Developer Grinding Gear Games has dropped a new trailer and gameplay walkthrough for the upcoming sequel Path of Exile 2 after a short period of silence about the game’s progress. The first entry in the Path of Exile series has become incredibly popular thanks to the fact that it was seen as a viable, free alternative to the Diablo series, especially after the controversial real-money auction house in Diablo 3 put off many long time dungeon crawler veterans.
Path of Exile recently saw the release of its tenth expansion in the form of Echoes of the Atlas. This DLC for the free-to-play game added 11 new maps, each with their own boss, as well as an additional passive skill tree to allow players to grow even stronger. The expansion also included a new Pinnacle boss called Maven and brought some balance changes to the Ascendancy classes. Finally, Grinding Gear Games also used Echoes of the Atlas as an opportunity to revive the popular Heist and Harvest leagues.
A brand new trailer and gameplay walkthrough has dropped for Path of Exile 2, with developer Grinding Gear Games sharing the footage on YouTube, with the walkthrough showing some 19 minutes of gameplay. What’s most obvious upon first viewing is how much the visuals have been improved compared to its eight-year-old predecessor. The video also highlights new weapon classes, such as the spear and crossbow, alongside a large number of enemies that can attack the player at the same time. The walkthrough largely details what is meant to be the second act of the new story.
The relative lack of news about Path of Exile 2 might have something to do with the fact that the first title is actually still growing in popularity. Following the launch of its latest expansion, SteamDB recorded that Path of Exile hit its highest-ever player count, and the game also reached more than 200,000 viewers on streaming platforms such as Twitch. The real number of players actually logged in was likely even higher, as the game is available as a standalone client and on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to many delays, and Path of Exile 2 was no exception. It still is not clear when the game will enter its beta test, and a full release is seemingly years away. But with the original game still growing and proving to be a huge hit, Grinding Gear is hopefully not rushing work on the sequel.
