Path of Exile

 PC
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2202 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,641 out of 2202
  2. Mixed: 258 out of 2202
  3. Negative: 303 out of 2202

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  1. NLForkNL
    Sep 10, 2023
    10
    Absolute beauty this one. Not even Metacritic can silence me here. Get wrecked.
  2. TandarenZ
    Sep 7, 2023
    9
    Best ARPG on the market for years. PoE 2 will be much better than Diablo 4 too and still hold the #1 spot for sure. A downside is that if you want to push the game to its limits you have to use 3rd party sites/software/sources for information and stuff but I guess if you are that type of hardcore gamer it won't be a big deal anyway. Free to play makes it with no barrier of entry, open forBest ARPG on the market for years. PoE 2 will be much better than Diablo 4 too and still hold the #1 spot for sure. A downside is that if you want to push the game to its limits you have to use 3rd party sites/software/sources for information and stuff but I guess if you are that type of hardcore gamer it won't be a big deal anyway. Free to play makes it with no barrier of entry, open for anyone to try out.… Expand
  3. CptnKR4KEN
    Sep 7, 2023
    8
    A phenomenal action RPG that has proved to be so much more than the "Diablo" clone that many accuse it of being. Path of Exile rewards you for learning its intricate systems and diverse combat systems with consistently enjoyable gameplay that will carry you through infinite playthroughs! How is this game free!?
  4. Udaff
    Sep 6, 2023
    10
    There are too many things that ruin the game:

    1.Trading: No trading system, items are offered via trade chat (about 100 per minute). Impossible to compare offers for a single item you are looking for. Furthermore, about 95% of these items are pure junk and overpriced. 2. Leveling: Leveling up a character becomes boring if you have to repeat the same areas 3 times before you    There are too many things that ruin the game:

    1.Trading:

    No trading system, items are offered via trade chat (about 100 per minute). Impossible to compare offers for a single item you are looking for. Furthermore, about 95% of these items are pure junk and overpriced.

    2. Leveling:

    Leveling up a character becomes boring if you have to repeat the same areas 3 times before you attempt what they call "end-game content".

    3. End game and rewards:

    That is running maps (with map levels from 66 up to 79) with a Bossmonster at the end of the map.That looks fine because we all know that Bossmonsters hold special rewards like cool Uniques or currency or even more maps. In fact, they drop crap. I ran lvl 77-78 maps with a guildmate who had an 400% increased chance to get rarer items for almost a week and got nothing valuable.

    4. Partying:

    see performance and technical issues

    5. Performance and technical issues:

    There are too many things ruining gameplay and have not been adressed as of now, one of the worst is desync. Loosing hours of playtime you have spend because your character dies and suffers a 10% XP penalty becaus the servers loose the exact position of your character and sends you back to a place where you had been a few seconds before isn't really fun. The official game forum is full of players complaining exactly this. And now, something funny: GGG declares this as a feature to prevent cheating.

    Partying sounds like fun, if you like dia-shows.Too many skills and character builds cause even high-end computers to drop down to a few frames when playing in a group.
    The last mini expansion "The Forsaken Masters" made it even worse.With this expansion players can have their own personal hideout, a place to rest or sort things in your stash, nothing special because this hideout is only a small tileset with a few objects like bricks or a wall or a few trees. Guess what happens to your framerate when entering your or other players hideout? But hey........you can
    decorate your personal hideout with hundreds of objects (of course you can buy them from GGG, but there are also free ones)....guess again what happens to your framerate and loading time ?
    I forgot weather effects. Yes, weather effects have been implemented to more and more areas over the last months although many players complain about framedrops in these areas.Instead of adding a chance to turn weather effects off via the options menue, they add even more.
    Opening the box....surprise, surprise......whats in the box? While running around you may find kind of a chest box, called strongbox.Introduced in the "Ambush league" a few months ago, you'll get ambushed by monsters when opening these boxes.Sounds funny, but.............many computers freeze for 1-2 secs while the game is loading the monsters. Click the Resurrect button and take the 10% XP penalty.    … Expand
  5. hjikqfbiuqdbiqw
    Aug 24, 2023
    10
    PoE is easily the best arpg on the modern market. After the latest new AAA releases, its position just got stronger.
    You can try Titan Quest, Torchlight, Grim Dawn, D4, but none of it will even come close to the huge content PoE has as well as the most important things: Itemization, builds, progression and endgame content.
    This is a arpg for life.
  6. Nevez
    Aug 10, 2023
    10
    + Replayable
    + Constant learning
    + Free
    + Passionate devs

    - Toxic community
    - Some nerfs may feel unwarranted at times
    - May be too complicated for new players.
  7. JayBarbar
    Aug 2, 2023
    9
    One of the best ARPGs out there, a must try. It has a large learning curve but if you’re okay with skill trees, you will be fine.
  8. Kalandra
    Jul 26, 2023
    10
    Its just the best game in its genre. So much content, so interesting to create your own build and path.
  9. JackFrostyG
    Jul 26, 2023
    9
    Pros

    - The levelling on this game feels impactful. When I gain a skill point I feel like my character is getting stronger. - The main story bosses from Act 1 - 10 are all well designed. - The environments are detailed and fit the theme of the game. - The end game has an insane amount of choice and content. - There is also more content being added and older content being updated. -    Pros

    - The levelling on this game feels impactful. When I gain a skill point I feel like my character is getting stronger.
    - The main story bosses from Act 1 - 10 are all well designed.
    - The environments are detailed and fit the theme of the game.
    - The end game has an insane amount of choice and content.
    - There is also more content being added and older content being updated.
    - The class and skill diversity is wild.
    - Contrary to popular opinion. The game isn't really that hard to get into, the only drawback is the amount of 3rd party sites which may be necessary to follow a build.
    - The work and research you put into a build is rewarded by the outcome of said build.
    - There are millions of different items, and hundreds of different uniques,
    - It is easy to see what is happening on the screen.

    Cons

    - Some rare enemies can be more problematic than unique bosses. This is especially the case in newer leagues as they have not been balanced. Some of the rares can often kill even the tankiest of builds.
    - Some affixes are poorly balanced and over-tuned. For example, corrupting blood has always been a strong affix and even has certain builds' attempt to counter this by making themselves immune to the affix over playing through it.
    - The lighting in the Sirus fight is abysmal and this is not helped by the floor textures used which overlap with his abilities.    … Expand
  10. skyincow
    Jul 26, 2023
    10
    Best ARPG ever made on earth, and most complete / deep game you can find on the universe. If you have time to lost, Exile yourself in the biggest journey u've ever had
  11. ArcZ7
    Jul 23, 2023
    8
    I am writing this review after finishing the campaign after 31 hrs and reaching lv 72. The game is honestly amazing especially considering its age, the variety of skills and passive tree allow for so much customization and choice that it is simply unreal. I be honest I did not pay attention to the story as I play arpg for leveling and loot so cant speak for that part, though I am planningI am writing this review after finishing the campaign after 31 hrs and reaching lv 72. The game is honestly amazing especially considering its age, the variety of skills and passive tree allow for so much customization and choice that it is simply unreal. I be honest I did not pay attention to the story as I play arpg for leveling and loot so cant speak for that part, though I am planning to make a new character just to take my time for the campaign story itself. My main issue with the game is that even though you are only just going through the campaign which is consider by most as a tutorial the game constantly throws new systems at you from previous leagues. I found this to be a bit of distraction while trying to focus on finishing the base game first though its not a big inconvenience since you can just move and ignore them. Main issue with that is if you are new player you are already overwhelmed by all base mechanics and throwing mechanics and content from past few years at you while you are still learning is not the best first player experience. Overall I enjoyed my time with POE and will come back for more.… Expand
  12. quintincford
    Jul 23, 2023
    10
    The best game that has ever been created, Chris Wilson made a literal masterpiece and he will be remembered as the god of arpg genre. 10/10
  13. ForstenRAY
    Jul 22, 2023
    10
    The best sandbox for the hardcore gamer. There are plenty of opportunities to do something interesting. Of course, I would like to see more opportunities to play content on long-forgotten and nerfed builds, but that's what we have.
  14. ABC_RU
    Jul 22, 2023
    10
    После Диабло 4 решил переписать обзор и изменить оценку на 10/10.
    Во истину, не ценим, то что имеем.
  15. DartPancake
    Jul 21, 2023
    10
    PoE took Diablo 2 as a base and became a new standard of the genre. Not everything is great - handling of character can be better. But it is best almost at everything else - a lot of interesting mechanics, build and skill diversity, huge potential of customizing your character (passive tree, jewels, skill gems and skill support gems), trade and economics, great crafting system.

    In PoE    PoE took Diablo 2 as a base and became a new standard of the genre. Not everything is great - handling of character can be better. But it is best almost at everything else - a lot of interesting mechanics, build and skill diversity, huge potential of customizing your character (passive tree, jewels, skill gems and skill support gems), trade and economics, great crafting system.

    In PoE you can do everything you want - you just need to learn how

    About Free to Play - I prefer PoE over Diablo model of monetisation. With equal money that you pay for Diablo you can buy here everything you need a few times. In reality you need around 30-40$ for tabs and you're very comfy, without them it's ok to play as well - I played at least first 500 hours without them. In Diablo I quit 70$ game after 300 hours. Also I personally like what PoE designers can do with shop skins. And skins for skills are just too tier. You can play the same build for years but feel it different just by buying other skins.

    PoE have one of the best development teams. They release a lot of content very often and with minimum bugs. Maybe GGG managers and designers make wrong decisions some time, but overall they hear players most of the time and doing good job at supporting one of the biggest and complex games of RPG genre.

    PoE may confuse you sometimes, but I think that it's better when it's not easy to master the game. I prefer to learn something new after 1000 hours of the game. Good job, GGG. Just listen to your players a little bit more and all will be great    … Expand
  16. samylarbi
    Jun 17, 2023
    10
    this game is one of the best games i ever played the amount of stuff that you can do is mind blowing
    i well even say its on my top 10 games of all time
    No pay to win
    free game from start to endgame
    Greatest arpg ever created
  17. Balvin
    Jul 19, 2023
    10
    Thank you Chris Wilson for 'The Vision' and making Blizzard look like complete clowns. LOGIN
  18. Luciela
    Jul 19, 2023
    10
    It's a fragmentary but beautiful story. Full of rich content. Fluent gameplay. An excellent crafting system. You can feel yourself getting stronger and making progress. Although it is not included in the in-game system, there is a trade system. Regardless of the system, there is an excellent internal trade structure. Almost every item in the game can be traded. It has a wide variety ofIt's a fragmentary but beautiful story. Full of rich content. Fluent gameplay. An excellent crafting system. You can feel yourself getting stronger and making progress. Although it is not included in the in-game system, there is a trade system. Regardless of the system, there is an excellent internal trade structure. Almost every item in the game can be traded. It has a wide variety of builds. Yes, there are meta builds in this game, but there are also builds that you can be strong independent of meta builds. The game gives you that opportunity. You don't have to play all of the content. The game has given you an atlas tree, and thanks to it, you can eliminate the content you don't like and increase the rewarding of the ones you like. The game becomes much more enjoyable. Endgame is very good. The missing part of the game is that the game engine is old and the graphics are insufficient today. But a big expansion is coming soon. It's called Path of Exile 2, but it's actually a big expansion. The game engine was recoded and the graphics were renewed. This expansion will offer us a more fluid and optimized gameplay. With this expansion, the gem skill system will become independent of items. In this way, the variety of items that we can reach in the early game will be enriched. We will also be able to reach more gem skills. In this way, we will be able to navigate the maps fluently with more than one skill. What a game. The ARPG Legend. We can call it the souls game of isometric ARPGs. It's not for everyone.… Expand
  19. IPAITH
    Jul 9, 2023
    10
    Without a doubt the absolute pinnacle of ARPG genre.
    Complex character builds & crafting systems, can spend hours upon hours just planning your character and what gearing you should be aiming for.
    High character power cap, you can min-max until you're deleting whole screens of mobs and feel like a literal god. Huge and working economy. You build your wealth and spend it on the gear you    Without a doubt the absolute pinnacle of ARPG genre.
    Complex character builds & crafting systems, can spend hours upon hours just planning your character and what gearing you should be aiming for.
    High character power cap, you can min-max until you're deleting whole screens of mobs and feel like a literal god.
    Huge and working economy. You build your wealth and spend it on the gear you need. Dropped an awesome item you don't need for yourself? Go sell it, you just got rich, congratz.
    Incredible music.

    These devs release content every 3 months. Completely free.    … Expand
  20. DreadLordAvatar
    Jun 19, 2023
    10
    Best ARPG of all time, for real. I've been playing ARPGs since early 90s. PoE is the true successor to Diablo 2. GGG has truly created a remarkable game over the past decade. Since 2018, the quality of leagues started to decline due to power creep and mechanic-simplicity, and PC system requirements increased to run the higher demanding graphics as well. The game is also completely filledBest ARPG of all time, for real. I've been playing ARPGs since early 90s. PoE is the true successor to Diablo 2. GGG has truly created a remarkable game over the past decade. Since 2018, the quality of leagues started to decline due to power creep and mechanic-simplicity, and PC system requirements increased to run the higher demanding graphics as well. The game is also completely filled to the brim with bloat from every league mechanic over the years, which is both good and bad. The good is that in standard, players have endless content to play. The bad, too much content to play and complete each league if you want to achieve the challenges. I would deduct 2 points due to the time commitment required to play PoE however, this seems unfair especially for players who can nolife. Nonetheless, PoE is a spectacular game with incredible depth and longevity. (and yes D4 is complete garbage in comparison). Can't wait for PoE2.… Expand
  21. WMSURL1
    Jun 17, 2023
    10
    a fast pace of progress
    Various map modes
    Various and content
    Different skill combinations
    a variety of seasons
    Various cache items
    Partially paid game
    a season-long game
    I bought Diablo 4
    I regret it a lot.
    If Poe2 comes out
    I'll fold Diablo 4.
  22. 7chease
    Jun 16, 2023
    10
    The best arpg out there. Has a mode for all sorts of prefered play styles
    Solo
    Group
    Hardcore
    Ladder
    Item scarcity
  23. placebo69a
    Jun 16, 2023
    9
    This is the best in its class, and with continuing support, it will remain so. An upcoming sequel will help alleviate the feature bloat of such a long lifetime for a diverse and comprehensive gameplay loop with as many extended layers of complexity as one could only dream of. This game will live on in the history of video games as an exemplar of a genre it helped cultivate into maturity.
  24. ryanone142
    Jun 14, 2023
    10
    I have 10k hours in this game and love it. Best game I have played in 5 years. Played D4 for a couple weeks and it shows, the gap on how much better this game is large. Cant wait for next season.
  25. Varaghar
    Jun 14, 2023
    10
    Amazing. I really can't believe this game is free. 5000 hours just fly away.
  26. Robfromtheblock
    Jun 13, 2023
    10
    Path of Exile is a masterpiece of a game that sets the standard for the action RPG genre. From the moment you start playing, it's clear that the developers have poured their hearts and souls into creating a game that is both engaging and rewarding. The graphics are stunning, with detailed character models and environments that are a feast for the eyes.

    The story is equally compelling,    Path of Exile is a masterpiece of a game that sets the standard for the action RPG genre. From the moment you start playing, it's clear that the developers have poured their hearts and souls into creating a game that is both engaging and rewarding. The graphics are stunning, with detailed character models and environments that are a feast for the eyes.

    The story is equally compelling, with a rich and intricate lore that draws you in and keeps you invested in the world of Wraeclast. The characters are well-written and memorable, with their own unique motivations and personalities that make you care about their fates. The voice acting is top-notch, with talented actors bringing the characters to life in a way that few games can match.

    The gameplay is where Path of Exile truly shines, with a deep and complex skill system that allows for endless customization and experimentation. There are countless ways to build your character, from melee fighters to spellcasters to summoners and everything in between. The loot system is equally rewarding, with a seemingly endless supply of rare and unique items that can completely change the way you play the game.

    But what sets Path of Exile apart from other games in the genre is its dedication to its community. The developers are constantly listening to feedback and implementing changes based on player input. They are transparent about their development process, with regular updates and communication that make players feel like they are a part of the process.

    In short, Path of Exile is a game that deserves to be played by anyone who loves action RPGs. It's a game that is both deep and accessible, with a level of polish and attention to detail that is truly impressive. If you're looking for a game that will keep you engaged for hundreds of hours, look no further than Path of Exile.    … Expand
  27. ArtemusDE
    Jun 10, 2023
    10
    If you compare this game to Diablo 4 it is clear who takes the throne of action RPGs in 2023.
  28. JasonAlexander
    Jun 11, 2023
    10
    Most addictive game ever. Complexity is great and will take long time to master, but there's plenty of helpful guides if needed. I would recommend to just play and try things to see what you like to play with. Live, learn and find your favourite skills/classes/ascensions etc etc.
  29. Nikeyla
    Jun 8, 2023
    9
    Its on the top of the ARPG genre for a reason. Dark atmosphere, graphics and story. It has infinite possibilities what and how to play the game. Insane amount of end game content variety compared to all other similar games. Constant updates with no agressivity in monetisation. You can play full game without spending any money, but you will hate tetrising with few basic stashes. You want toIts on the top of the ARPG genre for a reason. Dark atmosphere, graphics and story. It has infinite possibilities what and how to play the game. Insane amount of end game content variety compared to all other similar games. Constant updates with no agressivity in monetisation. You can play full game without spending any money, but you will hate tetrising with few basic stashes. You want to spend some money on buying stash space for smooth experience. There are just some artificially annoying mechanics like trading and crafting to slow down players progress.… Expand
  30. willzcold
    May 30, 2023
    10
    POE is the deepest aRPG slasher ever made. It uses some tested ideas while introducing highly innovative systems and end-game mechanics. BEST ARPG Today.
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Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Best PC Game of 2013
18
#18 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013
14
#14 Most Shared PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. RPGamer
    May 9, 2014
    100
    Grinding Gear Games has created something special here, and given it gratis to the world.
    Read full review
  2. Pelit (Finland)
    Mar 11, 2014
    88
    Hack & slash games are addictive because they follow a simple formula: kill, kill and kill some more. Path of Exile is no different in this regard. During your quest in the perilous continent of Wraeclast you need to slay thousands and thousands of monsters but it never gets boring because there are a plenty of fresh ideas like the very vast skill system and barter-based economy that differentiate it from other similar games. But it's not a perfect game. The story is weak and the difficulty level is too low in the beginning. [Dec 2013]
  3. PC Gamer
    Jan 13, 2014
    84
    An exceptionally generous free-to-play action-rPG. What it lacks in punch it makes up for in depth and value for money.
    Read full review
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