Grinding Gear Games has had a rough time since Path of Exile 2 launched. Original Path of Exile players feel like that game has been pushed to the wayside while the devs shift focus to the sequel, but the latest patch for PoE 2 has led to it being review-bombed on Steam.
Despite a new class being introduced, a series of nerfs have seriously upset players. "How do you have a relatively good first patch then wait three months, nerf everything, and make the campaign a worse experience," writes one Steam user. The 11,502 recent reviews are "mostly-negative."
The general feeling is that everything has been slowed down too much. One player who was looking forward to the new patch has been thoroughly disappointed. "I'd rather just go into work than play this game right now," they write. A previous patch was "build-destroying," so it's not been a good early-access period for the ARPG.
"There were some blatant f**k-ups, speaking bluntly," says game director Mark Roberts during an interview with streamer Zizaran, as reported by Kotaku. Some of these mistakes, according to players leaving negative reviews, include nerfing the player character and their minions while buffing enemy longevity, making fights feel like more of a grind.
Luckily, the devs are paying attention and have already released a batch of rapid changes with more on the way tomorrow. Monster speed is going to be addressed to stop you from becoming overwhelmed, and several boss fights will be tweaked to tip the scales back in your favor a bit. The minion revive timer will also be adjusted, so it shouldn't keep resetting to 7.5 seconds, meaning you can get your goons back into the fray faster.
Hopefully, these new changes appease players, and the reviews start going back up. As the Helldivers 2 CEO notes, games that get review-bombed this badly "do not generally recover."
In the meantime, check out some of the other best RPGs you can play right now.
