Recent reviews by Maxwell218

As a first-time Path of Exile player coming from Diablo II, I found this game to be a refreshing take on the ARPG genre. The gameplay and combat have a more deliberate, almost Souls-like feel compared to traditional hack-and-slash titles. So far, I've made it to Act 3, and while I won't spoil anything, I’ve started to notice some repetitiveness in my playstyle. That said, the progression during Act 1 and the early parts of Act 2 felt smooth and rewarding.

Loot is sparse, but when the RNG gods smile, the upgrades are incredibly satisfying. It’s that rare feeling of going from mortal to godlike with a single drop. However, I wasn’t a fan of the Act 2 finale—tight corridors and relentless mob spawns turned the experience into a spam-fest rather than an opportunity for strategic gameplay or skillful dodging.

When it comes to loot in general, I've noticed some criticism about the drop rates, with many saying they’re less generous than expected. Personally, I see the game nudging players toward crafting their gear by salvaging unwanted items, which adds a layer of depth. I’ve been fortunate to find gear that complements my playstyle, but I’ve also had to respec a few times for better mana regeneration or damage.

The class design feels well-thought-out, though I can’t say how much of it is carried over from Path of Exile 1. I’ve been playing the Monk on a standard account, and it’s been a fun experience overall—though I’m very glad I didn’t try Hardcore with my 20+ deaths!

Skills are a highlight. Even within the Monk class, you can choose between elemental and physical abilities, which lets you experiment with different builds. Ascension skills, which act as subclass upgrades, add another layer of customization. However, it’s worth noting that while you can respec your ascension points, you’re locked into your subclass choice, so pick wisely.

Performance-wise, I’ve had a few latency hiccups that made combat feel a bit clunky at times. Thankfully, these haven’t caused any deaths, but I’m unsure if it’s a server issue or just on my end.

Overall, Path of Exile 2’s early access is an impressive experience. The combat, loot systems, and class design show a lot of promise, and I’m excited to dive deeper into the game. Safe to say, I’m about to no-life the hell out of this.

This game has been a rollercoaster of emotions for me—I’ve both loved and hated it for various reasons.

The gameplay is solid, but the bullet sponge enemies can feel excessive. Admittedly, I modded the game to tweak mutant health values due to my lack of skill. That said, the gunplay truly shines, making combat a standout aspect so far.

The story feels quintessentially Stalker: you decide who to help and which faction to join. Despite the well-established lore, the introduction of new factions and events keeps things fresh and intriguing.

The sound design deserves special mention—it’s masterfully done, heightening the game’s eerie atmosphere. I even found myself startled by crows at one point.

Given that the game has just been released, I expect patches or hotfixes to address the notable bugs currently present. Unfortunately, optimization is another weak spot—despite running the game on a 4070 with an i7-14700, I’ve experienced stuttering on high settings.

That said, considering the challenges of developing this game during an ongoing real-world war, the sheer quality and effort poured into this installment are nothing short of remarkable.

RIP my beloved 3D PDA from the Stalker Anomaly mod.

This is a very beginner friendly way to learn how to code and make simple games. Even before learning how to code, you can learn how Gamemaker's events work using drag and drop script building (a lot more limiting, but perfect for starting). Don't get me wrong, it is definitely possible to make complex games with custom systems, but it is more catered to smaller scopes. I'm glad I spent all this time on growing my programming skills. I might end up trying out Godot next and see how the two compares. One thing I seem to dislike is how quick your project can become bloated if you aren't careful enough when making new objects with lots of events, but perhaps that's more my fault.

The hands free feature is really good.

We won, the fight is over... for now.

Sony ♥♥♥♥♥♥ off, the fight with them continues in another game store.

Playing survival because its a post apocalyptic world and it makes sense to me. Mag dumps a gunner with a laser pistol. Gunner fires one shot at me and I'm dead. I guess it is not possible to roleplay a bullet sponge myself. What a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ joke of a game. Thank god for the modding community.

Bought the game a while ago, decided to give it a go for the 1.0 update. At the moment, this game needs a lot of bug and performance fixing. Game dips to 30-40 fps even on low settings on a 1080 ti, lowering my resolution and scale didn't help much. There is also some minor bugs with ai, the tutorial can softlock, the settings preset is also bugged (it goes from custom>epic>custom>medium>low) and I had one crash on the first mission. That's all in my 30 minutes of playing this on 1.0 launch so I expect there will be some hotfixes to resolve some of the issues.

I'm sure higher end builds would probably have a better gaming experience than I did.

HEAVY GAMING

The only thing this game lacks is a longer story. Otherwise the game is perfect and very cheap for what it offers.

I absolutely recommend this game for its atmosphere, game play and lore. These are all solid and they even offer some replay ability in the form of different path to take story-wise. The game also randomises events and map layouts (although not by much).

If you do end up playing this game, I will tell you one thing: go in 100% blind, then play it again, then again until you grasp what the lore/story is really about.

I've spent so much of my time on the wiki after completing it multiple times. I ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ love reading about stuff I missed, making me want to play the game all over again. Even some of the cut content is interesting to read about.

I wished Acid Wizards would make a prequel or sequel to this game, or even an entirely new game based on the same core game play. Survival horror is one of my most favourite genre. What I especially loved about dark wood is that whilst it can be scary at times (mostly because it can feel overwhelming or stressful), there isn't any cheap jump scares, or things that will essentially make the game too scary to play (at least for me and I'm a big wuss when it comes to horror games).

Delicieux