Is Path of Exile Worth Playing for Newcomers in 2021?

Path of Exile has always been a touchy topic under whether it’s worth it for new players to get into such an intricate game.

Path of Exile has been reaching new heights for 2021. The Echoes of the Atlas expansion has resulted in an 11% increase in player numbers during its launch. With the latest Ultimatum, more inexperienced gamers are wondering to themselves, “Is this the right time to jump into Path of Exile or should I wait for the next expansion instead?”. If gamers opted to ask the official Reddit group of PoE, they would of course receive slightly biased perspectives and, ultimately, would lead to many saying that they ought to play the ARPG. While it is a free-to-play game, Path of Exile weaves a complex tale that not everybody is willing to stomach. What initially starts as simple fact-checking about PoE currency and the state of PoE trade might turn into a full-blown research project that can last for more than a day. Being the state that it’s currently in, is Path of Exile worth playing for newcomers? Let’s find out.

A Beefy Introduction

When a player starts Path of Exile for the first time, they’ll immediately be gobsmacked by the ginormous content. There are 10 acts to get to if they want to learn more about the story–and this is just the beginning! There’s also PoE currency and PoE trade to worry about. Players will have to invest the time needed and put in the necessary work if they want to truly get a feel for the game. It may seem like a chore to do, but it’s worth it for players to get to the endgame. This is because the endgame is where many players find the most enjoyment. They can test out new builds, tweak their Skill Tree, and more importantly, actually play the latest expansions that are coming out. Players can’t play the ongoing expansion without at least getting through the first ten acts. More often than not, the expansions that Grinding Gear Games releases have some sort of level cap. All of the players who are currently playing the expansion have already reached the maximum level that can be attained by finishing the story. Players who haven’t finished the storyline won’t be able to fully enjoy what the expansion has to offer if they don’t have a high enough level. They would be deadweight if they plan to join a party! It suffices to say that there’s this pressure to finish the “base game” of Path of Exile first before trudging on to do the endgame-related content.

The Ultimatum Expansion

The current expansion for Path of Exile is the Ultimatum. This latest release has had players become divided, resulting in the ARPG being at its best and worst state at the same time. The new-player experience for the Ultimatum has hit an all-time low, especially when compared to the success that its previous expansion, Echoes of the Atlas, had. The Ultimatum League is similar to the Ritual League where they both follow the path of putting players in a ring where there are waves of monsters that they have to eliminate. The Ultimatum League shines in its “risk versus reward” system by offering the players an option to either keep going or collect the rewards that they get after just a couple of rounds. The rounds get progressively harder, but at the same time, the rewards that the players will get better; however, should a player fall in a round, then they’ll lose all of the rewards that they’ve earned up until that point. The Ultimatum is mechanically solid, albeit with a few loose screws here and there. There’s generally wrong with the current League, it’s just that Path of Exile is getting more and more bogged down as time goes on. Grinding Gear Games stuffs content in the form of previous League mechanics into the base game, resulting in Path of Exile becoming bloated and understandably overwhelming to other people who are curious about the game.

Verdict

Despite its bloated and overstuffed content that Grinding Gear Games can’t seem to stop adding, Path of Exile is still worth casually playing. As long as gamers don’t make “beating the game” their goal and focus on what they prefer on doing such as farming PoE currency that they can PoE trade with other players, then there’s fun to be had in the ARPG. Thanks to the many resources available on the Internet, articles and helpful guides are in abundance; they can be daunting to take on for others though as it may require hours upon hours of researching. The Ultimatum is a great League for newcomers to the game as the mechanics and rules are fairly simple to understand, so that’s another huge plus. What do you think about the current state of Path of Exile? Do you think it’s worth playing for new timers? Let us know your perspective down below.