We played 20 hours of Path of Exile 2: it makes Diablo 4 look like child's play

I spent €30 in Early Access Path of Exile 2a video game which will become free in a few months when the final version is released. Despite this, I can say with my eyes closed that these are the best invested €30 of the year 2024, as the generosity demonstrated by this RPG published by Grinding Gear Games is, as it stands, breathtaking. I've played it for 20 hours, and I'm just reaching the end of Act 2 (three are already available).

Even Elon Musk, the sulphurous American business leader and richest man in the world, incidentally a gambler addicted to Diablo 4is sensitive to this new title. “ Path of Exile 2 is the natural child of Elden Ring and Diablo “, he judged. A few days later, he added, saying “ that Path of Exile is in the Pantheon. » We can only approve, which says a lot about the game's ability to seduce.

Path of Exile 2 is addictively demanding

Comparison with games Diablo is obvious. No doubt inevitable. Path to Exile 2 is a hack'n'slash in which you choose a class (six are ready for early access), which you progress by gaining levels and collecting loot. We advance in settings to complete quests, which are most of the time excuses to clean the places of vermin. The interface is almost the same, with this tight inventory management and the artistic direction is very similar. Path of Exile 2 remains very dark and gloomy, like Diablo 2. PoE 2 — its nickname — still dissociates itself from the saga Diablomore particularly from 4, on the 100% open structure in Blizzard's RPG; whereas here it is made up of instances (which close when they become empty, which also applies to loot).

Nevertheless, Path to Exile 2 does not provide the same pleasure at all. At least it doesn't pull the same levers at all. In Diablo 4it is the race for power, governed by ever more precious equipment, which takes precedence. In Path to Exile 2, it's the feeling of pride that lingers after getting rid of a boss who spent the previous half hour teaching us about life. This is where the connection with Elden Ringlet's say rather Dark Soulsis discovered. The enemies, powerful and merciless, never really give way, even the hordes of ordinary monsters are dangerous. You have to know how to move, dodge, anticipate, playing with caution. Each confrontation becomes a mini-test, where the slightest error can become fatal, especially with a character with low survivability.

To these exhilarating sensations born from a notion of life or death is added an abysmal complexity. You just have to open the talent tree to be dizzy: there are hundreds of them and you could spend an entire afternoon reading everything (in fact, it must read to make the right choices). These bonuses are only passive, the offensive powers being linked to gems that we collect throughout the adventure. In 20 hours, we barely touch on the possibilities of personalization and, above all, optimization. There are so many possible paths that you could redo the game 1,000 times (a shame, however, that the narration doesn't involve more).

But it doesn't stop there. When you think you understand everything, an additional test, which takes the form of a roguelike experience (think of Hades), opens up to determine one's specialty (which can be double-edged, be careful). A real game within a game, which the developers still need to refine, but which foreshadows immense content – ​​including, and above all, for the high level. The potential is there and it should be remembered that everything will be free, financed by microtransactions specific to game-services. The Grinding Gear Games studio – a well-chosen name – still has work to do to refine everything and erase the few obvious flaws. The maps, for example, are too large, which makes navigation a bit painful and daunting. Visually, Path of Exile 2 is a real eye-catcher (what a masterful atmosphere and what attention to detail!), at the cost of some technical shortcomings: we noticed screen tearing and slowdowns when there are people displayed on PS5 Pro.

You will have understood: we are already super enthusiastic about this Path of Exile 2which is still only the beginning of a future great game in the making, a credible candidate for the title of game of the year (GOTY — Game of the Year). Its artistic mastery, depth, richness and gameplay ideas are all arguments that support its obvious excellence. And we haven't even mentioned the ingenuity in the design of certain bosses (the one who flees, the two lovers who invite themselves into each other's fight, the colossus with shoot 'em up phases…) or certain environments (tall grass that hides enemies). It is difficult to remain unmoved by such imagination and such a great propensity to constantly jostle the player to better surprise him. At €30, it's really cheap.