‘Path of Exile 2’ Introduces Thoughtful Couch Co-Op

To be honest, I have never been a Path of Exile girlie. The extensive skill trees, socket systems, and vast amounts of agency were always intimidating. But since I played Path of Exile 2 at PAX East, I’ve found myself falling more and more in love with the franchise. When we took part in the console playtest ahead of Summer Game Fest, Path of Exile 2 couch co-op took the focus, while the Witch stood as a new class that redefined a summoning class for ARPGs.

The first thing to tackle is how well Path of Exile 2 runs on PlayStation 5 (which we spent close to 6 hours playing). With 4K settings, Path of Exile couch co-op is beautiful to play. Yes, its fungus boss and raging dead are all beautiful, even in their grotesque, and are all wonderfully in-depth. The dynamic art style is one standout but it’s really the fidelity that the console hardware meets that doesn’t diminish any visual quality from PC to console. But it isn’t just the visuals that are gorgeous; the ability for both players to use menus independently, allowing movement to stay fluid, is the real achievement.

While playing together, barring certain quest moments, the menus work independently of each other. This allows one player to upgrade their slotted abilities on the fly or switch out gear in the middle of a fight while the other player can fight the mob and keep both alive. It may seem like a small design choice, but it speaks to the thoughtful ways that Grinding Gear Games developed the console version of Path of Exile 2 and, more specifically, couch co-op to understand how people actually play.

This also translates to how Path of Exile 2 has been adapted to the controller. While controller support was available in the previous game, Path of Exile 2′s controls on the console were developed specifically for the controller. The best part about playing with the controller is the ability to map your controller exactly how you want. Remapping isn’t only supported, but during the Playtest, it was encouraged and ultimately added value to elite controllers and added back paddles. Because of full remapping support, Path of Exile 2 doesn’t sacrifice the depth of the abilities system and sockets while moving to the controller.

With that said, having played Path of Exile 2 on both mouse and keyboard and controller now, I’m surprised to report that the latter is my favorite, specifically on Xbox, which was on display at Summer Game Fest. But the truth is, it’s really up to the player. The game has options that allow players to choose what is easiest for them when it comes to movement: twin stick, WASD, or point and click—you choose.

Additionally, Path of Exile 2 couch co-op isn’t just a smart adaptation of a traditional PC game to console. Instead, the focused development for the console showcases how the development team understands the pain points often associated with couch co-op and making a move from a traditional PC game to a new platform.

During the console playtest and over the weekend at Summer Game Fest, we also got the chance to go hands-on with the latest released class: The Witch. In any game, I’m terrible when it comes to playing as a summoner class. The act of managing a minion system is hard to do for me, and oftentimes, I’ll fall behind in summoning new minions to the field and wind up dead. However, when I started playing as the Witch, that issue was cleared up.

While minions are summoned with your available spirit pool, once your permanent minions have been summoned, they continue to rejoin the field automatically after a quick timer after death. With minion summons taken off your hands, your temporary minions can be summoned with spirit as well through different abilities. You ranged minions, exploding one, and of course, these little scorpion skeletons that run across the land like a scourge when you couple them with Contagion.

By making permanent minion summons off of your plate the Witch is a summoner class that is extremely easy to step into. But this doesn’t mean that depth is gone. Instead, it’s been concentrated in other ways as each socket unlocks new ways to utilize and explore temporary minion combinations.

The truth is that I find myself falling in love with Path of Exile 2 each new time I play it. With each hour I spend with the game, I’m excited to learn the system depth that comes with the ever-branching skills and socket combos. What used to be intimidating has become something that feels exciting.

There is still more to do, and that’s clear with the beta being pushed back. However, as the months pass, I know I’ll just keep getting more excited. Ultimately, the Path of Exile console playtest was a masterclass in how to make someone love your game. That kind of understanding for new players isn’t something you can teach but rather something that comes from the desire to expand your player base and to be for everyone without sacrificing depth to make it approachable.

Path of Exile 2 is slated for early access release at the end of 2024.