Reviews

• gamedeal user

  Mar 9, 2023

  its like poe but you can play it without google and spreadsheets
• gamedeal user

  Mar 3, 2021

  So I bought this for myself last week as an avid ARPG enthusiast with well over 2000 hours on Path of Exile and god knows how long on D2 back in the day, I blink, and 50 hours have passed. This game shows phenomenal promise, the devs are super active and pumping out content and fixes at a rapid rate and have been faithfully following the roadmap plan. Last Epoch is far easier to get into than PoE, with a much more approachable passive and active skill system. Every weapon type can be used by every class which allows for some juicy build diversity, there's plenty of synergy between skills and passives and all upgrade points feel rewarding with a satisfying bump in power. Let's go over some pro's: - Tons and tons of character customisation, got all the basic equipment, rings, belts, amulets and idols, a neat item that provide powerful buffs to stats. A 4x4 grid is provided to arrange idols in whatever way you want, with smaller idols providing smaller or more generic buffs such as flat health or a small % increase to fire damage, and larger idols providing big specific buffs such as % lightning damage but the value is doubled if you have over 300 max mana. These idols allow for a lot of extra customisation. - Enjoyable story campaign with good voice acting on top, granted the story isn't fully completed yet but I had fun! Time travel, cosmic horror, many biomes and environments, immortal emperors and imperious gods! What's not to like? - Telegraphed enemy attacks!!! Words cannot describe how gratifying it is to see where the massive void bomb thrown at you is actually going to land, allowing you to dodge or time your defensive abilities accordingly. And if/when you do die, there's a death screen showing you what attack you died to and what damage type/s that attack dealt. - An approachable deterministic crafting system is something PoE has been crying out for, and thankfully LE provides. Yes it does still require some luck, but basically how it works is thus; you find affix shards all over the place as a lootable ground item which provide a single use "craft" to forge onto an item or to improve an existing roll. Every possible affix can drop as a shard, or you can shatter an item with an affix you want to apply to another item and get a random amount of shards back from all the affixes on the shattered item. It's easy to play around with, and shards fly out of mobs and barrels so there's plenty to experiment with! The highest tier rolls (T7) are drop only, with item forging allowing a maximum affix tier of 5 so you can't fully power a basic roll therefore keeping loot valuable late-game. Fracturing an item prevents it from being modified anymore, and can even lower your affix tiers so it's basically a game of chicken if you want to upgrade your item more and more. - The Monolith of Fate is a solid endgame grind, allowing you to unlock permanent character upgrades upon completing the mini quest lines contained with each Monolith stage. Endless Arena keys can drop from the Monolith loot chest allowing you to challenge the appropriately named Endless Arena against waves of mobs providing a good chunk of xp. - Advanced affix descriptions provide a description of an affix, for example "chance to inflict shock" is a possible item affix, and if you hold "alt" while hovering over the item it will tell you exactly what shock does. All the defensive mechanics show the maths behind them. Basically the game is exceptionally well explained! - Level setting, backgrounds and atmosphere are top-notch and the End of Time "town" has a freaking black hole in the background which is cool as fuck. Consequentially there are some cons: - Gold isn't particularly useful yet, and items aren't worth picking up to sell as you get plenty from it dropping from mobs and breakables. However I imagine when the bazaar is introduced and allows player trading it will become much more useful! - You can't modify uniques or set items which can be annoying if you get one with low rolls or implicits. - While the game does run well generally, some skills and enemy attacks do slow the framerate down particularly the big screen size ones that can be used repeatedly. - No random terrain generation, as in if you run "shining cove" multiple times, the zone layout is the same every time. Personally I don't mind this but it could get a bit same-y doing the same layout over again. Overall, Last Epoch has incredible potential and is already a super fun ARPG with a good story, great itemisation, satisfying character upgrades through levelling and item upgrades and a great dev team who deserve your support. Give it a shot, as if Last Epoch is kept true to form and continually supported I can see it challenging Grim Dawn, Torchlight, Diablo and hell even Path of Exile!
• gamedeal user

  Feb 24, 2023

  If you're looking through the reviews trying to find why it was review bombed, it was because at one point the devs had made the decision to not add trading after saying they would from the beginning. They had since lifted that decision. They came up with their own solution to the reason they initially said they weren't going to add it. You can see more on the trade news here: https://forum.lastepoch.com/t/trade-development-update-introducing-merchants-guild-and-circle-of-fortune-factions/51994 As for negative reviews complaining that development is slow. It's not like they're some massive triple A studio that can pump out games at will. They're just a group of remote indie devs. I rather them take this route and make sure they release a proper and polished game, instead of an unfinished mess like Wolcen. That being said, this game is worth it. It definitely scratches that ARPG itch. EDIT: Just noting that this post was made in regards to the first review bomb and not the multiplayer review bomb which happened well after writing this.
• gamedeal user

  May 30, 2021

  If you enjoyed Diablo 2 more than Diablo 3 and think PoE is a bit over the top, this is the game for you.
• gamedeal user

  Mar 19, 2021

  Just as a reminder this is a review during Early Access. Some things will change before 1.0 Release version. I'm Playing during 8.1 March 18, 2021, and have played since sometime around 7.0. The game is an Action RPG like Diablo 2, Titan Quest, and Path of Exile. It has many things that the players would like in this genre. Classes Types (this is not class names in the game, but the general role they fill). Necromancer, Wizard, Warrior/Paladin, Druid, Ranger. These classes have 1 base class, and 3 specialization trees within them that help you play the game in a way you may enjoy. Each with abilities that unlock once you advance, while also helping you define your character and playstyle further. Lots of Abilities to choose from and alter through their ability skill trees. Gear, and Gear Crafting. Not only do they have a large range of Armors and weapons, but you can also craft a more defined piece of gear. Some higher end gear or gear sets may help define a build you are playing. Gear Gambling. A merchant that lets you gamble away your gold on a possible item. Helpful at later stages of the game. A decent challenge from both normal monsters all the way up to the various bosses within both the story of the game and end game content. Things That Are currently missing but are being added/ worked on and can be read on their Roadmaps. Multiplayer, More content and bosses for story and end game, Other gear options, More abilities, More class trees. (The game is currently missing 3-5 Talent trees for the current available classes) I do not know about PvP. Seeing as how I am not personally interested in it. From what I can tell It is not currently in the game. You will have to do this research on your own. I personally enjoy the game even in its current state, which does feel a little lacking, but not by much. Another note. The company is rather helpful and communicates with its player base. Thanks for your time in reading this review.
• gamedeal user

  Feb 6, 2023

  More to do than Diablo 2-3, less complicated than PoE.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 9, 2021

  Is Wolcen too buggy? Is Path of Exile too much? Is Grim Dawn too slow? This is the game for you!
• gamedeal user

  Mar 11, 2023

  If you have no faith in blizzard, feel path of exile is too complex, want something else besides grim dawn, then you should give this one a try.
• gamedeal user

  Apr 5, 2023

  As many of you reading and playing this game, I am a veteran of Diablo 2, 3, Path of Exiles, Grim Dawn, Torchlight, etc. etc. I have been playing Last Epoch off and on now for a year or so, and it is without a doubt one of the most consistently enjoyable games in the genre. The depth of customization of skills alone is unmatched, but not only that, it is incredibly accessible and beginner friendly. Skills and nodes are clearly tagged with related stats and attributes, letting new and veteran players know what their gear should look like in order to get the most out of them. I believe this game straddles the fine line between Path of Exile's overwhelming passive and skill system and Diablo 3's underwhelming simplicity of both gear and skills with considerable grace. I would recommend this game to anyone who feels potentially alienated by the mainstays of the genre, or who is looking for a fresh and rewarding experience. I have found nothing in either PoE or D3 that matches the feeling of finding a new unique or set and beginning to build in your head a character around that item. The community resources are robust and provide any information that the game itself doesn't readily make available.
• gamedeal user

  Jan 29, 2020

  Here is why I think this game is worth your time and money – right now

  I like ARPGs since Diablo brought this Genre to life. As a huge Diablo II fan I was waiting for a successor. As many others I was disappointed with Diablo 3. It’s a good game but it cannot follow in the footsteps of D2. Torchlight and Path Of Exile both couldn’t either (for me). When Last Epoch got my attention I was skeptical towards the presentation of the game. The Graphics were not that impressive and in gameplay videos the combat looked not that smooth. What convinced me to participate in early access was the Reddit community. There was so much confidence in the skills of the developers and the potential of the game. So I jumped in and I don’t regret it. I will start with the current issues of the game from my point of view: Graphics: Although the engine got updates and the game looks ok now the game does not look like state of the art right now. LE is not able to compete with Warhammer or Wolcen not to mention Diablo 4 or Path Of Exile 2. The same goes with the physics – not state of the art. I am sure there will be additional updates and tweaks but I don’t expect LE to transform into a visual blockbuster. Gameplay / Combat: The combat actually feels not as smooth as in other games. But this is something the devs work on with improving animations, effects and sounds. This definitely will change till full release. Performance: There are many complaints of people with high end systems that the game has low fps and stutters. This is a problem right now that the devs prioritize, but it is not solved, yet. The weird thing is that I don’t have a high end system and are playing at maximum settings without issues – rare fps drops but far away from being unpleasing. Content: Because I am writing this preview about the actual state of the game right now during Beta and Early Access this is an issue. The story is not finished, yet. Not all announced classes are implemented. There is no multiplayer. There is no pvp. The endgame content after completing the game is not implemented. There are two endgame game modes, Monolith and Arena. According to the devs the Arena is just a placeholder and Monolith is not what the devs want it to be when it is finished. On the LE homepage you can look up what is planned for release. This sounds promising but many of those mechanics are not implemented. So why do I think that this game is worth its money at its current state? Because the game really has so much potential. Here come the pros that outweigh all the issues: Variety of classes: There are 5 base classes that divide into 3 sub classes each. Even with the subclasses the playstyle changes drastically within a base class. The classes feel very unique and are very well thought out Skill trees (Passives): There is one passive skill tree for each base class and one additional passive skill tree for each sub class. With every character level you get 1 skill point you can spend in that skill trees. With progression in those skill trees you also unlock active skills that are specific for the subclasses. For Example: By spending points in the Necromancer skill tree (Necro=subclass of Acolyte) you can unlock the skill “Summon Skeleton Mages”. At some point in the story you have to permanently choose a subclass. This provides some passive bonuses as well as a subclass specific skill. While you can still spend points in all skill trees of a base class you can only choose one profession. This decision is permanent. All passive skill points can be respeced. The level cap is 100 and there are quests that grant additional skill points. Skill trees (Skills): Every active skill has its own skill tree. These skill nodes provide passive bonuses for the skills like increased critchance, damage and stunchance (and so on..) as well as playstyle changers. For example a melee attack can be altered to be cast at range (Sentinel/Forge Guard - Forge Strike). You can specialize in 5 skills at a time. You earn skill points by getting xp. But you level your skills separated from your character level (passive skill points). You can respec single skill points or despecialise the complete skill to choose another skill to level. In both cases you lose you progression and have to relevel skill points. But this goes relatively fast and even more the higher your level is. Variety of builds: There are myriads of builds and variations, countless synergies between skills and passives. It’s like an ARPG sandbox where you can build every kind of character you can think of. It’s fun to theory craft exotic builds that are viable at higher levels. This is where the meta game begins. High complexity: LE’s set of rules is very complex. If you take a look at the character sheet you will see 4 tabs of stats (damage, defensive, minion and other stats) with 81 different stats (e.g. health on hit, slow chance, increased minion health generation or spell critical strike multiplier) on top of the general stats like health or fire protections. There are 7 different damage types and additional defenses like chance to receive a glancing blow or block protection. To get behind all these mechanics you have to spend a fair amount of time read the tooltips carefully and spend some time on the forums to read some guides and tips. For me this is the most important argument to play the game. The very high complexity is what makes LE outstanding compared to all other games. Items / Crafting: There are different rarities of items with up to 4 affixes per item that improve its stats. There is a crafting system where you can add affixes to items and / or upgrade them to a certain level. There are unique items that have stats that change your playstyle or require a specific character alignment to fully develop their potential. Developers: Eleventh Hour Games does an awesome job. The devs are very responsive. They discuss many aspects of the game with the community. They take criticism and suggestions very seriously and react to the player’s opinion. There is a very good early access forecast . They adhere to their deadlines and release patches and updates very regularly. Admittedly EHG delayed the release of LE. But this was for a good reason and was well accepted in the community. You can feel the spirit and that the devs work on this project with much blood, sweat and tears. I have no doubt that LE will become a very good ARPG. It’s not mainstream. It is for those people that miss complexity in the Genre and want to dive into a game. You should buy Last Epoch when: <*>Other ARPGs are too casual for you <*>You’re looking for some old-school flavor <*>Theory crafting is fun for you <*>You want to be creative in building a character <*>The listed issues don’t bother you <*>You are able to accept that this game is in beta and not finished, yet. There are bugs and you are supposed to test it <*>You want to take part in the development of a game You should not by Last Epoch now when: <*>You expect a finished game, perfectly balanced and polished with endless content, free of bugs <*>The listed issues are unacceptable for you <*>Patience is none of your attributes Anyhow keep an eye on this game for when it is released. Bye