Path of Exile Review
A free-to-play ARPG (Diablo-like) sounds like a terrible idea on paper, mostly due to the track record of microtransactions recently and the obvious exploitation potential of a loot-heavy genre. Enter Grinding Gear Games who, despite this set up, have beautifully married to two pieces together to create a wonderful whole in Path of Exile. The result is a truly free-to-play unique romp through a carefully crafted an interesting universe. But beware! True enjoyment will demand patience and dedication from all who enter.
A steep learning curve
The very beginning of Path of Exile will immediately make seasoned veterans of the ARPG genre feel at home. Picking a class, the clicky-click nature of the combat, the Tetris-style inventory management, the dark atmosphere, and even one of the early quests that has players killing every last monster inside a sort of "den" filled with monsters that you might call...evil. It's a clear homage to the all-time classic, Diablo II, but an homage is all it is. Path of Exile is very much its own game, which becomes apparent the first time players encounter the passive skill tree.
The Skill tree
It's impossible not to get lost in it. Some players will be reminded of the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X, others will just spend time being lost in its vast amount branches and nodes. Where to start? Where to end? What the hell am I doing? It's overwhelming to say the least, and it is pretty much a given that each player's first character will end up being relatively useless as they struggle to navigate a decent path through the skill tree. However as time goes by, mistakes are made and enough knowledge is gained to maybe eventually actually create a halfway decent character that feels unique.
In fact, studying skill tree builds has become a small hobby of mine since the game's release. I love seeing all of the various builds that players create and, more importantly, their reasoning as to why they took certain nodes over others. It's not something I expect to be able to do any time soon, but understand why decisions are made helps me think more clearly when it comes time for me to make a decision in my skill tree.
Active Skills (aka gems)
That's only the passive skills. The active skills operate on an entirely different mechanic, which is actually more similar to the Materia system in Final Fantasy VII. Skills are loot. Yes, you read that correctly, skills are drops in the game just like a character's gear. Once a player has a skill gem, it can be inserted into the appropriately colored socket (red, green, or blue) in a piece of gear. When a player has a piece of gear with a skill gem in it equipped, the player can then use that skill. It's a very simple mechanic that allows for a ton of freedom when building a character, and places a lot more emphasis on gear sockets instead of all the emphasis being placed on the gear's stats. Things get a tad more complicated when support gems are introduced. Support gems add an extra effect onto a skill gem. For example, it is possible to link together a Melee Splash support gem onto a single-target melee skill, and suddenly it is an area of effect attack. It is also possible to attach a spell skill gem to the Remote Mine support gem and create a Remote Mine that can be detonated to use whatever spell you attacked the support gem to. Support gems must be linked to a skill gem through gear, however. In other words, the sockets in the gear must be the appropriate colors and be connected together in order to create certain combinations. Combining both the passive skill tree and the gem system allows some of the strangest and unique builds ever encountered in the genre. If you thought creating a Barbarian that uses throwing weapons was unique in Diablo II, you ain't seen nothing yet. It's possible to do just about anything with enough dedication. Like a particular skill a whole bunch? Do some research and create a character build entirely around that skill. Chances are, it might not be terrible! But also, it could be terrible. It's probably terrible.
Classes
Ah, but I've gotten ahead of myself here. There are six different classes with a seventh unlockable after playing through the game once. Each has their own dominant statistics, either strength, dexterity, intelligence, or some combination thereof. Thanks to the freedom from the various skill mechanics, there is nothing saying that a Marauder, whose primary stat is strength, can't be turned into a semi-decent spell caster. No, he'll never be as good as the Witch, but the fact that it is even possible is a testament to the malleability of classes in Path of Exile.
The in game economy
My absolute favorite part of Path of Exile is its economy. I know that sounds boring, but I'm into this kind of stuff, alright? There is no gold in Path of Exile, just items. Buying items from NPC vendors requires players to use a bartering system. Want a new item? That'll be one Armorer's Scrap, please! You're selling all those? I can give you an Identification Scroll for your troubles! It's so perfect since the same idea is what dictates the player's economy. There's no gold auction house where a player can easily buy everything they need; they must do research as to its value andalso research what type of currency is worth the most. It's absolutely brilliant.
Final words
The game is free. Simple as that! You can buy plenty of aesthetic items and extra slots for your stash, which still doesn't affect gameplay. The game and everything associated with it, costs you nothing but Internet and time. It's the kind of game that doesn't beg the player for money at seemingly every turn but instead, earns any money it makes through amazing developer feedback and player guilt. It really feels like stealing when playing Path of Exile, since it's such a high quality product for no cost whatsoever. Due to its free-to-play model, the game can only be played while connected to the Internet. It's a bit of a shame, absolutely, not to be able to play a quality game like this at any point in time, but the tradeoff is a real free-to-play game with a real living and breathing economy. Personally, I'm okay with that. The game's aesthetic also deserves praise. The world has a grimy, grungy, uncomfortable feel to it that constantly makes the player feel slightly off just for inhabiting it, which is appropriate given what goes on. Every person and object looks like it's at its lowest point. Enemy design is equally morbid, though it does tend to fall back on enemies like skeletons and more skeletons. Combat can certainly pack a punch, though animations do tend to feel disjointed, which can lead to a feeling of clunkiness. The art style and design on the loot garners a special mention from me, since it brings me back to my Diablo II days of looking at Sigon's Shield, SOJs, and Windforces. It's just so damn nostalgic I can't take it.
A steep learning curve
The very beginning of Path of Exile will immediately make seasoned veterans of the ARPG genre feel at home. Picking a class, the clicky-click nature of the combat, the Tetris-style inventory management, the dark atmosphere, and even one of the early quests that has players killing every last monster inside a sort of "den" filled with monsters that you might call...evil. It's a clear homage to the all-time classic, Diablo II, but an homage is all it is. Path of Exile is very much its own game, which becomes apparent the first time players encounter the passive skill tree.
The Skill tree
It's impossible not to get lost in it. Some players will be reminded of the Sphere Grid from Final Fantasy X, others will just spend time being lost in its vast amount branches and nodes. Where to start? Where to end? What the hell am I doing? It's overwhelming to say the least, and it is pretty much a given that each player's first character will end up being relatively useless as they struggle to navigate a decent path through the skill tree. However as time goes by, mistakes are made and enough knowledge is gained to maybe eventually actually create a halfway decent character that feels unique.
In fact, studying skill tree builds has become a small hobby of mine since the game's release. I love seeing all of the various builds that players create and, more importantly, their reasoning as to why they took certain nodes over others. It's not something I expect to be able to do any time soon, but understand why decisions are made helps me think more clearly when it comes time for me to make a decision in my skill tree.
Active Skills (aka gems)
That's only the passive skills. The active skills operate on an entirely different mechanic, which is actually more similar to the Materia system in Final Fantasy VII. Skills are loot. Yes, you read that correctly, skills are drops in the game just like a character's gear. Once a player has a skill gem, it can be inserted into the appropriately colored socket (red, green, or blue) in a piece of gear. When a player has a piece of gear with a skill gem in it equipped, the player can then use that skill. It's a very simple mechanic that allows for a ton of freedom when building a character, and places a lot more emphasis on gear sockets instead of all the emphasis being placed on the gear's stats. Things get a tad more complicated when support gems are introduced. Support gems add an extra effect onto a skill gem. For example, it is possible to link together a Melee Splash support gem onto a single-target melee skill, and suddenly it is an area of effect attack. It is also possible to attach a spell skill gem to the Remote Mine support gem and create a Remote Mine that can be detonated to use whatever spell you attacked the support gem to. Support gems must be linked to a skill gem through gear, however. In other words, the sockets in the gear must be the appropriate colors and be connected together in order to create certain combinations. Combining both the passive skill tree and the gem system allows some of the strangest and unique builds ever encountered in the genre. If you thought creating a Barbarian that uses throwing weapons was unique in Diablo II, you ain't seen nothing yet. It's possible to do just about anything with enough dedication. Like a particular skill a whole bunch? Do some research and create a character build entirely around that skill. Chances are, it might not be terrible! But also, it could be terrible. It's probably terrible.
Classes
Ah, but I've gotten ahead of myself here. There are six different classes with a seventh unlockable after playing through the game once. Each has their own dominant statistics, either strength, dexterity, intelligence, or some combination thereof. Thanks to the freedom from the various skill mechanics, there is nothing saying that a Marauder, whose primary stat is strength, can't be turned into a semi-decent spell caster. No, he'll never be as good as the Witch, but the fact that it is even possible is a testament to the malleability of classes in Path of Exile.
The in game economy
My absolute favorite part of Path of Exile is its economy. I know that sounds boring, but I'm into this kind of stuff, alright? There is no gold in Path of Exile, just items. Buying items from NPC vendors requires players to use a bartering system. Want a new item? That'll be one Armorer's Scrap, please! You're selling all those? I can give you an Identification Scroll for your troubles! It's so perfect since the same idea is what dictates the player's economy. There's no gold auction house where a player can easily buy everything they need; they must do research as to its value andalso research what type of currency is worth the most. It's absolutely brilliant.
Final words
The game is free. Simple as that! You can buy plenty of aesthetic items and extra slots for your stash, which still doesn't affect gameplay. The game and everything associated with it, costs you nothing but Internet and time. It's the kind of game that doesn't beg the player for money at seemingly every turn but instead, earns any money it makes through amazing developer feedback and player guilt. It really feels like stealing when playing Path of Exile, since it's such a high quality product for no cost whatsoever. Due to its free-to-play model, the game can only be played while connected to the Internet. It's a bit of a shame, absolutely, not to be able to play a quality game like this at any point in time, but the tradeoff is a real free-to-play game with a real living and breathing economy. Personally, I'm okay with that. The game's aesthetic also deserves praise. The world has a grimy, grungy, uncomfortable feel to it that constantly makes the player feel slightly off just for inhabiting it, which is appropriate given what goes on. Every person and object looks like it's at its lowest point. Enemy design is equally morbid, though it does tend to fall back on enemies like skeletons and more skeletons. Combat can certainly pack a punch, though animations do tend to feel disjointed, which can lead to a feeling of clunkiness. The art style and design on the loot garners a special mention from me, since it brings me back to my Diablo II days of looking at Sigon's Shield, SOJs, and Windforces. It's just so damn nostalgic I can't take it.
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