I started talking about this game in the Diablo 3 thread, but I decided to start a new thread on it, because I love this game. I copied my posts from that thread to here:
quote:Anyone here ever played the beta for Path of Exile? Currently, you can join the closed beta for $10. It is being called the "real" Diablo 3, though obviously there is disagreement on this.
I decided to give it a try, and though I have only played a few hours into it so far, here are my thoughts:
The loot system is a lot cooler than Diablo 3. There is no auction house, so you can find all in-game gear through playing
You get different spell gems that you can level up by using them, and you equip them on slotted equipment. This means that if you find new equipment, you can remove the leveled gem and put it into a new piece of armor, with no penalty
There is a high level of customization for using spells
The passive skill tree is the largest I have ever seen. It is insane
I miss the lack of spoken dialogue, and there isn't much story to speak of yet. I can't speak to how it will progress over time
The graphics are much more realistic than Diablo 3. Sometimes I like this, other times I miss the flashiness of Diablo 3.
Combat is harder than Diablo 3. Even within the first few levels of my character, I had to actually be a little bit strategic in my movements and potion use to stay alive. In Diablo 3, I sometimes forget I am actually capable of dying
The potion system is cooler than any other game I have played. I suppose this is preference. Instead of finding potions, you find or buy empty health or mana potion bottles and they fill up gradually as you kill monsters. When you use one, you sip from it. DIfferent sized bottles can hold various amounts of potion before it empties. Different potion bottles can also have various effects, such as granting increased movement speed in addition to getting health.
Overall, I like this game more than Diablo 3, though there are things that aren't as good. Path of Exile feels like more of an adult game. Apparently people playing Path of Exile like to refer to Diablo 3 as "Barbie Dress Up". The gear is prettier in Diablo 3, but Path of Exile has much better customization
Here's a good interview by one of the designers that explains more, including what they still plan to add:
I have a level 17 ranger now, and while I initially felt like this game was less polished than Diablo 3 (it is less polished), I am having a lot of fun with it. The combat is more fun and I am a sucker for customization.
One of my favorite things about it is how much you can customize the passive skill tree to make a totally unique character.
Even more, though, is how you can create custom spells. Currently, the game has 72 main skills. These are divided under the three main stat headings of strength, intelligence, and dexterity.
There are also three types of remote skills: totems, traps, and mines.
The coolest thing, though, is this: All of those 75 main and remote skills can be uniquely combined with the current 41 support skills. Support skills do nothing on their own. They enhance all of the main skills.
Because each piece of equipment can have anywhere from 1 to 4+ skill slots, you can uniquely combine different skills onto your equipment. Some equipment allows you to equip support skills, so that you can combine 41 support skills with the 75 main skills, in unique ways.
Most combinations work, as long as it "makes sense."
For example, You can make an ice spell also do fire damage. You can make a regular fireball spell become a trap, so that your traps shoot fireballs. You can make your split arrow spell become split arrows of ice shards that do electric damage. You could change a spell so that it uses HP, instead of Mana, when you cast it, thus making blood magic.
This gives you thousands of unique spells you can build, using your equipment slots.
I was playing Diablo 3, but I have become much more interested in this game. I keep saying to myself I should at least finish Diablo 3, but I don't want to right now. I want to play Path of Exile.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:This gives you thousands of unique spells you can build, using your equipment slots.
The virtual impossibility of effectively balancing that pings off my We Can't Have Nice Things radar hard.
Posted by Dan_Frank (Member # 8488) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:This gives you thousands of unique spells you can build, using your equipment slots.
The virtual impossibility of effectively balancing that pings off my We Can't Have Nice Things radar hard.
That was my first though when I read about it as well. It's hard enough to balance a few dozen options.
Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary:
quote:This gives you thousands of unique spells you can build, using your equipment slots.
The virtual impossibility of effectively balancing that pings off my We Can't Have Nice Things radar hard.
Anytime you include that many options, it usually results in something being insanely unbalanced. The counterpoint to that would be something like Borderlands, where you can literally have thousands of different gun variations, but then maybe that's not the same thing, so I don't know.
Posted by Marlozhan (Member # 2422) on :
Yeah, balancing could become an issue, though I haven't heard of it yet. It does seem like a daunting task.
Here is a developer's diary entry on the topic of balancing this game.