Recent reviews by Loimega

TL.DR: Would highly recommend to any player that enjoys a bit of grind and an expansive skills system that provides you with endless replay-ability with refreshed seasonal content all year round.


There is a lot about POE (Path Of Exile) that is great that I could have a full blown novel or 1 hour long YouTube video discussing it, so I summarise the goods and the bad things about POE.

Firstly, this is a 100% free to play game. Yes, there are Micro-transactions and it’s the main way GGG (Grinding Gear Games, the developer) makes its money on the project. This however is in my opinion a semi-optional thing.
What I mean by that is, that you do not have to make a single purchase to play or the game, however there are a few micro-transactions that, in my opinion, are a must if you wish to truly enjoy the game. That being the Currency tab (which categorises and manages the in-game currency in the game, more on that later). Besides this minor purchase you are guaranteed the have an amazing experience in the game.

With that out of the way let’s have a look at 3 Pros and Cons of POE:

Pros:

1. Unique skill system
1.1: POE uses "Skill Gems" as its main way of allowing players to create and use different abilities. Skill gems are slotted into gear (between 1 slot and 6 slots), which are earned through the progression of the game or purchased at certain vendors in the game for the in-game currency. As these skill gems are slotted you can link the slots together and allow "Support Gems" to alter the effect, damage, attack rate and style of the slotted Skill gem. For example, you can choose to fire a ball of fire, or you can slot a support gem that makes a TOTEM fire the ball of fire instead. Or you could choose to shoot a broadside of arrows from your bow or slot a trap or mine support gem and line up traps/mines for enemies that fire that broadside instead.

2. In-depth story
2.1: The game has a 10-act length story which can last you anywhere between 10-15 hours if you are taking your time to learn the skills and enjoy the story/scenery.
2.2: This is not the extent of the story however as when you complete the 10th act you will unlock the Atlas which opens more story and "Grind" towards the final endgame (which is best experienced for yourself).

3: Seasonal Content (League)
3.1: A great thing about the seasonal content, is how it alters the game every league. One league you can be fighting an underground syndicate, breaking down the very fabric of its system to find and defeat the syndicate leader, and the next you can be visiting the mad doctor and use the body parts of your fallen victims to create your own boss to fight, prefixed with all the rewards equivalent to the strength of your meta-morphed monstrosity. This always leaves you with things to do even when you have taken a break from the game you can always jump right back in when the new league comes around and go at it again with some new form of build you come up with.
3.2: Now you may think that “Oh that league mechanic is only for that league and if I don’t play it then I won’t get to experience it unless I play right now.”. You are 100% mistaken with that way of thinking. When a league expires all league content gets added to the main game (non-league) content pool, which in tern means you will experience that mechanic at some point when you play your non-league character.
3.3 Additionally when a league expires, ALL items, characters and stash tabs are put your non-league account and you can merge all your items with your existing stash. This however can take some time to shuffle through if you have gone hard in a single league.

Cons:

1. Can be very difficult for a first timer to get around the Passive Tree:
1.1: The passive tree is massive and can be very overwhelming for someone who is not used to this form of RPG and have the time to understand how the tree works. This is both a negative and a positive trait as in you have wide diversity in how you want to create your character with the downside punishing you for not properly planning ahead of time and having to spend hard earned currency to fix a problem with your build you never factored in.
1.2: All I can say about the passive tree is, don’t be afraid of it. As the name states it is a “Passive” Tree and all nodes within are very important to your success in your build but regardless of your class you pick or where you start on the tree. All your gems and builds will be viable. You may just need to look at a few build guides first before you decide to create your own.

2. Micro-transactions.
2.1 This is a minor con because it’s entirely optional but can, in some cases, make your progression and experience a bit more manageable.
2.2: Sadly, there are some very nice skins and transmogs available within the store that are priced very high which can make some people spend a fair bit of money to make their character look great or even purchase those extra stash tabs as you need the extra space when you fill the bank up.

3. Storage and Inventory:
3.1: Sorry to say this but you have next to no space to carry stuff and the basic 5 stash tabs will only take you so far before you feel like you are spending more time playing Tetris with your gear just to make it fit so you can horde more stuff than the actual game.
3.2: This is where the stash tabs within the store come into play. As I said before, yes you can play this game entirely without spending a single real-life dime, but you are going to at some point hit a wall with how to manage the large diverse currency items within the game. Personally, I would recommend that if you enjoy the game up to about act 4 or 5 and you can see yourself playing for quite some time, support the devs and get those pesky little premium stash tabs (or even the named ones like currency) to make your Tetris storage box mini game a bit more fun.
3.3: Hopefully at some point there may be more ways in-game to earn more stash tabs or even just the devs providing us with more basic stash tabs for storage it won’t be so much of a problem.

I could go on with a lot of stuff but hopefully this review will give you a bit of insight into the game that you would be willing to give it a shot and if you like it. Support the development of the game to allow it to raise to new heights.

Till next time Exile.

Salutations

Fantastic Story, great gameplay, immursive as hell!

No matter how you look at it. This game has always and probably will always be fun as hell to play. Be it with friends, randoms from matchmaking or Source Modded servers. There is a ton of fun to be had.

Lets not forget the overwhelming amount of achievements to unlock and HATS. Gotta look Stylish taking on mercenaries.

Being that i have played this game for over 200 hrs over the last 2 years, i can gladly say that this is one of the better games to have come out. Co-Op is fun to do and the game is pretty easy to learn how to play.

The Sad thing is, and its the reason i am no longer recommending this game, is due to starbreeze including Micro-Transactions to a game that didnt need them and was promised by the developer that it would'nt be included.

Developers need to look at what their consumers want out of their product rather than look at what other consumers of other developers want. Just because Micro-Transactions work in tf2 and CS:GO, does not mean that it will work in this game. Not to mention promises made 2 years ago are still not done. An example would be, Where is our safe house customization? Where are our 4day+ hiests?

Sorry Starbreeze, but if you want a good review from me and a recommendation please fix your most current crimefest update.

Ps. we really do not need any more masks!!!

Fun to use, Abit annoying sometimes when it lags but that is just the computer. Other than that a fun tool!