Path of Exile 2 is a deep, dark, dastardly ARPG that's got what it takes to transcend even the original - hands-on preview

I came away from my time with PoE 2 with an urgent sense to play more.

There are some games, really good games, which are time vampires. They entice you with engaging gameplay, snatch your gaze with beautiful visuals, and trap you in a vice of challenging fights you don't want to give up on.

Having played around seven hours of Path of Exile 2 during a preview event - all the way through Act 1 of the campaign and a good way into Act 2 - it's clear to me that this game is the Nosferatu of hour-eaters. The great weekend devourer. I look towards its December 6 release date and know I am screwed. You certainly are, too. Sorry.

What Grinding Gear Games has done here is taken the ever-excellent Path of Exile 1 and refined it into a greater, more modern monster. Don't panic! The complexity is still there in spades, as is the challenge. Rather than dilute the sauce, it's a gorgeous revolution of the original. Easier to pick up, but begging to be experimented with. Full of surprises, too - even for those familiar with the team's work.

You're thinking maybe you'll be fine, but you won't be. Path of Exile 2 has 12 classes: all very different from each other and with a frankly absurd level of skill customisation which all but confirms that my playstyle and yours will be entirely different. Eat your heart out, Diablo.

This is true even if we play the same base class, by the way. My Warrior could be all about his totems, popping them up and using them to detonate the ground around them in vast AOE clears. Yours might be a fire-centric warrior, using war crys to ignite enemies and enhance their attacks. Maybe you'll grab a unique weapon that boosts bleed attacks? Well, then you can reset everything and build your character around it to superb results. Add on top of this support gems and the legendarily enormous passive skill tree...building a character in Path of Exile 2 is like thrifting for clothes, you could come across a shirt or jacket that totally flips your outfit on its head.

This on its own is similar to what Path of Exile 1 offers. The key difference for me is the improved new-player experience when it comes to scaling the daunting wall of complexity that surrounds this series. The Path of Exile 2 approach offers a path to the top of that wall. Any active or support skill gems you get offer you a selection that's broken down into classic and weapon type. You can, if you're more experienced, venture away from the standard options presented to you. But what this approach offers is a streamlined avenue through the games' systems. This way, once a player reaches the end of the campaign, they'll understand how everything works. No lengthy guides needed!

It's not hard to get a decent character working here, which is good for the newbies! | Image credit: Grinding Gear Games

If that's the meat and gristle of the game, where do you take all these skills and intricacies to? Well, you take it to the homes of a honestly absurd variety of monsters, ghouls, freaks, and horrors in invigorating combat. It's all well and good writing about how much you can tweak your abilities in Path of Exile 2, but such praise would matter little if these skills flopped about limp and unimpressive. I'm happy to write that nothing could be further from reality. Your attacks erupt outward in VFX-laden blasts and brutal blows that send enemies flying, or scattered and gory.

Path of Exile 1 has taken significant steps towards improving the overall combat experience in recent years, but I feel Path of Exile 2 has leaped forward into an exciting direct. No part of the game exemplifies this more than the boss fights. Not just end-of-act bosses either, regular bosses you find all over the gaff. Various phases, heaps of attacks, and very eager to slap you dead. This is a good thing! You shouldn't have to wait until the end game to have to lock in.

It's also worth noting that it's incredibly easy to feel radically powerful in PoE2. | Image credit: Grinding Gear Games

As for other notable perks? The tone of this game is extraordinary. Even in Act 1, the various biomes are distinct in nature, so much so that I never got bored of a particular zone nor enemy type. It helps that there are a frankly absurd number of enemies present! Rarely will you see repeated use of foes across your journey through the campaign - a fact which applies to bosses too! Each zone is a fresh slate, a fresh challenge to confront. All these zones share a dread, a malaise. You follow the path of the antagonists and they leave a poison in their wake, one that flavours the entire experience.

These zones too are dotted with surprises. Those bosses I mentioned earlier aren't throwaway damage sponges but real, interesting fights. I came across a boss called Crowbell around half way through Act 1. This was a three-phase fight that navigated the map, one with a unique model and attacks. This fight, which could well have ended a side-quest or have acted as a mini-boss with narrative ties, was just left for me to discover. A genuine surprise, and a pleasant one.

There's a lot of Path of Exile 2 I didn't see. I only saw a bit of Act 2, but none of Act 3. I haven't had hands-on with the end-game, but have seen how it works through a pre-play presentation. Even so, I can't help but sit here and feel a surge of excitement around Path of Exile 2. It really does feel like a sequel in the truest sense of the word, improving where it can and maintaining the foundation where it's stable. I would recommend it to everyone with a love of ARPGs to try it out next month, and anyone with even a vague taste for a deep, dark, dastardly game you can really sink your teeth into.

Path of Exile 2 releases on December 6 on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation. We accessed Path of Exile 2 via a dedicated Grinding Gear Games preview event, with travel assistance provided by the developer.