Why POE1 is still the best ARPG, Better than LE, POE2, and Diablo 4

Been playing some last epoch today and I didn't get the same feel that I did in POE1 and I have been trying to figure out why. Same problem with Diablo 4 and POE2. Although these games are later than POE1 and should theoretically be better, they just aren't as engaging. The question is why?

Lat Epoch to where I am now (level 38) is pretty easy. There isn't much challenge. Ditto Diablo 4; where I found I had accidentally WAY overleaved the story just by running side quests. POE2 on the other hand feels like a brutal masochistic slog, not at the bosses but on the normal ground. I don't mind a tough boss, in fact I rather like them. Lost Ark has some brilliantly designed Bosses that are tough. But you don't want to swim in molasses to get to the boss nor steamroll the content to make it too easy. POE1 strikes this balance perfectly. You can blitz to the boss or clear the zone for exp.

Loot in POE2, Diablo 4 and Last Epoch feel ... flat ... unremarkable. You are merely showered with tons of items that overload your brain with stats. In POE2 it is the worst because its a pure random slot machine. If you drop a pair of boots that are stellar but have no movement speed they are trash. With diablo 4 and Last epoch it rains loot and you can use filters but there is a hodgepodge and knowing which item to swap out when is not an accomplishment but a chore.

By contrast in POE1 loot is impactful from the get go. I am looking for any piece of equipment with a red and 2 green sockets all linked. Landing that piece is an achievement. Then I am looking for four links and I get a pair of boots. Ok but I need fire resist, so I go craft it on. In the late stages of the game trying to get a 6 link piece with the right colors is a frickinng nightmare but instead of fixing that POE said "Nah, lets ditch sockets and go full slot machine." I thought the new gem system would work better but it makes loot ... well ... boring and I am more than tired of dropping 300 uncut useless gems. And why didn't they get rid of identify scrolls if the hooded one can identify anything. Wacky. Truly this was throwing the baby out with the bath water.

In POE1 there is also many different things to do in the end game. One can go for the Exarchs or try to break the Delve depth record or tune their atlas just right to build loot off syndicate. They threw all of that in the trash in POE2 for reasons that remain inexplicable. In diablo 4 you run dungeons ... and then more and more ... and ... well for no purpose. In Last epoch ... well I haven't gotten to their new endgame but the first one was equally boring. When I heard POE2 was going to have an infinite atlas I was giddy. I though "OMG they did it, they merged Delve and the Atlas!!!." Nope ... its an aimless wander with none of the benefits of the atlas skill tree. It literally doesn't matter what direction you go, there is no purpose.

The problem is GGG didn't learn what was wrong with POE1 and what could be improved on (links at high level, bloat of systems no one liked ... like ... ahem ... sanctum and ultimatum, long boring tutorial campaign, the lack of player tutorials and story telling cinematics). What they did is UNLEARNED everything they learned over 10y delivering the best ARPG out there. People would scoff at D3 and D4 players saying, "Ok when you get the training wheels off your little bike you can play POE, a real ARPG."

Frankly if GGG had fixed the socket links in late game, trimmed the game, updated the graphics, got rid of gender locked classes, added some cinematics and a new story and then put up the new ascendancies they put out in Phrecia in addition to the old ones and maybe had 2 or 3 more classes, added more in game guides and threw the rest of the budget at marketing, the game would have been a smash hit.

I guess I will finish Last Epoch to endgame at least and will come back periodically to see if they have figured out how to do a good gameplay now and again.

As of right now the only ARPG I am TRULY interested in playing is POE1 and we haven't had a league for that game in almost a year.

EDIT: That's what I get for typing a long post on a phone in bed. Typos fixed.

If GGG is willing to extend the Phrecia, I will immediately uninstall Torchlight.

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Mk159#5694 wrote:

If GGG is willing to extend the Phrecia, I will immediately uninstall Torchlight.

I dont want them to extend it. I want them to make the real POE2. Take the current game they have in dev and call it something else. Maybe "Legends of the Vaal" or something. Then make the real POE2. My guess is that wont happen. In that case I would settle for a real league. Not a half baked event.

brother, I too could make a thread about why Diablo II is still the GOAT and has more replay-ability to this day than any other ARPG since its release. it's called nostalgia and not a fruitful thing to hold on to sadly.

you make this post today, but I'm certain, the fact that you've been experimenting with other titles means you are looking for the next hook and it ain't PoE1 anymore...

PoE2 has a lot of potential and even in its current state is a damn good game at least on HC SSF, maybe even SC SSF I dare say.

He is a king who has lost almost all of his people. He is old, he is tired, but he sits alone in his seat at the top with all his majesty. Poe1 This is the pinnacle of the work...

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Kraythax#2592 wrote:

Been playing some last epoch today and I didn't get the same feel that I did in POE1 and I have been trying to figure out why.

..its because you understand POE1 more than the other two.

I personally find POE1 to be the easiest (before late endgame) and most braindead and least engaging of them. Every POE1 build is teleport + one AOE dmg skill, and you can run the entire campaign and most of endgame like that.

POE2 is clearly the hardest, but I wouldn't say it's hard. Once I knew the mob patterns and build system, campaign zones are mindless faceroll.. I play SSF, and I've started to do act 1 in only blues to make it more intersting. Though at least the bosses are a bit more challenging.

LE has a very different progression curve, because you can get into endgame monolith in 2.5 hours, which is barely longer than it takes to finish POE2 Act 1. So if you judge the difficulty after 4hrs of playtime once you know how to play, I think LE lets you reach significantly more challenge in 4 hrs, becuase i can be in endgame pushing content as hard as I want.. whereas 4hrs in POE1/2 doesn't get me out of the snoozefest campaign. If you want harder than that, equip the Cursed Veterans Boots at the start.

Diablo 3 is the best.
btw
Killed by Blizzard few years ago by stupid updates.....

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KuroSF#6521 wrote:

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Kraythax#2592 wrote:

Been playing some last epoch today and I didn't get the same feel that I did in POE1 and I have been trying to figure out why.

..its because you understand POE1 more than the other two.

I personally find POE1 to be the easiest (before late endgame) and most braindead and least engaging of them. Every POE1 build is teleport + one AOE dmg skill, and you can run the entire campaign and most of endgame like that.

No, that may be your opinion but not mine. Many of the meta skills are like that but they even require a rotation and even those can result in your death if you mess something up. But I can CHOOSE to play something else and still kill Exarch. In POE2 AOE screen blasting is the ONLY thing that works. Everything else results in death.

Also I don't understand people like you. You are upset about AOEs slaughtering dozens of enemies yet you are playing an ARPG. This would be like me buying mortal combat and being upset all it is is punching and kicking and fighting or buying the Witcher 3 and complaining all you do is run around killing monsters with a silver sword. Just seems to me like ARPGs are not your thing.

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rhorains#6760 wrote:

brother, I too could make a thread about why Diablo II is still the GOAT and has more replay-ability to this day than any other ARPG since its release. it's called nostalgia and not a fruitful thing to hold on to sadly.

you make this post today, but I'm certain, the fact that you've been experimenting with other titles means you are looking for the next hook and it ain't PoE1 anymore...

PoE2 has a lot of potential and even in its current state is a damn good game at least on HC SSF, maybe even SC SSF I dare say.

No. POE1 hasnt had a new league in nearly a year. That is the reason I am looking at other titles. I wanted POE2 to be a sequel. It isnt. Its a completely different game with only superficial relationship to its predecessor.

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rhorains#6760 wrote:

brother, I too could make a thread about why Diablo II is still the GOAT and has more replay-ability to this day than any other ARPG since its release. it's called nostalgia and not a fruitful thing to hold on to sadly.

you make this post today, but I'm certain, the fact that you've been experimenting with other titles means you are looking for the next hook and it ain't PoE1 anymore...

PoE2 has a lot of potential and even in its current state is a damn good game at least on HC SSF, maybe even SC SSF I dare say.

You're analysis holds 0 weight considering the fact that poe1 hasn't had a new league in almost a year.

Phrecia was ok but it had no new mechanics outside of build variety due to new ascendancies. It had less new content than d2r has over d2lod.

Not shitting on phrecia either. It got me by for a while. I just hated what they did to berserker -> behemoth. The rage addict ascendancies are always my favorite. Even in hc.