I had the opportunity to play an early copy of Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile 2 at a media event in Los Angeles last month, so without further ado, these are my first impressions of Path of Exile 2!

I’ve mostly only played Diablo games when it comes to ARPGs in the past, but this was something special.

The first impression of Path of Exile 2 is very good

I’ll be posting a full review soon, but for now I’ll just give my first impressions of this playtest and not any other games I’ve made since.

versatility

What struck me most was the sheer number of options. Sure, you choose a class like in Diablo, but you were really only limited by the weapons you wanted to use.

This meant that you could be a sorceress who could also summon undead like the Witch or any other combination by simply choosing a staff and a wand or other class items.

WASD or mouse option

The next thing that was really cool was the ability to either use WASD or use traditional mouse clicking to move around. I got interested in WASD and it felt natural and easy, especially with Mercenary, the class I chose first.

The visuals

Third in the first impressions were the environment and the magic effects. I was actually incredibly surprised at how good the world looked graphically and how great the magic effects were. I know it sounds like I’m blowing smoke, but for an ARPG they looked really great.

Difficulty level and boss fights

The last thing I want to emphasize for my first impressions is the difficulty. The game wasn’t a walk in the park, at least not the first part we got to play. The bosses actually felt difficult due to the different unique abilities, ranging from one-shots to area-of-effect slams and more.

I personally enjoy having difficult gameplay that makes victories and progression more rewarding, so this is a big win in my opinion. I think Path of Exile 2 has the feeling of a real journey that you’re going through – at least in the limited gameplay I had.

So basically I’m saying that Path of Exile 2 could be the best ARPG if it continues to scale and the depth of endgame activities they’ve touted are entertaining. We’ll have to wait for my full review to find out!

READ MORE: How to play Path of Exile 2 Early Access