One thing that’s turned me off the Diablo-stye looters has always been the gameplay loop. Over time what were really good RPGs that just so happened to have randomized loot became giant slot machines that you just kind of kicked and prayed they had the jackpot suffix.
At Tokyo Game Show we got a presentation on Path of Exile 2 from Jonathan Rogers, Co-founder of Grinding Gear Games at how Path of Exile 2 wants you to sink your teeth in for more than just a slot machine pull.
Skills For Days
As he sifted through page after page of skill trees, you realize: this game is for real. We had to ask Jonathan to show us just how sprawling the skill trees in Path Of Exile 2 actually are- forming a sky’s worth of constellations and even being able to combine with other classes to make your own hybrid builds.
From making more robust mages to even a warrior with an ability to mutilate something not directly in front of him, Path of Exile 2 looks like the kind of joy you’d get from a crazy homebrew D&D campaign.
“We want to try to improve the skill tree”, he says, showing off this monument to customization.
He says part of this was due in part to shaking things up from the original Path of Exile- hence the reworking of how skills work.
“The way the skill gem system worked [before] was a problem”, he said.
And yet, you don’t have to worry about fledgling players getting lost in the literal tendrils worth of skills. He’d shown off that the game would still have recommended builds, meaning if you weren’t ready to let go of the railing just yet, you were more than welcome to play it safe and see good results.
How Path Of Exile 2 Is Improving Combat
But where’s the fun in a crazy build if you can’t show it off? Jonathan showed off the reworked combat for Path of Exile 2, which was less about spam-clicking a skill and more, well, involved. As he faced down the Viper Keeper, you’re greeted with a pretty theatric boss fight.
All around the Viper Keeper are a company of guards, holding their shields to make a wall so it’s just you and the boss in the arena. There’s no fighting your way into making some room here- you need the Viper Keeper to go.
Despite having a well built character Jonathan showed you need the kind of skills that can’t be gained from an enemy- he had to dodge and weave his way through the attacks, taking advantage of gaps in the boss pattern to finally land his hits, all the while the soldiers are closing in and making the arena smaller.
“It’s very important to me that the combat feels good”, Jonathan says.
He’s got a point- in a lot of dungeon crawlers any actual gameplay tends to be drowned out by the sounds of clicking. You need to build your procs or stacks or whatever. But when the menus are closed Path of Exile 2 looks like a pretty damn good ARPG, with heavy swings that shake the camera and very important dodge rolling that isn’t just some class-specific movement skill.
Jonathan did explain that while legacy players may struggle with the more involved combat, he insisted that newer players might find it more approachable.
While a lot would be changing, he had one surprise thing staying the same- paid cosmetics from Path of Exile 1 would carry over to its sequel, so don’t worry about losing your fancy drip if you decide to jump over when the game launches in Early Access on November 15th.
