If people have a chance, I'd be interested in hearing more about PoE. I didn't love D3, but was pretty pleased with Torchlight 2. I don't really have the time to play the beta -- I have a huge backlog of games with no time to play as it is -- but I'd be curious as to hear what it does well and not and so on.
I'm not that far yet, but I'd be happy to share my thoughts so far.
It does not pretend to be anything other than what it is: a Diablo 2 clone with a different story and a single unique mechanic (the active skill system). It has the same gothic art style, lots of gore, the same isometric camera angle that is just a
little too close to the action, the same stupid minimap, and the same dozen or so monsters recycled through the whole game but with different names and abilities. It's got enough of a plot to be interesting to people who care about that sort of thing, but not so much that it gets in the way of just killing things and taking their stuff.
Things that I definitely like:
The active skill system - Active skills are only usable if you have the correct gem inserted into an appropriate socket in your equipment. For instance, putting a Fireball gem into one of the blue sockets on your weapon lets you use the Fireball active skill. Gems are reusable, so you don't have to worry about which items you want to put a given gem in. Gems earn experience and level up just like you, but as they grow more powerful they have higher prereqs. That means you can't just hand down your most powerful gems to newly made characters, but it also means that the Fireball gem you picked up at level 1 will continue to be useful until level 100, as long as you keep carrying it around with you (gems gain XP while they're socketed, whether you're actively using the skill they grant or not).
the passive skill system - every time you level up, you can put one point in this gigantic constellation of a skill tree. Think of the node system in FF10, only better. There's no respeccing, but you shouldn't really need to. Some builds are better than others, but I haven't heard of any trap choices yet (which is saying something, considering how big the skill tree is).
There's a hardcore mode similar to D3, but instead of deleting your character when you die, it just boots you off the HC server and on to the normal one. You don't
lose everything, you just don't get to call yourself hardcore any more.
It's free to play, but not pay to win - You can buy things that change your appearance and stuff, but nothing that has a significant mechanical impact on the game.
Things I could go either way about:
No respeccing. I mentioned this earlier, but it bears repeating. I can see what the devs were going for here, I just don't know if I'm a fan yet. I like to know that I'm making the "right" decisions when I build a character (obviously), and I don't want to get 60 levels in and then regret the choices I made at level 2. But at the same time, it's a much more old-school experience, and it's nice knowing that my choices matter, for good or ill.
The graphics are a little out dated, but that's understandable. Part of it is that it's a free-to-play indie game, part of it is the aesthetics, but it's just a little annoying. Things are a little bit too muddy, and enemies have a horrible tendency to hide in the grass or under the corpses of their fallen allies where I can't see them. That being said, I do like the art style a lot. It's pretty to look at, even if it does get in the way.
Global chat is a thing. That means everything you think it means. Nice when you have a question about the game, but annoying when you don't. Global chat is generally well moderated, and the mods can and do give temporary (maybe permanent, but I've never seen it) mutings to assholes.
Things I definitely don't like:
The freaking minimap. It's just like Diablo, where the map is superimposed over the majority of the screen and gets in the way of everything, but it's pretty much necessary to find your way around and make sure you explored the whole map. I hated it in '98, I hated it in 2012, and I hate it now.
There's no standard currency. Mundane loot you pick up can be traded to an NPC vendor for Scrolls of ID Item, which can be traded for Scrolls of Town Portal or certain other vendor goods. Magic loot can be traded for orbs that re-roll the magic abilities of an item, add to the powers of an item, or upgrade a normal item into a magic or even a rare item (depending on the power and rarity of the item you trade in). You can trade these orbs with other players if you feel like it, or you can be like me and just hoard them in your Stash and never do anything with them ever because the equipment you have is good enough anyway.
