accessible and that this was one of the reasons why they developed a second episode. He points out that some players felt overwhelmed by the infinity of talent trees and the range of possibilities in general, and that it was difficult to know what to do once they had a mouse and keyboard in hand.

Veterans can rest assured: Path of Exile 2 promises to be as gigantic as ever. This is evidenced by the passive talent tree (simple increase of stats like strength) with a revamped but still convoluted design. In PoE 2, the main innovation is to make the impact of one’s choices clearer: the game now shows me how useless they are. For example, if I play a monk with a cane, it tells me that “no mace is equipped” when I choose a passive linked to mace. In the same way, I also know when the chosen passives correspond to the skills I have acquired. Enough to make your decisions more effectively and have a clearer idea of ​​the character you want to have. If you are used to the Path of Exile 1 system, it is a bit of an adjustment, but after a few hours of play, there is no doubt that it will be mastered by anyone.

And let’s talk about skills. As in the first episode, our character gains skills through the so-called active gems (there are other supporting gems as well) that he collects. Once equipped, the gems allow you to purchase the skills. However, until now they had to be pressed into equipment parts. To make the Gem system more readable, GGG decided to dedicate a separate menu to its use. You can have multiple active Skill Gems, each of which offers multiple Support Gem options to personalize that skill. It takes a little getting used to, but Support Gem compatibility is clearer than before. Welcome changes that should help less accustomed players see things more clearly.

A colossal campaign, early access to small treatments

In addition to the adjustments made to Path of Exile 2 compared to its predecessor, Jonathan Rogers spoke primarily about Early Access, which begins on November 15th and will then include a nearly complete version of the game.

Initially, the campaign was supposed to last fifty hours. 50 hours spread over six acts with around a hundred bosses, ten of which are unique. A campaign on which the endgame, the content at the end of the game, is based. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen it yet, and I know Path of Exile 2 will soon. Jonathan Rogers hints in his speech that the studio wants to refine it and wait until the last moment to show it. He knows his audience well and knows that most players will invest several hundred hours in the game as long as that endgame is perfect.

It’s difficult to give an opinion, since we had the opportunity to play much less than our editor-in-chief Anagund during the Summer Game Fest. Nevertheless, the new developments seem promising. Path of Exile 2, with its artistic overhaul, seems to be on par with modern games in the genre. This second version also tries to attract a new audience, with a gameplay formula around skill gems that is more readable without necessarily being more accessible. Skeleton of Path of Exile, the end-of-game content is subject to careful adjustments by the developers. And therefore, all types of players should eagerly await Path of Exile’s Early Access, available on November 15th.