Looking for a Diablo fix without having to pay for it? Look no further than Path of Exile. A free-to-play online RPG in the style of Diablo II, Path of Exile is a fun and inventive successor to that beloved franchise.
Selecting from one of several classes, you must fight the various beasts, man or otherwise, that inhabit the land of Exile. Along the way you uncover a deeper plot that takes you to broken cities and lands. The story is nothing to write home about, but it does do its job of getting you from one place to another. The environments are quite colorful and the music puts you in the right mood.
The gameplay itself is your classic Diablo hack-and-slash with some modifications and additions. Potions are dependent on combat, so you no longer have to buy them one after the other; you just go out and kill things. Selling your collected items nets you material, rather than gold, which you can use to identify or modify your own equipment. These small additions provide incentives to go out and fight to get what you need, rather than just harvesting the gold off your sale.
There are two notable features, though, that help to alleviate the admittedly saturated nature of the combat.
The first is the use of gems and sockets. Many of the items you find will have colored sockets in them. As well, you will find colored gems that correspond to those particular sockets. The gems provide various kinds of spells and abilities depending on their color. There is a good incentive here to mix and match different socketed items and gems in order to create a unique build. My rogue character, whom I singularly played, has both heavy melee abilities, an ice blast, a skeleton army summon, and an escape that also works as an attack. Basically he is a jack of all trades.
The second is the well-known skill ‘tree.’ I put tree in quotations because it is more like a skill web. Think Final Fantasy X’s skill tree, only bigger. Just look it up—you will be astounded at the breadth and depth of it. There is an almost infinite amount of customization here and it synergizes well with your gems, as certain ones cannot be activated or leveled up until you have enough of a statistic on your character.
Being on online RPG, there is a vast and dedicated base of players and options. Though I have not participated with any players, I can tell you that if you need a multiplayer fix for your RPG, you will not be disappointed.
It’s not groundbreaking, nor is it the most memorable RPG I have played. However, it does not need to be. Path of Exile is fun, and that is all that matters. Plus, being free does not hurt, either. Give it a try if you are in the mood for such adventures.
