tl;dr

Path of Exile 2 is an amazing mix of ARPG and souls-like mechanics carefully blended by the GGG studio, creators of the original PoE 1. Within early access, PoE 2 provides three acts during the campaign, multiple world and campaign bosses each with unique mechanics, and six playable classes, each able to ascend into two additional sub-classes.

Quick intro

I started playing Path of Exile on December 7, 2024. Since I can afford only a couple of hours every day, I’d like to provide an insight into the game for those who are in a similar position and are having doubts about whether spending $30 on PoE 2 early access today is a good idea or they would rather wait for the full but free-to-play release later on.

It took me about 50 hours to beat the game on normal difficulty. I completed it playing as a Witch (Infernalist) at level 46 but also levelled up a Warrior (Titan) till lvl. 40 and a Ranger till lvl. 20. 

I can wholeheartedly recommend it if:

• you like visually stunning graphics with a huge variety of maps and environments;
• the quality of in-game mechanics is more important to you than having cinematic story trailers;
• you prefer slower-paced games over 100500 APM epilepsy-prone ones;
• souls-like boss fights where you need to learn each boss' unique combos before you succeed;
• your character power builds slowly but steadily as you move through the campaign;
• equipment from merchants is likely to be better than one that drops from the monsters or bosses;
• being able to choose a clearly distinguishing playstyle with one of the 6 available classes having 2 sub-classes each (12 different playable characters in total);
• no FOMO BS at any given moment of the play-through.

I would suggest to avoid the game for those:

• who require a deep lore connection with stunning in-game cinematics between the acts to enjoy the game;
• souls-like mechanics (dodge roll, getting one-shot, enemies respawn when you die) make you puke;
• no character creation and gender-locked classes break the immersion for you;
• you prefer multiple smaller-scale maps with re-skinned content rather than a few vast but original and distinctive ones;
• having a choice of thousands of purchasable skins to customize your character appearance is a must for you;
• you need advanced social features in-game (built-in voice chat, guilds with strong management options etc.);
• having hundreds of side-quests as a means to boost your character and/or further introduce you to the lore;
• your time for grinding is limited and you'd rather buy gear/convenience items from an auction house for real money.

Note: I will update this review after beating the campaign for the second time on a higher difficulty and trying out the end-game's Atlas.

Overall, as of now, I’d recommend Path of Exile 2 to everyone who likes a visually stunning ARPG with rock-solid core gameplay and multiple hours of available content to grind through. It's well worth a $30 price tag at early access and, based on the developer's reputation to date, will keep improving through GGG's ability to take risks during the game's development phases and cooperation with their player base.