Really good review, only thing I'd say you didn't fully cover was the customisable loot filter. Even inexperienced players can easily make their perfect loot filter in game in about 10 minutes
@@joshh390did you listen to anything he said in the video? He’s not sponsored, he has been before, but devs want him to call out aspects of the game that are bad.
@@c4ke_rs it was a core part of every arpg game for years and years, sure its obsolete if ur a 15 year old zoomer gamer just trying to go as fast as humanly possible no matter what, I guess we should remove levels cause its obsolete, remove talent points its obsolete, they did it back then so it has to be in the game..
@@millerl0l71 You missed the point there is enough surprise that a decent item dropped so there is no need to make a double surprise to reveal that it's just garbage.
I got burned out on PoE. I have tried several ARPG's and they were pretty meh. This game has me hooked. So much to do and the crafting is the best in the genre. Glad to see you playing it again.
@J R im on the other side. Grim dawn is far more complex, way more depth. Better mapping bc of it being hand designed. Better itemazation, better story, better farming and target farming and better endgame. Last epoch wins in crafting, graphics, bosses and animations tho.
For context, Ziz also rated PoE an 8/10, despite it being his most played game at the moment, so a 7 is actually pretty high praise from him. He considers 5 the average rather than 7 like most reviews do.
If this game is only 1 point behind poe on his scale then there is no reason to take any of his ratings seriously. It’s at least 3 points below poe in every way
@@shleemlington699 shrimp harder please, I'm not sure if you like PoE or not. His rating is his rating, you can use it as a tool to see what he values and how things stack up in a broad sense.
@@Rakobaron Exactly. and the rating should never overshadow the actual nuanced points raised in a review. A critic may give a game, say, a 6, but if something talked about in the review intrigues or resonates with you, it's still probably worth checking the game out, though perhaps you ought to go in with slightly lowered expectations.
Yeah I feel the same. I want to like poe, but I don't have the time to research a build and figure everything out. Making a build in last epoch is intuitive. So maybe your first build isn't min maxed, but it will at least function.
it was the removal of the so-called "filler" Harvest crafts that really drove the nail in for me. if The Vision™ is for me to gamble a weeks worth of currency for an item that will have maybe 4 good affixes at most, then screw it.
Bought it a few days ago. Absolutely worth the money. Engame feels rewarding, and character progression is so satisfying. Instead of just buying gear like in poe, you find and craft items instead, and you can really feel the upgrades.
I bought and played the game recently, and being able to work on my build actively and freely even as I leveled felt so freeing and satisfying. I love it!
This game seems to take a lot of the best aspects of PoE, Diablo, Grim Dawn and others, and roll it all into one great package. Definitely want to give it a try when I get the chance.
I love it man, I hate how simple Diablo is but Poe is just a spreadsheet simulator at this point and I was a massive fan of Titan quest/grim Dawn so this is a dream come true for me
Dont listen to the "cheap roll" comment, ive been playing this game the last week now and it has been great fun. Genuinely such a great ARPG experience and no p2w or MTX at all, thank god
I just bought it yesterday and played for like 6 hrs straight. Pretty good game, I'll be playing more tonight... hoping to check out endgame stuff soon. The crafting is pretty cool and the skill systems/passives
Viable gear is much easier both to find and to craft than in PoE. I crafted a couple things around level 12-15 and due to good RNG was still using them at level 55.
My review from a previous iteration from BEFORE 0.8.5 on steam. In case you don't trust what Ziz is saying. An excellent ARPG, with the potential to take down some giants. In it's current beta state, I would evaluate it as 4th place for the genre, falling behind D2, POE, and Grim Dawn. Strengths: - Talent trees for each skill. The build customization is real and is awesome - Passive tree is huge and varies depending on mastery selection - Characters are well defined and have unique skills. I want to make multiple alts to experience everything. - Combat feels pretty good. Big attacks are telegraphed and there are some movement skills to speed up gameplay a bit. - Time travel concept is really cool and has the potential to be something really special for this genre - Feel. This one is very subjective but the feel of this game is right to me. Feels like D2 and POE had a baby. Weaknesses: - In it's current state the loot is uninspiring. Very cookie cutter other than the idols (think d2 charms), which are cool AF. - Lore. The concept is good and the story is OK , but it's no Grim Dawn. It's not even in the same league. - Graphics and Animation. They are acceptable and I enjoy the game as is, but it feels a little clunky. Overall, I would highly recommend Last Epoch. it's not perfect, but the blueprint is about as good as you're going to get. It's clear the developers are motivated to make a great game and listen to the community. If you consider yourself a fan of the genre, do yourself a favor and pick this up. You won't regret it. Posted August 16, 2020.
I haven't played LE in about 8 months and man am I glad I watched this vid. They have changed a ton from I can tell and all for the better. The crafting system looks even better than it was and I already really liked it. Definitely playing this when I get home tonight.
this game is definitely on the top of my wishlist, i don't wanna play it yet because i don't wanna spoil myself before the whole game is out properly but i'm very excited.
It's actually insane how far they've come in the last couple of years. The game looked like crap, early on. It looks (graphically) better than most things out there, right now.
My biggest problem is the visuals. And I'm not talking about models or surroundings but I'm talking about colors and used colors pallet. Everything is so shiny, and sweet, and everything is so cute and colorful so I don't have a feeling that I will meet a monster behind the corner I will have to kill but rather some character from Sesame Street. But I like the progress system (more complicated than D4 but not so overcomplicated as in PoE) and let's hope that gear progress will be more linear as it was in Diablo 2 and not just a couple of rapid jumps as we have in Diablo 4. As for now, I'm waiting for the full release to see what the final product will look like.
Год назад+6
I played it for a bit half a year ago while waiting for the next league. I was very surprised by how polished it felt for a game that's still very much a work in progress. They've done a very good job so far 🙂
Ya'll are a gem for the quality content you produce here and on Twitch. I loved this format, I'd love to see more of it if you ever feel like taking the time to do so. Informative as hell. Thanks for the coverage.
Just come from D4 - what a s.hit product. This game looks much better done. The crafting system blew my mind away. But gets me to wonder - with all that freedom customization does, I wonder if this does not effect balance a lot. Like if it does makes the campaign easier - thats fine, but how does this really effect PVP part of the game I wonder.
Well there currently is no PvP in the game, so... yeah. The devs are interested in adding PvP at some point and they do have a build with PvP enabled for internal testing, but so far we don't know what PvP would entail in this game. As for balance, there's obviously going to be meta picks and some builds will need some attention, but IMO it seems pretty decent.
PSA, multiplayer is not just jank atm, it's unplayable. Load times between zones can go up to 45 seconds, character rollbacks up to 7+ hours of progress, character duplication when loading into a new zone, the list goes on and on. Furthermore, even singleplayer is now plagued by bugs and issues, and some folks can't even make it past character selection. The game is a mess, and representing it as anything other is kinda uninformed/disingenuous
I don't really like the respeccing system for your skills because I like making multiple builds for my character and switch back and forth. Another thing is if a update happens and now they nerfed your build then you have to respec to level 10 skills and level it again so you can use a better and newer build. I feel like the respeccing system is holding me back from making multiple builds with level 20 skills. Everything else is fine.
LE is another one of those modern "build simulator and do rifts" ARPGs where the build theorycrafting has been confused with engaging gameplay. It has the typical endgame rift system that will infinitely scale and brick your build unless you are really good at theorycrafting so 99% of players will just google someone elses build and follow it. It also has the crafting system where you have to be lucky twice: first to find the right base for a craft and second to not brick your craft. It is also one of those d3 type games where you have your generators and spenders with tons of cooldowns and you build a rotation whose sole purpose is to make sure you have constant uptime on your main attacks i.e. that movement skill on your bar isnt actually for movement, it is just another rotation skill that buffs your next attack or restores mana or w/e. But that seems to be par for the course nowadays, so most people will love it.
Played D4 last weekend and Last Epoch is the best playable early access as it beats all of the ones who claim you can play this now. No D4 was only for 3days done. BaldurG only to level 5. I am glad I bought LE.
One thing not mentioned is you can only trade items to other players if that item dropped while you were both in a party playing together. Think of it as a raid item that drops in wow can only be traded to the ppl in that raid and no one else. So if you find a bunch of cool gear playing by yourself and your friend hops on you can not give them any of it. Also while playing together the item drops you see on the ground are unique to you and not shared with other party members, each person in the party sees totally different gear that drops.
Really enjoying the game only think I wish is we had a long term grindy non completely rng way to add LP to uniques. I know they don't want it possible for everyone running around in a set of lp 4 uniques. My idea was making it so shattering uniques has a low chance at giving an LP should and you could use some amount maybe based on the effective level of legnedary potential to add an LP to an item and if you want to add more LP it is double for each LP already on it. So sure you could craft an LP for item but that would takes 10s or 100s of thousands of uniques to afford that but adding just one after a few days of game play isn't completely un reasonable. Example I have farmed out 5 or 6 Aaron's wills not and haven't seen a single LP meaning I can't even take the 1 in 4 gamble for a +1 skeleton and after hitting 99 I just gave up and went and played something else but if I had a long term reliable way to work to it I'd be more willing to stay and grind. I'm now playing herald of the scurry (great unique) and I know I want plus wolfs on it at some point because when I'd be able to get a gap closer on my squirrels but at 90 potential that is an unrealistic dream to shot for which will burn me out at some point dealing with helm drop rng.
i like the idea of ''lp shards'', but the whole problem would be how to balance them and how can they be used (maybe a specific dungeon that allows you to increase the lp on a unique with X amount of shards once you kill the boss)
Excellent review. I bought this game a long time ago and messed around a bit, but I wanted to wait until it was closer to it's release state. This feels like a great time to get back into the game. Thanks for the primer!
This is me and Baldur's Gate 3 right now. I messed around enough in EA to know that I will almost certainly enjoy it, but am now leaving it for when the game is complete so I can experience everything except the first half of Act 1 completely blind. Same thing with TemTem.
Paladin - more of a support class - ngl I laughed Shit is one of the most tanky classes you can pick with one of the highest dps due to broken aura that frees so many gear slots that can boost your damage and one of the highest if not the highest amount of crit chance you can get, along with insane penetration
Big fan of the long form, in-depth reviews. More of these, please! And big fan of Last Epoch. First played it a few years ago and it was mid at best. But with the recent 0.9 patch, I think it's a solid contender for top 3 ARPGs right now.
Bought the game, oof, a year ago? Had six hours play time. Reinstalled it last week, I've got like 40 hours play time since. I loving it. What a breath of fresh air.
Just came to check this out after their update from gamescon and the rune mage announcement. I didn’t even know about this game but it looks really interesting and I keep hearing great things about the devs.
I played D3 for a bit, didn't enjoy how linear the builds felt. Like, if you didn't have a set piece for that skill, you will never viably use it. That ultimately had me drop the game because I felt like it wasn't fun using the same skills per class. The thing I liked about D3 is how easy it was to break into the endgame, with season rewards and people just happily running you thru a couple rifts, letting you skip the campaign entirely [minus a few necessary quests like the cube] I played PoE for a lot longer and enjoyed it, but there were a lot of glaring issues with it and it was hard to get friends to join because of it. Stash tabs needed to be purchased otherwise you'd be constantly over cluttered, waaaaay too many crafting materials, skill tree was complicated af and hard to reset without making a new character, campaign was long af and would be boring to redo it every season/class you wanted. Most gear is RNG, especially trying to get a 6-link reasonably. Lots of glaring issues, but I stayed to play anyway. It was hard for new players or even long time players to get creative with builds without following guides or spending hours understanding all the different aspects that make builds work. Last Epoch seems to be the best of both worlds, lots of space for a variety of builds and playstyles, without being overly complex where new players would be like "nah fk that". Bag space is so user-friendly, with the auto material transfer, sort options, stash tabs paid with gold, etc. Skill/passive resets are probably my favorite part of the game compared to PoE. I've experimented with so many different playstyles so far. PoE made it feel like you had to know what you are going to do from the beginning or itll be expensive as hell to reset, or you're better off starting a new character. Crafting seems like a huge perk in LE, since you have so much control over how your gear comes out. Tier 6 and 7 are great for min-maxers, as well, so the hunt continues for the best possible gear, although you could always have an easier time getting into the endgame. Can't wait to see more, since we're still Early Access! Biggest flaw of LE currently, [outside of Early Access things like bugs, typos, etc] is the challenge. I haven't reached the end monoliths yet, but everything has been your standard "avoid area of doom, spam skills to win" BUT I enjoy how relaxing it feels.
I played it a log time ago and reinstalled after the D4 beta, man, the game evolved a lot. I still have some issues with readability and feel it's not as tight as I'd like (much better than most ARPGs around, but not in Diablo level), but the builds are really fun and while it doesn't pretend to be as open ended as other offers, when you can do is actually viable. Looking at you, Diablo 4 druid, this Werebear actually ROCKS.
Once you find your build, it's so much fun! The best thing is that you can find your playstyle really early too, with the added possibility of finding interesting playstyles with uniques down the line to try out!
Although POE is way more customizable, I like Last Epoch a lot because of the crafting system. Generally speaking I hate crafting in POE, except for Rog, who is my best friend. It's just so time consuming, which takes you away from your mass murder spree. Last Epoch doesn't have that problem -- if you find a good base, you can craft top tier gear in like 2 minutes (Ziz demonstrated it here) and you don't even have to go back to town.
Even more sad when we had great systems to try out in poe leagues. Fossils and harvest being the main ones for me. Then they are nerfed so much they can barely be called crafting at all. Even rog is basically just rng in the end.
I've tried the game during 2019 and now when the multiplayer beta arrived. I didn't play that much, though. Looking forward to enjoy the game once it hits version 1.0! :)
I thought this was a very fair and balanced review. I'd like to note, since Ziz touched on Herald of the Scurry... It's actually a good item. This contrasts with certain other developers who have seemed rather rabidly afraid of letting their supporter items be any good, and I think it speaks well of the developers.
I've gotten to the point where I know what glowing circles to dodge and what enemies to be extra careful around, so one shots aren't an issue for me (500 hours playtime). My buddy was telling me he seems to get one shot kind of frequently (50 hours playtime). Your mileage may vary.
a interesting game, I played it from time to time in the past. But the biggest issue for me always has been the performance. Very poorly optimized. I hope the devs will improve the game in that department a lot.
Last Epoch (which I have been playing it since Alpha), had its chance while D4 wasn't around and of course the really mediocore Wolcen. Too many years in early access, constantly changing things (and not always for the better cause). It will be just another ARPG (when it will be finally released), nothing special in it, unfortunately.
At least devs listens it seems. I really enjoy LE and Ive played all notable ARPGs and this was a good surprise. Like hold up, this is... actually good... wtf...? xD
Currently playing it. Lvl 85 werebear. Pretty soid game, I would say. Still has a VERY long way to go if it wants to compete with somethign like PoE, which is probably it's closest competition, since D4 seems to serve a quite differant audiance. There are a lot of good ideas, but they are just 8 years to late with their game. Still worth it's money. Can recommend overall.
The one thing that irks me about the skill mastery system is that most/all skills' nodes have some specific nodes that block off/negate the effects of other nodes. I wish the design was a bit more open and additive, about where one could invest into any nodes without such a strict penalty. It feels like there are a good chunk of "you can do this, BUT..!" nodes which feel bad investing in, even though I sort of understand *why* they are like that. I feel that the way these could be balanced would be to put such nodes deeper in the branches of a particular skill tree, that way you would have better usage of +1 to skills and unlock that overpowered potential, rather than spend those last few extra points into nodes that offer minor upgrades or generic "+5% more" in a node you haven't capped yet or whatever. The other thing that bothers me about the game is the finnicky combat and targeting. Obviously the game is still not released, and it's an indie-level game, but there are some things which can be done better. Comparing it to D4, D4's combat, targeting, and movement is a lot smoother and feels more responsive. I suppose part of this comes down to the engine differences, but it's an unfortunate thing about LE that is hard to endure after playing it for a while.
Unsure what you try to sell as endgame mapping.. sadly the worst Part for now :D rather Play different characters and Experiment until they implement an good endgame
I remember Wolcen had a bug where you could put more stats on unique items but it was removed and to my knowledge never revisited. So happy when Last Epoch added the LP system.
Interesting, Ziz. I am a little burned out on PoE. Was hyped for the Diablo IV Open Beta. Well, it quickly made me reconsider pre-ordering D4 and, instead, made me think "Hmmm, maybe I should try last Epoch." And there you are, giving me the info I need. Thank you. 😁🙏
Very nice and interesting review. I really love what they are trying to do with most of the systems and I see this coming together as a great game but it has a lot of way to go at least for somebody like me and the way I like to play games like this. My main issue with the game stems from the fact that the endgame lacks the agency that I get in PoE. Some of the monolith objectives are annoying to do, some of the maps have horrific layouts that are too mazy and long. I like the crafting system and overall itemization but right now it's a bit lacking. Most characters build in the same way. You get to monoliths were you get access to the best bases in the game, you craft for hybrid health, %health and health were you can, you then solve your resistances, crit avoidance, add some armor/dodge/block finish it with some endurance, and that is kind of it. Apart from weapon slots which u craft for damage. The offensive boost you can get from min-maxing your gear is not crazy high imo. The above factors leave me in a state where I can't min-max for damage and speed and the endgame mapping system is not something I enjoy doing long term. So once my build is in a functional feels-good state I see no point to min-max and keep grinding corruption. I am like... cool build. Next one. And this is the complete opposite of how I play PoE where I usually min-max the hell out of a character as a happy byproduct of the gameplay loop with all of it's agency being so enjoyable that I inevitably amount the currency needed to do so. On top of that, the amount of power you can squeeze out of your character by crafting insane items makes it feel worth the time investment and annoyance associated with some of the crafting systems in place. I really hope this game gets there both in terms of a more customized and engaging gameplay loop and in terms of more impactful itemization that makes you really want to min-max for.
Great review! I wholeheartedly agree that Last Epoch is an amazing game with some of the best devs! Judd (CEO) can sometimes be found in global chat answering questions or just bs'ing about his favorite Final Fantasy games. The only thing I would add to this very well put together review (i may have missed it) is that this game has possibly the best, and most accessilbe, loot filter system i have ever seen. It's easy to build your own or just inport one off of a build website.
It's really nice and approachable. Well done, Eleventh Hour Games. I'm like 30h or so in and haven't encountered much more than just missing dialogue or maybe effects? 4K support would be nice, but not really a dealbreaker. It's everything I wanted PoE to become back when I got into it in like alpha or beta. Never really did grasp me for more than a few days a year, mostly cause of the currency item system and that to be able to play someone else's build, you'd have to get the items for it, and for that, you'd have to trade with players on some third party marketplace, which I never did or will ever do, since I never had the currency for them.
Great job with the review Zizaran! Love seeing your thoughts and how you went in-depth on what you liked and disliked not only about the game itself, but also the team behind the game and how they manage it. Keep up the great work with your content :)
Last Epoch has so much potential. "Everything" that GGG said would destroy their game, making it "unfun" and "Not GGG's vision for the game", is or will be implemented at some point. From deterministic crafting, powerful rare drops to an upcoming central trading runescape type hub. Many things need to be ironed out though. Multiplayer experience is kind of laggy and slow, some abilities get you stuck in place, effects and traits being vague in their description. This is an early access experience. While the game is good, i would suggest waiting till you feel that the game has what you are looking for
Nice review even if I don't rate the game as highly as you do. The campaign is very lack luster (and poorly paced), which is a shame and the biggest downside to it as we have to run the campaign multiple times to try out the different characters. End game is a bit too repetitive too for me compared to PoE. Still, it's the best alternative to PoE in the ARPG genre at the moment.
Imho it's pretty great now. Just add mores stuff and seasons and then it's good to go. The trading system they are planning to implement sounds awesome.
I normally don't make comments, but I tried the game off of your recommendation and I refunded it about a hour after playing it. I got the itch to play ARPGs again after playing the Diablo 4 beta and I see it has potential to being a great game, but it is no where close to it at it's current state IMO. Animations are a little clunky, sound design is off, the UI reuses the same images for multiple abilities and just the overall presentation isn't there yet. I went back to play POE after trying it and it is night and day when it comes to those things. I will give it another shot once another major update happens but for those wanting to try it I can see the appeal if you can look past those issues.
I’m loving the game so far. Started hammerdin since it’s the most well rounded it seems so far…. Meaning I can face tank and be a bit ok while being powerful. Working the other classes now. A nice little diversion while waiting on new shit in POE. Wasn’t too keen onD4 beta so I’ll wait for that till later. For now I’m having a blast in LE.
For Diablo 4 players: I just started playing after playing tons of Diablo 4 since launch. So far, I'd sum it up as nothing in particular about LE has blown me away, but everything feels pretty in depth and solid. The quality of life coming from Diablo 4 is so refreshing (map inlay, loot filters, stash space, build options, minions don't suck, etc.). IDK if it'll replace D4 for me personally, but I've been enjoying it a lot. Even pre-release, it already seems to have more replay value and variety and polish in many ways than D4 currently in season 2. Overall for $35 and for a beta state game, I would put LE right up there with Diablo 4. It shines in areas where D4 is lacking and it comes up short in some areas where D4 excels, but overall as a Diablo player, I'd put both LE (pre-release Jan. 2024) and Diablo 4 season 2 around 8/10. I really hope the LE devs keep up the good work going into and after launch, as the base game is very solid for enjoyers of diablo 2 like ARPGs.
Would you recommend this game for someone who never played ARPG type games. (15 hours in Torchlight 2 maybe). This one looks pretty cool. With Diablo 4 and hype around it, this game drew my attention because of price and some unique stuff.
if i were you, I would wait until Grim Dawn goes on sale. It's like $25 now but goes on sale for like $5. That imo is a good starting point on whether or not you will like ARPGs
The most impressive thing about Last Epoch to me is the way it addresses issues in the ARPG genre. I'm talking about problems that have existed since Diablo, and they're fixing them in ways nobody else ever has. For example, resistances. In everything from PoE to Grim Dawn, capping your resists at 75 is critical because going from 75 down to 70 represents a 20% increase in damage received. Because LE uses a different formula with a constant value subtracted from resists (post cap), going from 75 down to 70 only represents a 5% increase in received damage. You don't have to sacrifice every other stat to cap your resists, which is amazing. For example, hybrid minion builds. This never works in ARPGs, you need to focus either minion stats or personal stats to be effective. LE has so many sources of dual personal/minion bonuses that hybrid builds aren't just viable, they're really, really good. For example, crafting. This is typically just a slot machine, PoE being the worst offender but by no means the only one. LE gives you a ton of control and makes crafting endgame items really rewarding and enjoyable. This game was clearly made by people who love ARPGs and have a lot of creative, innovative ideas about how to approach the genre.
Waiting on PoE2 before jumping back into that (I always burn out by red maps cuz I hate the crafting and rarity in finding proper gear upgrades in general, 500+ chaos et al and couldn't upgrade my chest piece last I played and it felt horrible) and I was so disappointed with D3 (and Blizzard-Activision ever since) I plan to skip D4 (and if I wanna do modern D2, honestly the Grim Dawn total conversion mod is amazing). Lost Ark is so aggressively Asian MMO that it wants to be a second life and so I finally burnt out despite turning Tera combat into an ARPG and holy crap we need more combat systems like them (take either combat system with a western design philosophy and I'll play for thousands of hours). The only others I can think of off hand of recent memory, I've not tried Wolcen given the reviews and Undecember I've avoided for what sounds like a terrible microtransaction store. I bought Last Epoch around 0.6 I want to say and it's showing immense potential. The Majasa update had amazing improvements for crafting which was already superior to literally all over ARPGs I've since before or since. I do hope they find time for more interesting campaign story telling (at least get us some full voice acting for all campaign NPCs) but it's definitely a unique and interesting world. Haven't tried multiplayer yet (I don't pug and no friends own it) but the game is still quite solid single player. It has such a different approach to character development and power progression, as well, I've had some characters sit on the same like level 12 ring or armor piece (sometimes even weapon) until late campaign acts simply because of how armor scaling works and how affixes and innates work in this game. Every fan of these sorts of ARPGs owes themselves a purchase of LE. For a small, indie dev team they show as much promise as PoE did at this stage in development and that game has become THE ARPG to compare to IMO, and was the kind of game D3 deserved to be.
It's by far the most unpolished ARPG I've played. Animations and movement are subpar and the performance is horrible. 90% of all items and affixes are straight useless and builds are just dull. The monolith system is extremely time-consuming and unrewarding. It's hard to believe the low amount of progress they've made over the years.
SURE graphics second... just wish they jointed forces with Wolcen (graphics firts) so we could have graphics and gameplay game system (best to date IMO) even!... I like the world setting and the time travel narrative everything else is OK.
I really wish this would come to Console...XBox got Grim Dawn (played it on PC), Wolcen just released on console but it's buggy and of course we have PoE. I did try LE a year ago on PC and had a good time but it's been upgraded and got better....just a underestimated solid game...
last epoch is just a fun arpg to play. im looking forward to getting that perfect gear set with each class eventually. also i really liked what they did with the mage. super fun. and their time travel story line is well done. looking forward to how they expand on it.
Well I love D2 (especially pd2), but I don't like poe. Its too complex. A game where you need to use tools to create builds other people invented is not in my favor. LE is perfect in that purpose. Enough depth but also keep it simple enough. I really love the game. Since I won't play d4 I'm happy I've found a new "home" in this genre 😊😊
The game itself is great IMO, but it took them YEARS of promising multiplayer to finally ship it out. The reason? They said they wanted to be sure it would be absolutely perfect when it released. Delay after delay, all in the name of the perfect multiplayer experience. What did we get? I gave the game a few days to clean up the server issues, as the first few days it was basically unplayable. After the connection/zoning issues finally were resolved, and I got to try it, I experienced the following in the 3 hours I played: Items disappearing, tooltips glitching to be permanently stuck on screen, movement abilities freezing me in place and being unable to act without teleporting to my party member, friend using runes to forge and them being taken from my inventory, friend changing zones and being zoned into a DIFFERENT party's instance with random players, loading into a town with no npcs, being unable to teleport to or from a zone which forced me to restart the game to fix it, unable to teleport to party member, warpath skill stuck even after releasing the button until I ran out of mana, stash being inaccessible, and immortal enemies. If the main draw of the game for you is playing it wirth friends, on't bother with this game until they fix it, needs another year or more. Extremely disappointing.
Thanks Ziz, really enjoyed this review--you convinced me that this is the game to take over for POE. I'm done with POE, the fun is all gone & the mana reservation bullshit + melee just getting worse has made it impossible for me to play.
I ground out 1800 or so hours in PoE (including the first Gauntlet) and so far I have 130 in Last Epoch early access. I'm having a lot more fun. Crafting has depth but good gear is much easier to obtain. I have only a few hours in monolith because testing different builds has been great fun; most builds seem very viable to run for a long time. PoE was so limited in builds that could get anywhere and the need to find and use build guides to figure out these builds cut into playtime. LE skill tree has a lot going on but the class focus in both the base skills and their masteries is a great help. The lack of bloat in LE is a huge difference. I got tired of finding a PoE build that worked for me only to see it nerfed the next season. I don't need to spend real $$ on stash tabs! Ziz, your guides in PoE were a big help but I don't miss that game a bit. It's nice to once again be able to watch one of your videos on a game I'm playing.
First time we've done a fully in-depth game review this way. Let us know how we did!
Have you tried Last Epoch? Do you recommend it?
Let us know👇
Really good review, only thing I'd say you didn't fully cover was the customisable loot filter. Even inexperienced players can easily make their perfect loot filter in game in about 10 minutes
@@joshh390 🤡 No such thing as a truly unbiased opinion.
Crafting is so much better than in PoE.
@@lissyflur1907 Exactly. Ignore the clown. He has nothing better to do than find any positive opinion and shit on it like his opinion is somehow gold.
@@joshh390did you listen to anything he said in the video? He’s not sponsored, he has been before, but devs want him to call out aspects of the game that are bad.
One thing that wasn't mention was the loot filter. It is really easy to set up and because all items drop identified is extremely useful.
Yeah, the whole indentifying items is kinda obsolete. It seems like it's still in arpgs because.. they did it back then so it has to be in the game.
Missing this detail is enough to remake the video imo.
I'm surprised other dev teams aren't stealing LE's loot filter system wholesale.
@@c4ke_rs it was a core part of every arpg game for years and years, sure its obsolete if ur a 15 year old zoomer gamer just trying to go as fast as humanly possible no matter what, I guess we should remove levels cause its obsolete, remove talent points its obsolete, they did it back then so it has to be in the game..
@@millerl0l71 You missed the point there is enough surprise that a decent item dropped so there is no need to make a double surprise to reveal that it's just garbage.
I got burned out on PoE. I have tried several ARPG's and they were pretty meh. This game has me hooked. So much to do and the crafting is the best in the genre. Glad to see you playing it again.
have you played grim dawn? i just got done with that and am wondering how last epoch compares.
@@JR-kv6ez I personally like Last Epoch way better than Grim Dawn. Grim Dawn was really fun to play but it wasn't my kind of thing
@@MoistYoghurt Thanks! I think I will give it a try this weekend.
Grim dawn is super! Have hundreds of hours in GD. But Yes, Last Epoch is great, but I prefer Grim Dawn.
@J R im on the other side. Grim dawn is far more complex, way more depth. Better mapping bc of it being hand designed. Better itemazation, better story, better farming and target farming and better endgame. Last epoch wins in crafting, graphics, bosses and animations tho.
This game is awesome. Deserves way more attention and the devs are great. Been playing on and off since day one and it keeps getting better.
No it doesn’t it literally feels worse than a mobile game. Thank god for steam refund.
@@KrakkenXXX Did you complete the compaign?
@@KrakkenXXX biggest cope ever. You clearly didnt play the game.
Combat feels boring compared to other ARPGs
@@thevannmann true. After Last Epoch, Wolcen and Poe gameplay in Diablo 4 just feels like sweetie
For context, Ziz also rated PoE an 8/10, despite it being his most played game at the moment, so a 7 is actually pretty high praise from him. He considers 5 the average rather than 7 like most reviews do.
If this game is only 1 point behind poe on his scale then there is no reason to take any of his ratings seriously. It’s at least 3 points below poe in every way
@@shleemlington699 shrimp harder please, I'm not sure if you like PoE or not. His rating is his rating, you can use it as a tool to see what he values and how things stack up in a broad sense.
Games shouldn't be given arbitrary scores to begin with. They're subjective.
@@esaedvik why? You can give a subjective rating. This is pretty much to be expected from any review.
@@Rakobaron Exactly. and the rating should never overshadow the actual nuanced points raised in a review. A critic may give a game, say, a 6, but if something talked about in the review intrigues or resonates with you, it's still probably worth checking the game out, though perhaps you ought to go in with slightly lowered expectations.
As someone who just doesn’t have time to play Poe and it’s extreme complexities. Last epoch has been perfect. The game has a very bright future
This is the comment I want to hear to start playing. Thanks
Yeah I feel the same. I want to like poe, but I don't have the time to research a build and figure everything out. Making a build in last epoch is intuitive. So maybe your first build isn't min maxed, but it will at least function.
@@alfredwotanson7971 yeah making a “good” self builds is just really hard and time consuming
it was the removal of the so-called "filler" Harvest crafts that really drove the nail in for me. if The Vision™ is for me to gamble a weeks worth of currency for an item that will have maybe 4 good affixes at most, then screw it.
Bought it a few days ago. Absolutely worth the money. Engame feels rewarding, and character progression is so satisfying. Instead of just buying gear like in poe, you find and craft items instead, and you can really feel the upgrades.
Im tempted to grab it as POE just gives me a complete burnout, I never liked the RNG on top of RNG from PoE.
SAY IT WITH ME. F*CK FUSINGS!
that and i don't have to farm for a thousand hours to get what i want.
You're already at endgame after buying it a few days ago?
@@miguelestrada9259 same concern here too
@@zverb4009 You can literally reach D3 engame in a day and poe in under a week with no problems. I don't see a concern there.
The gearing system is probably my favorite thing about this game where as you said you're basically just forging your own uniques
It feels great
I love that legendaries are made, not dropped. They feel more legendary that way.
I bought and played the game recently, and being able to work on my build actively and freely even as I leveled felt so freeing and satisfying. I love it!
wow, that's great to hear. coming from a potential future buyer haha
This game seems to take a lot of the best aspects of PoE, Diablo, Grim Dawn and others, and roll it all into one great package. Definitely want to give it a try when I get the chance.
Yeah one cheap crappy roll
@@KrakkenXXX lmao diablo players
I love it man, I hate how simple Diablo is but Poe is just a spreadsheet simulator at this point and I was a massive fan of Titan quest/grim Dawn so this is a dream come true for me
Dont listen to the "cheap roll" comment, ive been playing this game the last week now and it has been great fun. Genuinely such a great ARPG experience and no p2w or MTX at all, thank god
I love the game, but I personally have a hard time sticking with it as the graphics and animations still have a lot to be wanted. It feels clunky.
I agree and game feel is important. Diablo is still king in this regard.
I just bought it yesterday and played for like 6 hrs straight. Pretty good game, I'll be playing more tonight... hoping to check out endgame stuff soon. The crafting is pretty cool and the skill systems/passives
I really like how blue and yellow items are still useful in this game thanks to shards and crafting on empty affix slots.
it makes every item plausible. A good Blacksmith Mechanic really makes or breaks a game.
Viable gear is much easier both to find and to craft than in PoE. I crafted a couple things around level 12-15 and due to good RNG was still using them at level 55.
My review from a previous iteration from BEFORE 0.8.5 on steam. In case you don't trust what Ziz is saying.
An excellent ARPG, with the potential to take down some giants. In it's current beta state, I would evaluate it as 4th place for the genre, falling behind D2, POE, and Grim Dawn.
Strengths:
- Talent trees for each skill. The build customization is real and is awesome
- Passive tree is huge and varies depending on mastery selection
- Characters are well defined and have unique skills. I want to make multiple alts to experience everything.
- Combat feels pretty good. Big attacks are telegraphed and there are some movement skills to speed up gameplay a bit.
- Time travel concept is really cool and has the potential to be something really special for this genre
- Feel. This one is very subjective but the feel of this game is right to me. Feels like D2 and POE had a baby.
Weaknesses:
- In it's current state the loot is uninspiring. Very cookie cutter other than the idols (think d2 charms), which are cool AF.
- Lore. The concept is good and the story is OK , but it's no Grim Dawn. It's not even in the same league.
- Graphics and Animation. They are acceptable and I enjoy the game as is, but it feels a little clunky.
Overall, I would highly recommend Last Epoch. it's not perfect, but the blueprint is about as good as you're going to get. It's clear the developers are motivated to make a great game and listen to the community. If you consider yourself a fan of the genre, do yourself a favor and pick this up. You won't regret it.
Posted August 16, 2020.
I haven't played LE in about 8 months and man am I glad I watched this vid. They have changed a ton from I can tell and all for the better. The crafting system looks even better than it was and I already really liked it. Definitely playing this when I get home tonight.
this game is definitely on the top of my wishlist, i don't wanna play it yet because i don't wanna spoil myself before the whole game is out properly but i'm very excited.
It's actually insane how far they've come in the last couple of years. The game looked like crap, early on. It looks (graphically) better than most things out there, right now.
My biggest problem is the visuals. And I'm not talking about models or surroundings but I'm talking about colors and used colors pallet.
Everything is so shiny, and sweet, and everything is so cute and colorful so I don't have a feeling that I will meet a monster behind the corner I will have to kill but rather some character from Sesame Street. But I like the progress system (more complicated than D4 but not so overcomplicated as in PoE) and let's hope that gear progress will be more linear as it was in Diablo 2 and not just a couple of rapid jumps as we have in Diablo 4. As for now, I'm waiting for the full release to see what the final product will look like.
I played it for a bit half a year ago while waiting for the next league. I was very surprised by how polished it felt for a game that's still very much a work in progress. They've done a very good job so far 🙂
Ya'll are a gem for the quality content you produce here and on Twitch. I loved this format, I'd love to see more of it if you ever feel like taking the time to do so. Informative as hell. Thanks for the coverage.
I know I'm late but taking a break from the current poe season to try this and it's lots of fun. Glad to see you have a vid on this.
Just come from D4 - what a s.hit product. This game looks much better done. The crafting system blew my mind away. But gets me to wonder - with all that freedom customization does, I wonder if this does not effect balance a lot. Like if it does makes the campaign easier - thats fine, but how does this really effect PVP part of the game I wonder.
Well there currently is no PvP in the game, so... yeah. The devs are interested in adding PvP at some point and they do have a build with PvP enabled for internal testing, but so far we don't know what PvP would entail in this game. As for balance, there's obviously going to be meta picks and some builds will need some attention, but IMO it seems pretty decent.
It’s one of my favorite ARPGs atm. I love that I can do my own build and don’t need a guide. The crafting is awesome.
I love the section "The Devs and their attitude". I'm going to pick it up now. Thank you for this review!
I like the video, but it feels like I'm listening to a lecture.
PSA, multiplayer is not just jank atm, it's unplayable. Load times between zones can go up to 45 seconds, character rollbacks up to 7+ hours of progress, character duplication when loading into a new zone, the list goes on and on. Furthermore, even singleplayer is now plagued by bugs and issues, and some folks can't even make it past character selection.
The game is a mess, and representing it as anything other is kinda uninformed/disingenuous
I don't really like the respeccing system for your skills because I like making multiple builds for my character and switch back and forth. Another thing is if a update happens and now they nerfed your build then you have to respec to level 10 skills and level it again so you can use a better and newer build. I feel like the respeccing system is holding me back from making multiple builds with level 20 skills. Everything else is fine.
LE is another one of those modern "build simulator and do rifts" ARPGs where the build theorycrafting has been confused with engaging gameplay.
It has the typical endgame rift system that will infinitely scale and brick your build unless you are really good at theorycrafting so 99% of players will just google someone elses build and follow it.
It also has the crafting system where you have to be lucky twice: first to find the right base for a craft and second to not brick your craft.
It is also one of those d3 type games where you have your generators and spenders with tons of cooldowns and you build a rotation whose sole purpose is to make sure you have constant uptime on your main attacks i.e. that movement skill on your bar isnt actually for movement, it is just another rotation skill that buffs your next attack or restores mana or w/e.
But that seems to be par for the course nowadays, so most people will love it.
Played D4 last weekend and Last Epoch is the best playable early access as it beats all of the ones who claim you can play this now. No D4 was only for 3days done. BaldurG only to level 5. I am glad I bought LE.
Love the game. My only qualms at this point are the plastic character models, lighting a little, and I want more variable armor appearances.
One thing not mentioned is you can only trade items to other players if that item dropped while you were both in a party playing together. Think of it as a raid item that drops in wow can only be traded to the ppl in that raid and no one else. So if you find a bunch of cool gear playing by yourself and your friend hops on you can not give them any of it. Also while playing together the item drops you see on the ground are unique to you and not shared with other party members, each person in the party sees totally different gear that drops.
Really enjoying the game only think I wish is we had a long term grindy non completely rng way to add LP to uniques. I know they don't want it possible for everyone running around in a set of lp 4 uniques. My idea was making it so shattering uniques has a low chance at giving an LP should and you could use some amount maybe based on the effective level of legnedary potential to add an LP to an item and if you want to add more LP it is double for each LP already on it. So sure you could craft an LP for item but that would takes 10s or 100s of thousands of uniques to afford that but adding just one after a few days of game play isn't completely un reasonable.
Example I have farmed out 5 or 6 Aaron's wills not and haven't seen a single LP meaning I can't even take the 1 in 4 gamble for a +1 skeleton and after hitting 99 I just gave up and went and played something else but if I had a long term reliable way to work to it I'd be more willing to stay and grind. I'm now playing herald of the scurry (great unique) and I know I want plus wolfs on it at some point because when I'd be able to get a gap closer on my squirrels but at 90 potential that is an unrealistic dream to shot for which will burn me out at some point dealing with helm drop rng.
i like the idea of ''lp shards'', but the whole problem would be how to balance them and how can they be used (maybe a specific dungeon that allows you to increase the lp on a unique with X amount of shards once you kill the boss)
@@bestmilioplat754 they said they want to add more dungeon so that would be a good idea for a reward from one.
Last Epoch will be really fun, I think, but it badly needs an optimization pass and a few memory leaks fixed...
Excellent review. I bought this game a long time ago and messed around a bit, but I wanted to wait until it was closer to it's release state. This feels like a great time to get back into the game. Thanks for the primer!
This is me and Baldur's Gate 3 right now. I messed around enough in EA to know that I will almost certainly enjoy it, but am now leaving it for when the game is complete so I can experience everything except the first half of Act 1 completely blind. Same thing with TemTem.
Paladin - more of a support class - ngl I laughed
Shit is one of the most tanky classes you can pick with one of the highest dps due to broken aura that frees so many gear slots that can boost your damage and one of the highest if not the highest amount of crit chance you can get, along with insane penetration
Big fan of the long form, in-depth reviews. More of these, please!
And big fan of Last Epoch. First played it a few years ago and it was mid at best. But with the recent 0.9 patch, I think it's a solid contender for top 3 ARPGs right now.
Bought the game, oof, a year ago? Had six hours play time. Reinstalled it last week, I've got like 40 hours play time since. I loving it. What a breath of fresh air.
Brother what were you playing before this? Diablo immortal??
@@KrakkenXXX World of Warcraft mostly. Burnt out from the IO chase. blech
Just came to check this out after their update from gamescon and the rune mage announcement. I didn’t even know about this game but it looks really interesting and I keep hearing great things about the devs.
Please excuse my ignorance about the game, but for how long has this game been playable? I thought it was on beta for some reason.
im so god damn sold its not even funny anymore xD
I played D3 for a bit, didn't enjoy how linear the builds felt. Like, if you didn't have a set piece for that skill, you will never viably use it. That ultimately had me drop the game because I felt like it wasn't fun using the same skills per class. The thing I liked about D3 is how easy it was to break into the endgame, with season rewards and people just happily running you thru a couple rifts, letting you skip the campaign entirely [minus a few necessary quests like the cube]
I played PoE for a lot longer and enjoyed it, but there were a lot of glaring issues with it and it was hard to get friends to join because of it. Stash tabs needed to be purchased otherwise you'd be constantly over cluttered, waaaaay too many crafting materials, skill tree was complicated af and hard to reset without making a new character, campaign was long af and would be boring to redo it every season/class you wanted. Most gear is RNG, especially trying to get a 6-link reasonably. Lots of glaring issues, but I stayed to play anyway. It was hard for new players or even long time players to get creative with builds without following guides or spending hours understanding all the different aspects that make builds work.
Last Epoch seems to be the best of both worlds, lots of space for a variety of builds and playstyles, without being overly complex where new players would be like "nah fk that". Bag space is so user-friendly, with the auto material transfer, sort options, stash tabs paid with gold, etc. Skill/passive resets are probably my favorite part of the game compared to PoE. I've experimented with so many different playstyles so far. PoE made it feel like you had to know what you are going to do from the beginning or itll be expensive as hell to reset, or you're better off starting a new character. Crafting seems like a huge perk in LE, since you have so much control over how your gear comes out. Tier 6 and 7 are great for min-maxers, as well, so the hunt continues for the best possible gear, although you could always have an easier time getting into the endgame.
Can't wait to see more, since we're still Early Access! Biggest flaw of LE currently, [outside of Early Access things like bugs, typos, etc] is the challenge. I haven't reached the end monoliths yet, but everything has been your standard "avoid area of doom, spam skills to win" BUT I enjoy how relaxing it feels.
I played it a log time ago and reinstalled after the D4 beta, man, the game evolved a lot. I still have some issues with readability and feel it's not as tight as I'd like (much better than most ARPGs around, but not in Diablo level), but the builds are really fun and while it doesn't pretend to be as open ended as other offers, when you can do is actually viable. Looking at you, Diablo 4 druid, this Werebear actually ROCKS.
I got your helmet on my beastmaster, which i absolutely love lol. Even in early access LE is amazing, and I am having so much fun.
Anytime someone says "Please, tell us when the game is dogshit" you gotta just appreciate that
Once you find your build, it's so much fun! The best thing is that you can find your playstyle really early too, with the added possibility of finding interesting playstyles with uniques down the line to try out!
I found my rip lich literally 3 hours ago. Ive played 60 now and i couldnt be happier, cant wait to test others
Although POE is way more customizable, I like Last Epoch a lot because of the crafting system. Generally speaking I hate crafting in POE, except for Rog, who is my best friend. It's just so time consuming, which takes you away from your mass murder spree. Last Epoch doesn't have that problem -- if you find a good base, you can craft top tier gear in like 2 minutes (Ziz demonstrated it here) and you don't even have to go back to town.
Even more sad when we had great systems to try out in poe leagues. Fossils and harvest being the main ones for me. Then they are nerfed so much they can barely be called crafting at all. Even rog is basically just rng in the end.
I've tried the game during 2019 and now when the multiplayer beta arrived.
I didn't play that much, though.
Looking forward to enjoy the game once it hits version 1.0! :)
HOLA AMIGOS ! ... ESTE JUEGO ESTÁ EN ESPAÑOL ?🤔🤔
HELLO FRIENDS ! ... IS THIS GAME IN SPANISH?🤔🤔
I thought this was a very fair and balanced review. I'd like to note, since Ziz touched on Herald of the Scurry... It's actually a good item. This contrasts with certain other developers who have seemed rather rabidly afraid of letting their supporter items be any good, and I think it speaks well of the developers.
Great vid Ziz! I love that you started with the devs. They really are one of a kind.
Thanks for your continuing contributions to the LE community McFluffin!
How's the hardcore? Many oneshot mecchanic or is it viable on first playtrough for experienced arpg players?
I've gotten to the point where I know what glowing circles to dodge and what enemies to be extra careful around, so one shots aren't an issue for me (500 hours playtime). My buddy was telling me he seems to get one shot kind of frequently (50 hours playtime). Your mileage may vary.
An absolute solid game in all aspects, especially for a beta. Incredible how a small team starting from nothing have come this far
That's pretty much how Blizzard North started 🙂
@@pythonxz Well hope they're just as successful :)
a interesting game, I played it from time to time in the past. But the biggest issue for me always has been the performance. Very poorly optimized. I hope the devs will improve the game in that department a lot.
I don't know if you tried it lately but it got way better
Latest build is a massive improvement in performance and visuals, as of March. There's a big difference pre-0.9 patch and after.
@@DoctorStrange01 thank you guys, the new patch looks really good
Last Epoch (which I have been playing it since Alpha), had its chance while D4 wasn't around and of course the really mediocore Wolcen. Too many years in early access, constantly changing things (and not always for the better cause).
It will be just another ARPG (when it will be finally released), nothing special in it, unfortunately.
Whoa, actually having a shaman in this type of game, am interested now!
At least devs listens it seems. I really enjoy LE and Ive played all notable ARPGs and this was a good surprise. Like hold up, this is... actually good... wtf...? xD
Currently playing it. Lvl 85 werebear. Pretty soid game, I would say. Still has a VERY long way to go if it wants to compete with somethign like PoE, which is probably it's closest competition, since D4 seems to serve a quite differant audiance. There are a lot of good ideas, but they are just 8 years to late with their game. Still worth it's money. Can recommend overall.
You really should've mentioned the loot filter!
I really should have :(
The one thing that irks me about the skill mastery system is that most/all skills' nodes have some specific nodes that block off/negate the effects of other nodes. I wish the design was a bit more open and additive, about where one could invest into any nodes without such a strict penalty. It feels like there are a good chunk of "you can do this, BUT..!" nodes which feel bad investing in, even though I sort of understand *why* they are like that. I feel that the way these could be balanced would be to put such nodes deeper in the branches of a particular skill tree, that way you would have better usage of +1 to skills and unlock that overpowered potential, rather than spend those last few extra points into nodes that offer minor upgrades or generic "+5% more" in a node you haven't capped yet or whatever.
The other thing that bothers me about the game is the finnicky combat and targeting. Obviously the game is still not released, and it's an indie-level game, but there are some things which can be done better. Comparing it to D4, D4's combat, targeting, and movement is a lot smoother and feels more responsive. I suppose part of this comes down to the engine differences, but it's an unfortunate thing about LE that is hard to endure after playing it for a while.
Unsure what you try to sell as endgame mapping.. sadly the worst Part for now :D rather Play different characters and Experiment until they implement an good endgame
I remember Wolcen had a bug where you could put more stats on unique items but it was removed and to my knowledge never revisited. So happy when Last Epoch added the LP system.
Interesting, Ziz. I am a little burned out on PoE. Was hyped for the Diablo IV Open Beta. Well, it quickly made me reconsider pre-ordering D4 and, instead, made me think "Hmmm, maybe I should try last Epoch." And there you are, giving me the info I need. Thank you. 😁🙏
Very nice and interesting review. I really love what they are trying to do with most of the systems and I see this coming together as a great game but it has a lot of way to go at least for somebody like me and the way I like to play games like this.
My main issue with the game stems from the fact that the endgame lacks the agency that I get in PoE. Some of the monolith objectives are annoying to do, some of the maps have horrific layouts that are too mazy and long.
I like the crafting system and overall itemization but right now it's a bit lacking. Most characters build in the same way. You get to monoliths were you get access to the best bases in the game, you craft for hybrid health, %health and health were you can, you then solve your resistances, crit avoidance, add some armor/dodge/block finish it with some endurance, and that is kind of it. Apart from weapon slots which u craft for damage. The offensive boost you can get from min-maxing your gear is not crazy high imo.
The above factors leave me in a state where I can't min-max for damage and speed and the endgame mapping system is not something I enjoy doing long term. So once my build is in a functional feels-good state I see no point to min-max and keep grinding corruption. I am like... cool build. Next one.
And this is the complete opposite of how I play PoE where I usually min-max the hell out of a character as a happy byproduct of the gameplay loop with all of it's agency being so enjoyable that I inevitably amount the currency needed to do so. On top of that, the amount of power you can squeeze out of your character by crafting insane items makes it feel worth the time investment and annoyance associated with some of the crafting systems in place.
I really hope this game gets there both in terms of a more customized and engaging gameplay loop and in terms of more impactful itemization that makes you really want to min-max for.
It's shaping up very well ; main issues for me are controls/AI for minions and buggy controller support. All very fixable, though.
Great review! I wholeheartedly agree that Last Epoch is an amazing game with some of the best devs! Judd (CEO) can sometimes be found in global chat answering questions or just bs'ing about his favorite Final Fantasy games.
The only thing I would add to this very well put together review (i may have missed it) is that this game has possibly the best, and most accessilbe, loot filter system i have ever seen. It's easy to build your own or just inport one off of a build website.
It's really nice and approachable. Well done, Eleventh Hour Games. I'm like 30h or so in and haven't encountered much more than just missing dialogue or maybe effects? 4K support would be nice, but not really a dealbreaker.
It's everything I wanted PoE to become back when I got into it in like alpha or beta. Never really did grasp me for more than a few days a year, mostly cause of the currency item system and that to be able to play someone else's build, you'd have to get the items for it, and for that, you'd have to trade with players on some third party marketplace, which I never did or will ever do, since I never had the currency for them.
Well damn, this looks cool. I'll buy it when it's on sale.
Great job with the review Zizaran! Love seeing your thoughts and how you went in-depth on what you liked and disliked not only about the game itself, but also the team behind the game and how they manage it. Keep up the great work with your content :)
I'm here because DIABLO 4 Sucks.
LOVING Last Epoch, the crafting and skill system is amazing!
Very sad that you can't refill reforge potential by any way
Had no idea you created the squirrel helmet, dropped it recently and think i may go with a squirrel build next haha
Last Epoch has so much potential. "Everything" that GGG said would destroy their game, making it "unfun" and "Not GGG's vision for the game", is or will be implemented at some point.
From deterministic crafting, powerful rare drops to an upcoming central trading runescape type hub.
Many things need to be ironed out though. Multiplayer experience is kind of laggy and slow, some abilities get you stuck in place, effects and traits being vague in their description.
This is an early access experience. While the game is good, i would suggest waiting till you feel that the game has what you are looking for
something in the game play feels very weird and off putting to me, but I still come back from time to time to see if they fixed it
My first playthrought was back on 2021 and after 2 more runs, including the 0.9 one, this game is a must play for ARPG lovers
I really want this game but I'll have to wait for a seam sale. But really looking forward to it I check steam everyday
Nice review even if I don't rate the game as highly as you do. The campaign is very lack luster (and poorly paced), which is a shame and the biggest downside to it as we have to run the campaign multiple times to try out the different characters. End game is a bit too repetitive too for me compared to PoE. Still, it's the best alternative to PoE in the ARPG genre at the moment.
This game seems so nice. Has alot of potential
Imho it's pretty great now. Just add mores stuff and seasons and then it's good to go. The trading system they are planning to implement sounds awesome.
I normally don't make comments, but I tried the game off of your recommendation and I refunded it about a hour after playing it. I got the itch to play ARPGs again after playing the Diablo 4 beta and I see it has potential to being a great game, but it is no where close to it at it's current state IMO. Animations are a little clunky, sound design is off, the UI reuses the same images for multiple abilities and just the overall presentation isn't there yet. I went back to play POE after trying it and it is night and day when it comes to those things. I will give it another shot once another major update happens but for those wanting to try it I can see the appeal if you can look past those issues.
D4 is a bomb
Last epoch fills the void
the Last Epoch is really better than D4
I’m loving the game so far. Started hammerdin since it’s the most well rounded it seems so far…. Meaning I can face tank and be a bit ok while being powerful. Working the other classes now. A nice little diversion while waiting on new shit in POE. Wasn’t too keen onD4 beta so I’ll wait for that till later. For now I’m having a blast in LE.
Ever thought of checking out Rum & Gun? Would really love to hear your opinion on that arpg.
For Diablo 4 players:
I just started playing after playing tons of Diablo 4 since launch. So far, I'd sum it up as nothing in particular about LE has blown me away, but everything feels pretty in depth and solid. The quality of life coming from Diablo 4 is so refreshing (map inlay, loot filters, stash space, build options, minions don't suck, etc.).
IDK if it'll replace D4 for me personally, but I've been enjoying it a lot. Even pre-release, it already seems to have more replay value and variety and polish in many ways than D4 currently in season 2.
Overall for $35 and for a beta state game, I would put LE right up there with Diablo 4. It shines in areas where D4 is lacking and it comes up short in some areas where D4 excels, but overall as a Diablo player, I'd put both LE (pre-release Jan. 2024) and Diablo 4 season 2 around 8/10. I really hope the LE devs keep up the good work going into and after launch, as the base game is very solid for enjoyers of diablo 2 like ARPGs.
Would you recommend this game for someone who never played ARPG type games. (15 hours in Torchlight 2 maybe). This one looks pretty cool. With Diablo 4 and hype around it, this game drew my attention because of price and some unique stuff.
if i were you, I would wait until Grim Dawn goes on sale. It's like $25 now but goes on sale for like $5. That imo is a good starting point on whether or not you will like ARPGs
I’m actually having a lot of fun playing it. IMO every class is very fun to play, even early on.
Does the game have WASD movement?
Just FYI maul is pronounced the same as shopping mall (not like mowell)
The most impressive thing about Last Epoch to me is the way it addresses issues in the ARPG genre. I'm talking about problems that have existed since Diablo, and they're fixing them in ways nobody else ever has.
For example, resistances. In everything from PoE to Grim Dawn, capping your resists at 75 is critical because going from 75 down to 70 represents a 20% increase in damage received. Because LE uses a different formula with a constant value subtracted from resists (post cap), going from 75 down to 70 only represents a 5% increase in received damage. You don't have to sacrifice every other stat to cap your resists, which is amazing.
For example, hybrid minion builds. This never works in ARPGs, you need to focus either minion stats or personal stats to be effective. LE has so many sources of dual personal/minion bonuses that hybrid builds aren't just viable, they're really, really good.
For example, crafting. This is typically just a slot machine, PoE being the worst offender but by no means the only one. LE gives you a ton of control and makes crafting endgame items really rewarding and enjoyable.
This game was clearly made by people who love ARPGs and have a lot of creative, innovative ideas about how to approach the genre.
why is it still in early access 5 years later?
Waiting on PoE2 before jumping back into that (I always burn out by red maps cuz I hate the crafting and rarity in finding proper gear upgrades in general, 500+ chaos et al and couldn't upgrade my chest piece last I played and it felt horrible) and I was so disappointed with D3 (and Blizzard-Activision ever since) I plan to skip D4 (and if I wanna do modern D2, honestly the Grim Dawn total conversion mod is amazing). Lost Ark is so aggressively Asian MMO that it wants to be a second life and so I finally burnt out despite turning Tera combat into an ARPG and holy crap we need more combat systems like them (take either combat system with a western design philosophy and I'll play for thousands of hours). The only others I can think of off hand of recent memory, I've not tried Wolcen given the reviews and Undecember I've avoided for what sounds like a terrible microtransaction store.
I bought Last Epoch around 0.6 I want to say and it's showing immense potential. The Majasa update had amazing improvements for crafting which was already superior to literally all over ARPGs I've since before or since. I do hope they find time for more interesting campaign story telling (at least get us some full voice acting for all campaign NPCs) but it's definitely a unique and interesting world. Haven't tried multiplayer yet (I don't pug and no friends own it) but the game is still quite solid single player. It has such a different approach to character development and power progression, as well, I've had some characters sit on the same like level 12 ring or armor piece (sometimes even weapon) until late campaign acts simply because of how armor scaling works and how affixes and innates work in this game.
Every fan of these sorts of ARPGs owes themselves a purchase of LE. For a small, indie dev team they show as much promise as PoE did at this stage in development and that game has become THE ARPG to compare to IMO, and was the kind of game D3 deserved to be.
It's by far the most unpolished ARPG I've played.
Animations and movement are subpar and the performance is horrible.
90% of all items and affixes are straight useless and builds are just dull.
The monolith system is extremely time-consuming and unrewarding.
It's hard to believe the low amount of progress they've made over the years.
SURE graphics second... just wish they jointed forces with Wolcen (graphics firts) so we could have graphics and gameplay game system (best to date IMO) even!... I like the world setting and the time travel narrative everything else is OK.
I really wish this would come to Console...XBox got Grim Dawn (played it on PC), Wolcen just released on console but it's buggy and of course we have PoE. I did try LE a year ago on PC and had a good time but it's been upgraded and got better....just a underestimated solid game...
last epoch is just a fun arpg to play. im looking forward to getting that perfect gear set with each class eventually.
also i really liked what they did with the mage. super fun.
and their time travel story line is well done. looking forward to how they expand on it.
Well I love D2 (especially pd2), but I don't like poe. Its too complex. A game where you need to use tools to create builds other people invented is not in my favor. LE is perfect in that purpose. Enough depth but also keep it simple enough. I really love the game. Since I won't play d4 I'm happy I've found a new "home" in this genre 😊😊
The story just destroys this game for me. I feel like I have no dang reason to play it at all.
The game itself is great IMO, but it took them YEARS of promising multiplayer to finally ship it out. The reason? They said they wanted to be sure it would be absolutely perfect when it released. Delay after delay, all in the name of the perfect multiplayer experience.
What did we get?
I gave the game a few days to clean up the server issues, as the first few days it was basically unplayable. After the connection/zoning issues finally were resolved, and I got to try it, I experienced the following in the 3 hours I played:
Items disappearing, tooltips glitching to be permanently stuck on screen, movement abilities freezing me in place and being unable to act without teleporting to my party member, friend using runes to forge and them being taken from my inventory, friend changing zones and being zoned into a DIFFERENT party's instance with random players, loading into a town with no npcs, being unable to teleport to or from a zone which forced me to restart the game to fix it, unable to teleport to party member, warpath skill stuck even after releasing the button until I ran out of mana, stash being inaccessible, and immortal enemies.
If the main draw of the game for you is playing it wirth friends, on't bother with this game until they fix it, needs another year or more. Extremely disappointing.
Thanks Ziz, really enjoyed this review--you convinced me that this is the game to take over for POE. I'm done with POE, the fun is all gone & the mana reservation bullshit + melee just getting worse has made it impossible for me to play.
I ground out 1800 or so hours in PoE (including the first Gauntlet) and so far I have 130 in Last Epoch early access. I'm having a lot more fun. Crafting has depth but good gear is much easier to obtain. I have only a few hours in monolith because testing different builds has been great fun; most builds seem very viable to run for a long time. PoE was so limited in builds that could get anywhere and the need to find and use build guides to figure out these builds cut into playtime. LE skill tree has a lot going on but the class focus in both the base skills and their masteries is a great help. The lack of bloat in LE is a huge difference. I got tired of finding a PoE build that worked for me only to see it nerfed the next season. I don't need to spend real $$ on stash tabs! Ziz, your guides in PoE were a big help but I don't miss that game a bit. It's nice to once again be able to watch one of your videos on a game I'm playing.