Path of Exile 2 was one of the most well-received games at the end of 2024, even though it wasn’t even complete. Now, the game has introduced a new seasonal content league several months into its Early Access phase, but players are not too fond of the new league, called Dawn of the Hunt. Thus, Path of Exile 2 players on Steam have trooped up into the review section to review-bomb the game they once rated highly.
At the time of writing, Path of Exile 2‘s recent reviews on Steam are sitting at a rather bad 39 percent recommendation rating, or Mostly Negative. Some of the more common complaints point to how nearly everything was nerfed in an effort to make the game slower or grindier, as per the developers’ vision.
Such dramatic changes to gameplay have led to frustration, with many also claiming to have uninstalled the game since it wasn’t fun anymore after the Dawn of the Hunt update. Some players are also questioning why the GGG, the devs, want the game to be slow, as they assumed that it was a pointless preference considering how most isometric ARPGs these days favor fast gameplay.
Even Path of Exile 2 last year was notably faster and more accessible than its predecessor when it comes to action and progression. Some of the veteran reviewers who changed their reviews to negative summed up the review-bomber sentiment quite concisely:
“Game was good before dawn of the hunt. now its bad…” says Steam user iTMoss after 431 hours
The good news is that GGG has certainly seen and felt the disturbance and has even released a statement regarding what they will be changing based on player feedback. Seeing as Path of Exile 2 is still in its Early Access phase, this interaction and review cycle will likely be a continuous learning process for both the devs and the players.
It’s Best Not to Get Attached to the Meta
There’s a certain balance that needs to be achieved between what the developers want and what the players find fun, and this is what makes live-service ARPGs tick. For Path of Exile 2 and even its predecessor, however, no build can withstand the test of time, as the developers tend to bring the most overperforming ones back down to Earth (sometimes too hard).
The fact that it’s also an Early Access game means there’s no knowing how it will turn out once it’s ready for an actual release. As such, the constant cycle of nerfs is to be expected, because games like Diablo 4 have arguably proven that letting an overpowered build stay can trivialize the game and make players leave anyway once there’s no challenge to be had.
At the same time, making the challenge too hard can turn off the general crowd, so this is going to be the usual dilemma for GGG now more than ever since Path of Exile 2 is more popular than its predecessor.
