Oh, also forgot to add to my other comment - there is scaling when you're in a party. It's just not with levels. In fact, there is level downscaling for players. The way enemies scale is mostly HP, where each player additionally adds about 120% (not just double, because playing with another person is somewhat of a multiplier). So basically, if you're getting "carried" by your high level friends, it's because they specifically turned downscaling off, or they just have much better gear than the scaling accounts for. I say this having played about 50% of my time in a party since launch. Actually have been really happy with party play, except a few bugs (loot allocation depending on settings) and player collision being very annoying at times.
I can sign everything you say in this video. Thanks for presenting it :) I also recommended it to some people who didn't played the prequel and most of them just where overwhelmed by the skilltree until they took a deeper look and planned their first character. It is way less complex as it seems at the first look. It is a skilltree for ALL classes in one view.
I agree with you as I play games for the in depth story. It's why I like ARPGS over MMORPGS because in WoW for example I would group up with speed groups & I could never read the dialogue or witness the story unfold when running dungeons. At least in a game like this I can follow the story really well. I do love the slow grind too. Everything I feel nowadays is everyone wants to speed run to end game. I felt initially the game was difficult but once I got the movement down and knowing how important Dodge Roll is in all your encounters is key. Using the orbs to upgrade equipment which normally I save items like this, but the design I feel is for you to use those as soon as they drop to enhance your equipment immediately to assist you. I went with the Ranger though I dabbled with other classes the Mercenary was hard for me to play as the loading of ammo felt very awkward. Other suggestions was to go with evasion or life in your skill tree but I went damage which I hardly ever do which helped out and tweaked my gear to earn life or mana on enemy kills which kept me alive often plus my left pinky as a hair trigger on my '1' key to hit my health potion. LOL
It's really fun getting the perspective of a more casual, non-ARPG player jumping into PoE2. Been my favorite reviews, tbh. It's funny though when people point out that PoE2 has less "customization" than D4....and I know y'all mean being able to tweak the jawline and eyebrow furrow of your character....but it still cracks me up. As you speak on later....the customization of your character is insane, just as insane as PoE1, but in the way of how your character plays, not how they look underneath all that armor. :) RE: Performance/crashing. I actually get the "my entire PC freezes" thing, as well as CTD's. It's been rough, but they are looking into it. Far as performance goes....everyone that I know that's playing (and that's a lot lol) hasn't had any performance issues (far as low performance goes)....those that have 99% of the time never updated their drivers for the launch, lol. And I don't know if you use any monitoring software, but for me at least my temps have been way better than expected. I was honestly expecting the game to run pretty bad, especially since my card is quite a few years old now, but it performs extremely good for how good the game looks. Obviously, there's always improvements to be made, but most of the issues seem to be just around crashing. Early Access is a fantastic start. Hope to see a lot of people that might bounce off the initial launch coming back for the full game launch in 6-12 months. :) Game is great right now IMO, but not perfect. Fortunately, GGG has earned a LOT of trust from us players over the years. So I'm confident that they'll take good care of it and take our feedback (and know which feedback is premature and inflammatory, lol). PS: Love that you highlighted that Act 1 boss....INSANELY memorable fight. I love how the poem is sound cues for you to dodge during the fog phase. And the music? UGHH so freaking good. Anyway, great review bud. (-Des)
When the fog came in and the music builds with the poem. So good. Reminded me of a certain fight in act 3 of bg3 but more serious. I hope more games take queues from that fog sequence because it wss magical.
@@RedbeardflynnRollsAOne It is pronounced with 3 syllables: lin-ee-ar. And of course, you know I kid. While I poke fun, there's one great truth that's almost always the case when you see somebody who *knows* a word but mis-pronounces it in an understandable fashion. It is often because they learned the word from reading it, not hearing it spoken. Which means they *read*. Like a civilized person of culture. So it's all in good fun, because it's usually a sign that you're just talking to a literate nerd. 😂
I guess I'm part of the 2% who cares about story in my arpgs. I'll be trying it after ea but thank you for your take on it. You continue to be a great source for all gamers but especially casuals.
Im happy for Grinding Gear Games that many ppl jump in the EA boat. They'll have enough food on the table to sell us a good game. Great vid Mr. Redbeardflynn
Oh, also forgot to add to my other comment - there is scaling when you're in a party. It's just not with levels. In fact, there is level downscaling for players. The way enemies scale is mostly HP, where each player additionally adds about 120% (not just double, because playing with another person is somewhat of a multiplier).
So basically, if you're getting "carried" by your high level friends, it's because they specifically turned downscaling off, or they just have much better gear than the scaling accounts for.
I say this having played about 50% of my time in a party since launch. Actually have been really happy with party play, except a few bugs (loot allocation depending on settings) and player collision being very annoying at times.
Great info, thank you!
I can sign everything you say in this video. Thanks for presenting it :) I also recommended it to some people who didn't played the prequel and most of them just where overwhelmed by the skilltree until they took a deeper look and planned their first character. It is way less complex as it seems at the first look. It is a skilltree for ALL classes in one view.
I agree with you as I play games for the in depth story. It's why I like ARPGS over MMORPGS because in WoW for example I would group up with speed groups & I could never read the dialogue or witness the story unfold when running dungeons. At least in a game like this I can follow the story really well. I do love the slow grind too. Everything I feel nowadays is everyone wants to speed run to end game. I felt initially the game was difficult but once I got the movement down and knowing how important Dodge Roll is in all your encounters is key. Using the orbs to upgrade equipment which normally I save items like this, but the design I feel is for you to use those as soon as they drop to enhance your equipment immediately to assist you. I went with the Ranger though I dabbled with other classes the Mercenary was hard for me to play as the loading of ammo felt very awkward. Other suggestions was to go with evasion or life in your skill tree but I went damage which I hardly ever do which helped out and tweaked my gear to earn life or mana on enemy kills which kept me alive often plus my left pinky as a hair trigger on my '1' key to hit my health potion. LOL
It's really fun getting the perspective of a more casual, non-ARPG player jumping into PoE2. Been my favorite reviews, tbh. It's funny though when people point out that PoE2 has less "customization" than D4....and I know y'all mean being able to tweak the jawline and eyebrow furrow of your character....but it still cracks me up. As you speak on later....the customization of your character is insane, just as insane as PoE1, but in the way of how your character plays, not how they look underneath all that armor. :)
RE: Performance/crashing. I actually get the "my entire PC freezes" thing, as well as CTD's. It's been rough, but they are looking into it. Far as performance goes....everyone that I know that's playing (and that's a lot lol) hasn't had any performance issues (far as low performance goes)....those that have 99% of the time never updated their drivers for the launch, lol. And I don't know if you use any monitoring software, but for me at least my temps have been way better than expected. I was honestly expecting the game to run pretty bad, especially since my card is quite a few years old now, but it performs extremely good for how good the game looks. Obviously, there's always improvements to be made, but most of the issues seem to be just around crashing.
Early Access is a fantastic start. Hope to see a lot of people that might bounce off the initial launch coming back for the full game launch in 6-12 months. :) Game is great right now IMO, but not perfect. Fortunately, GGG has earned a LOT of trust from us players over the years. So I'm confident that they'll take good care of it and take our feedback (and know which feedback is premature and inflammatory, lol).
PS: Love that you highlighted that Act 1 boss....INSANELY memorable fight. I love how the poem is sound cues for you to dodge during the fog phase. And the music? UGHH so freaking good. Anyway, great review bud. (-Des)
When the fog came in and the music builds with the poem. So good. Reminded me of a certain fight in act 3 of bg3 but more serious. I hope more games take queues from that fog sequence because it wss magical.
Did... did you just say "Lineer"? Never change, Red, never change. 🤘🤘
💀 wait how is it pronounced?
Lin-e-er
@@RedbeardflynnRollsAOne It is pronounced with 3 syllables: lin-ee-ar.
And of course, you know I kid. While I poke fun, there's one great truth that's almost always the case when you see somebody who *knows* a word but mis-pronounces it in an understandable fashion. It is often because they learned the word from reading it, not hearing it spoken.
Which means they *read*.
Like a civilized person of culture. So it's all in good fun, because it's usually a sign that you're just talking to a literate nerd. 😂
I guess I'm part of the 2% who cares about story in my arpgs. I'll be trying it after ea but thank you for your take on it. You continue to be a great source for all gamers but especially casuals.
Thank you so much! I can only bring my perspective so I wanted to say straight off the bat that I'm not the usual hard-core player.
@RedbeardflynnRollsAOne You create a space for all types of gamers.
Im happy for Grinding Gear Games that many ppl jump in the EA boat. They'll have enough food on the table to sell us a good game. Great vid Mr. Redbeardflynn
For me, it's fun. Not to hard, I don't think. I like the slower pace. Great seems good.
I agree 100%