Path of Exile released back in 2013 exclusively for PC, but made the jump to Microsoft's Xbox One in August of 2017. Now, nearly 6 years after its initial release, PlayStation 4 owners can finally download and play the game on their consoles. With more than 5 years content and almost 2 years worth of console experience, does developer Grinding Gear Games' Path of Exile still hold up so many years after its initial release? Let me first give you a short answer, which is - yes. Now, for the long answer...

With a couple of expansions already out, numerous patches, and many new systems, PlayStation 4 players will have to play catch up if they want to experience everything the game has to offer. Thankfully, the Path of Exile community is very helpful and, as an added bonus, the internet is filled with wikis and guides on the past, present, and sometimes future of the game. Starting at the very beginning, you choose one of six exiles, namely Duelist, Shadow, Marauder, Witch, Ranger and Templar. There is a seventh class, the Scion, but she must first be unlocked before you can select her. Each exile has a different back story as to why they have been exiled to Wraeclast. Waking up on a strand, you must make your way to the nearest settlement, which has been thrown together by those who came before.



The story of Path of Exile feels pretty predictable for the first couple of acts, but thankfully takes a turn for the better afterward. Mixing a solid good versus evil plot with mythology and the supernatural really ups the stakes of the story and that which you fight for, or at least, what you thought you fought for.

Playing Path of Exile on a base PlayStation 4 proved to be a pleasant experience. The game runs well and looks great.

All of this wouldn't really matter if the game didn't run well on your PlayStation 4. Playing Path of Exile on a base PlayStation 4 proved to be a pleasant experience. The game runs well and looks great. The very first area, called the Twilight Strand, amazed me with its gloomy atmosphere, pale sand, and crashing waves upon the beach. Jungles, cities, hallways, dungeons, and plains are beautifully rendered and play, mostly, without a hitch. Some random frame drops do occur, but never to the point where it slows the game down to a crawl. My initial fear of transitioning from mouse and keyboard to DualShock 4 controller was also readily put to rest, although navigating menus was a tedious affair. Using the left analog stick to move, face buttons to use skills and D-pad for flask usage felt natural and responsive. (Pro-tip, when faced with a ton of loot on screen, easily navigate what you want to collect with the right analog stick). The moment to moment control when in combat felt great, but inventory management wasn't as smooth as I had imagined.



As you progress through the game, you will see hundreds, if not thousands of loot pieces rain down around you. Seeing as this is an action role-playing game, loot is what we're really after. Sifting through the items and selecting what you want is a blast. The only downside of this is inventory navigation. You see, with so much information being displayed on the screen, things can get a bit overwhelming, muddied even. Equipping gear is easy enough, sure, but swapping out skill gems can become a pain when you are constantly chopping and changing your gear. I feel like the navigation and inventory management can be refined more to streamline the task at hand. Getting used to the buttons and their corresponding actions might take some time too. You do eventually get used to them, even after you accidentally closed your merchant screen prematurely for the umpteenth time.

With 1,325 passive skills to choose from to fine-tune your character, there is absolutely no shortage of customization.

Path of Exile's passive skill tree is an absolute behemoth. With 1,325 passive skills to choose from to fine-tune your character, there is absolutely no shortage of customization. Providing stats boosts, elemental resistances, faster attack rate, more critical hit damage, etc., you can literally fine-tune your character to the last stat. And if this wasn't appealing enough, each of the seven classes has an Ascendency skill tree. For instance, the Witch can ascend to either a Necromancer, Occultist or Elementalist. The Necromancer focuses on summoning minions while the Elementalist specializes in all things elemental, whether they are summoning golems or inflicting ailments, the Elementalist can do it. If you like to experiment with stats, builds, and gear, the massive passive skill tree will provide ample opportunities for you.



If you'd rather plan ahead and work towards an eventual goal, I highly recommend you us the passive skill tree on the official website to do so. Just remember, you can't completely reset all the skill points you have committed. You can reset some of them, but trying a different build requires a new character. This might seem unfair, but in a game that was heavily influenced by Diablo II and its sort of "failure is a lesson" mantra, this makes the most sense.

Abilities in Path of Exile comes in the form of jewels. These sparkling little stones drop in all manner of ways. These gems drop in two different forms, namely skills and support. For example, on my Ranger character, I got a fire arrow skill, which allowed me to fire flaming arrows at enemies. Later, I got a pierce support gem. When the piercing shot was linked with my fire arrow skill gem, it gave the fire arrows a chance to pierce targets and deal additional damage to secondary targets. As I mentioned before, Path of Exile lets you create and tune your character in ways very few games do. The level of customization is truly staggering, and Grinding Gear Games have to be commended for it, but on the other side of the coin, it might also be too intimidating for new players. Following a guide so as to not waste your time on the game seems to be the best way to go about the game. You can play it completely blind but be warned, mistakes in the game can be costly.



Before I wrap things up for my review, there is one last elephant to address in Wraeclast. Being a free-to-play game, Path of Exile does contain microtransactions. I browsed through the entire store, searching for something that will give money-spenders an advantage. Thankfully, I could find none. The items you can buy range from weapon skins, character appearances, pets, stash tabs, and hideout decorations. You'll be able to enjoy Path of Exile to the fullest without ever spending a buck.

The launch of Path of Exile on PlayStation 4 is surely something to be celebrated. The game runs well on a base console with only a few random frame drops. New players might struggle to come to grips with everything the game has to offer, to be honest, they have to catch up on nearly 6 years worth of content. Using the DualShock 4 felt great, except when it came to navigating the game's numerous menus. Apart from these few hiccups, Path of Exile provides a level of character customization that is hard to find these days.