RETURNING KING

PATH OF EXILE II promises spectacular boss fights and a massive endgame even in Early Access

- Dominic Tarason

The bad news is that Path Of Exile II’s Early Access debut won’t be the full game, as initially hoped. The good news is, even limited to half of the main story and six of the planned 12 classes, this is shaping up to be one of 2024’s best action-RPG releases.

That’s saying a lot, given that PoEII will be going up against a refreshed and expanded Diablo IV, as well as recent rivals like Last Epoch and No Rest For The Wicked. But with a dozen hours of a near-finished build under my belt, I’m confident in that assessment. With just weeks to go until the launch of Grinding Gear Games’ ambitious ARPG sequel, I was invited to visit their offices in Auckland, New Zealand, to play the upcoming Early Access version and talk with the developers. After several fruitful chats with the game’s lead designers and a deep dive into the mechanics of the new Monk and Mercenary classes, I’ve almost nothing but high hopes for the game.

When I last played Path Of Exile II at a press event in LA earlier this year, I had a blast, but it was arguably a little intense for most, geared to make both action-RPG fans and Soulslike players sweat. While still challenging (I died a half-dozen times), it feels like the difficulty curve has been smoothed out in this near-launch version, and the game now expresses itself better, making it more accessible to total newcomers, Diablo fans looking for something fresh and (obviously) Path of Exile devotees excited for the sequel.

One of the biggest mechanical changes to