Initial thoughts - Visuals and other input

Hi

Before buying the game, the first thing I checked was whether there was level scaling. After some reading, I found out there isn’t—except in parties—so that’s great! Level scaling may have its merits, but for me, it’s a game killer. It ruined WoW and D4 for me, and I just can’t stand it. So, thank you for not implementing it in PoE2!

I’ve just started playing and reached level 10-11 on my Sorcerer. So far, I’m really enjoying it and already feel like I’ll be putting plenty of hours into this game.

Here are a few small things I’ve noticed so far:

Other
Character Naming – I didn’t like that character names have to be unique.

Gameplay
Dodging – This might be a good mechanic, but so far, it just feels like a panic button for me. I don’t know if “too engaging gameplay” is a thing, but if dodging is meant to be a core mechanic, I feel like it could become tiring over time.

Boss Fight Portal Placement – Twice now, after defeating a boss, I accidentally clicked on the portal and left the dungeon. The timing or placement of the victory portal makes it too easy to misclick.

Respawning Monsters After Death – While this might be a good gameplay feature overall, I personally struggle with it. When I die, I just want to rush back and get revenge on the enemy that killed me. But instead, I have to fight my way back through respawned enemies, which makes me more careless and frustrated. Is the enemy even still there? I don’t know because I’m too busy grinding through respawns.


Visuals
Story Focus – Some important visual elements blend too much into the environment. For example, when the stranger was lying on the ground in the village, I barely noticed him. On top of that, the area was cluttered with other players managing their stash. It would be nice to have more space and visual clarity around key story moments.

Environment Readability – While exploring, I sometimes find it hard to tell whether a dungeon entrance is part of the environment or an actual entrance. Most of the time, the checkpoint totem gives it away, but it would be nice if dungeon entrances stood out more clearly.

Story
You just can’t beat Diablo’s history and lore. Marius following the Wanderer in D2 was exceptional. Tristram, Cain, Diablo, the music—it’s pure nostalgia.
I’m not sure if this is actual feedback, but I feel like it might be an impossible task to fully hook old Diablo players into a new story. Maybe the best approach is to focus on a few strong characters and keep the story simple and easy to follow.
That said, I’ve only just started, so I’ll see if the story pulls me in as I progress.