Yes, can we do this please? Can I always post first though?:lol:
On a serious note is POE2 combat really that much better than 1? For that matter is the game much better than 1?
I too have grown bored with POE1 in several attempts to play it to completion.
Sorry I haven’t read the review, I will if someone can confirm it’s not spoilerish.
Well, as with all things - it comes down to subjective tastes.
Personally, I think PoE 2 is much, much better than PoE in nearly every imaginable way - and I really, really mean that.
For me, the problems with PoE were many - and while I do concede the balance was eventually better than PoE 2 at launch, the challenge involved was less due to the mechanics and the systems - and more about much more basic fuck-ups by Obsidian.
Now, this is just my experience with PoE - and I was never a big fan of it.
My experience was that the challenge of combat in PoE was largely about not knowing what the hell was going on - because the feedback was awful - and the pacing equally bad. I spent an inordinate amount of time micromanaging movement - because my characters would very often get stuck moving between each other.
I absolutely COULD NOT create a script that was comfortably doing what I wanted. They implemented basic scripting at some point - but it didn't really help.
As for the ACTUAL challenge - as in, overcoming harder fights when you were in FULL control of combat - I found it just about the same as PoE 2 is after the recent balance changes - with the notable exception of PoE 2 being much more prone to powergaming, because the system is much richer - and, as a result, much more fun.
In PoE, if you micromanage every single thing every single character does - I find that most fights are relatively trivial - even in PotD, once you reach a certain level of power. Now, I don't really remember exactly what that level of power is - but I'd say somewhere around level 6-10.
The difference in PoE 2 - is that you don't actually have to fight the interface, and you're not in much doubt about what's going on, your characters don't get stuck constantly - and you can actually create custom scripts to have your characters do pretty much whatever you want - whenever you want.
The end result is a game that FEELS much easier compared to PoE - but I don't really think that's the case. I'm sure there are edge cases - and I'm sure there are bosses where that's not the case.
It should be noted that I haven't completed either PoE or PoE 2 - but I have at least 100 hours in PoE (2-3 attempts past Defiance Bay) and I have around 60 hours in PoE 2 at this point.
Beyond this aspect of combat differences, PoE 2 also happens to look MUCH better, FEEL much better - and have MANY more toys to play around with during combat.
So, yeah, to me PoE stands absolutely no chance in hell of comparing well to PoE 2 in terms of combat - or much else.
Frankly, in many ways - we're talking night and day.
But that would be my opinion.