After a solid stretch with Path of Exile 2, it's obvious this isn't just Path of Exile with nicer lighting. It plays like a different game, and that hits you fastest when you open the new skill menu. The old socket-color and linking grind is gone, and thank goodness for that. Skills and supports live in their own space now, so you're not binning a great chestpiece because the colors don't match. You can mess around with setups early, swap ideas on the fly, and actually plan around what you want to do instead of what your gear RNG allows. If you're already thinking about gearing routes or experimenting with PoE 2 Items, this change makes the whole process feel less like a chore and more like building a character on purpose.
Combat That Demands Your Hands
The fighting is where the "new game" vibe really lands. WASD movement and a dedicated dodge button change the tempo. You're not just clicking and hoping your numbers hold up; you're reading telegraphs, stepping out, rolling through, then re-engaging. It's snappier, and sometimes it even has that tense, close-range feel you get in harder action games. New weapon types help too. Spears and crossbows don't just add flavor, they push you to play differently. And weapon swapping matters now. You can carry two distinct tools and actually use both, which makes hybrid setups feel natural instead of awkward.
Defenses You Can Actually Understand
The defensive rework is surprisingly refreshing. Armor, Evasion, and Energy Shield feel less like a spreadsheet argument and more like clear lanes you can build around. Armor cutting flat physical damage is easier to reason about in real fights. Evasion does its own thing without pretending to be armor-lite. Energy Shield tying into Spirit is interesting, especially if you like characters that mix casting, buffs, and sustain. You still have choices, but the game nudges you to commit rather than stack one stat until it breaks.
The Tree, Respeccing, and the Long Road
That said, the passive tree can feel a bit boxed in. Veterans are gonna notice it first. Some of the wild flexibility from the original isn't here in the same way, and a few missing tools make certain ideas harder to pull off. The respec cost doesn't help either. It's the kind of system that makes you second-guess experimenting, which is weird when the gem setup is basically begging you to try stuff. Then there's the campaign length. It's slower, tougher, and sometimes it drags. Early balance can lean punishing, and you can already picture how replaying it every season might test people's patience.
Looks Great, Feels Different
Still, it's hard not to respect how polished it looks and reads in motion. Lighting and animations aren't just pretty; they help you track what's happening when the screen gets busy. PoE 2 feels more streamlined and more deliberate, and that'll pull new players in fast. At the same time, some long-time fans will miss the messy, broken creativity the first game let you get away with, even when it was absurd. If you're planning a fresh start, trading, or just trying to keep momentum through the grind, having options like u4gm PoE 2 Items for sale can fit into that prep without derailing your actual playtime, and it's nice when the game's systems finally support experimentation instead of punishing it early.
