First Impressions from a future POE2 player

I saw a trailer for POE2 a few weeks ago and thought, looks good. Why not check out the first game?

Here are some first impressions from someone likely to play the second game. On a console (PS5), dad style, mostly casually.

I didn't follow a guide. I understand that not following a guide is a cardinal sin, but POE2 is clearly trying to appeal to casual console dads, so here I am. Anyway, I tried a bit of this and that, both SSF and trade in the Settlers league.

Chieftain (melee, fire, slams) and Occultist (cold dots) were the two characters I ended up focusing on. I picked them because they looked awesome and seemed to support the skills I liked. I was playing through yellow maps when I lost interest, level 87.

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Building and endgame

The gem system was intuitive and adequately explained. The skill tree was not intuitive, and not explained. Complexity can be appealing, but I spent too much time simply trying to find the relevant nodes. How about a way to see which nodes impact a given skill?

I needed more in-game information. I built around damage over time. How was I supposed to know that ignite does not stack, but cold dots do?

The endgame was a mixed bag. The "make-your-own difficulty maps" was a nice idea. The Atlas was also interesting in theory. I wish it went even further in customizing content.

In practice I did not enjoy the exclusive focus on maps, which is probably why I am done for now. For example, I wanted to re-run some of the old campaign content for leveling and loot but that wasn't an option. Why no harder campaign content as a break from maps?

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Gameplay and user experience

The console UI really needs some work -- I assume that's improved in POE2. There were also about 4 crashes in 3 weeks of gameplay, so hardcore would not be an option.

I expected the melee Chieftain to feel better to play than it did, since playing on a console favors melee. It felt a bit... limp? I understand that melee was recently buffed. If this is buffed, how bad was it before?

The cold dot Occultist felt good. Smooth, safe, fun.

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Story and presentation

The campaign was good, providing an enjoyable sense of progression, both in terms of story and difficulty. The game manages to have its own style. ... someone on the team is clearly a fan of poetry and the written word. It's really nice to see that. I would suggest an editor who can hold them back a bit, though.

The Witch voice actress and whoever wrote her lines NAILED IT. "Oops, clumsy me." Some other voice actors could have used more direction. Also wish the Marauder said something when he's, you know, wiping out his gods.

Regarding extra content during the campaign. Why is Dora the explorer asking me to go on another temporal Aztecs adventure when I'm about to kill a god? It's just distracting clutter, often in conflict with the story. Put it in the endgame, instead.

I wanted more continuity, storywise, between the campaign and the endgame. The endgame was introduced in an very anticlimactic manner and presented like a completely separate stand-alone affair. I wasn't a fan. Who the hell is Kirac?

The current league presentation and mechanics were fine and enjoyable.

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Summary

Alright. All in all, a mostly good first impression. It's the kind of game that makes you really want to dig into the juicy mechanics of building your own character, but then... Too. much. clutter.

Needs much better UI and controller support for consoles. I will keep my eye out for POE2.

And one more thing. Because the game made me curious, I ended up reading about the Māori people and educating myself a bit on their culture and traditions. So thanks for that, it was nice to learn something new.