State of the Game - Path of Exile 2, The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

Hello GGG,

I have 800+ Hours in POE1, couldn't really stick to the endgame mappings so I dropped in here and there on different leagues. Now I have the chance to try out POE2.

My feedback is kind of mixed. Let's address The Good first.

The combat is quite fun and engaging, especially at the bosses. As a Monk player, I do feel every impact of my choices to dodge, to rush in for damage, or to learn mechanics of each boss.
The emphasis on the lore is very noticeable compared to POE1, as a huge lore fan, I sincerely loved every second of it. It could use more of "Show, don't tell" to get players more immersed in the story.
Regarding the overall game feels, from graphics to audios, it is very well refined. I do lose myself during campaign as all the elements combined together akin to a well-coordinated orchestra.

As much as I enjoyed my time till now, there's lots of refinement that I think should be addressed. Let's continue with The Bad.

Despite the fun that I had initially with all the dynamic of combat, it's starting to burn me out. Random mobs could swarm me and end me in an instant, and there's little I could do about it. Greatest example would be the two Rare Vulture Mobs at Act 2, they have unreal movement speed and modifiers, first time round at least, that there's nothing I could do but die. I eventually kited them out next time around and beat them, but then the drops were less than impressive. This is the example of unfun, because why would I bother spending 5-10 minutes grinding them down just to earn next to no valuable loot? This leads to the next problem, which is the rewards doesn't entice me to keep playing. There's no incentive for me to keep going since all I get is some Orb of Transmutation. There's no choice for me to fine-tune my gear unless I get very lucky rare drops. (Which doesn't even drop from the boss, but somehow from a random mob in Act 2)

The next problem is the unfairness of some of the game's aspects. Best example I could think of is Trial of Chaos. The debuff is just so tedious to deal with that you need a very specific set to be able to get to the Boss, just to get one shot by the Giant Bird. I won't even mention the crashes I got while trying to get there, pretty sure you already knew about it. There is nothing fun about getting one-shotted or having to run around multiple staircases dodging freezing breath from a Chimera, which the frozen ground just refused to disappear. All of the above combined with debuff such as gigantic exploding grounds + defense down is just totally impossible to do, at least as a Melee. Instead of having fun fighting a sensible boss fight, it's just simply feels unfair. In Elden Ring or Souls Game, I still have the leeway to victory, this just feels like running to a dead-end.

The previous problem leads to replayability, which is what this game is all about. Simply put, no one wants to go through all the hassle to grind for loot that doesn't even drop. At Act 3, I already felt burnt out by having to constantly dodge away from trash mobs. If I somehow get surrounded and die, the mobs all respawn, and it begins the cycle of exhaustion trying to clear my way just to explore the map.

Please don't get me wrong, I do love this game for what it's worth. However, there's just so many aspects that need to be refined. Difficult boss fights are fun, but getting there for the umpteenth time is not. Difficult boss fights are fun, but getting crappy loots for rewards doesn't inspire me to keep playing.

Lastly, let's discuss the Ugly. The Ugly Truth.

Building your own builds just doesn't exist. Why? Because the lack of crafting. The reliable way to reroll suffix at pre-mapping just doesn't really exist. It's all gatekept behind RNG, which impairs creativity of playstyles. If you want to advance now, better play Range classes with specific builds. Now if I wish to respec my character, I am heavily punished by having to pay so much gold just to try out other builds, and I'm speaking from the person who hoard 60k gold at Act 3. The reliable way is just to wait and see what builds could go the farthest. You could argue that it's the same for POE1, but at least in POE1, no one is stuck at starting campaign content by having bad builds.

These are just the points I could think of on top of my head. I'm pretty sure there are other points, both good and bad that this game has. I hope this feedback would be used to improve this game, because I sincerely enjoyed my time playing it till now.