POE2 limits player creativity

As a person who has played POE1 forever (I don't want to even mention my hours spent since back when we were doing Piety runs), I am in a unique position to compare the two games.

In POE1, I could pick up any skill and either have more less fun experience or force my way through it to the endgame, be it a meta skill, or something weaker, and make some unique mechanics work that would improve an arguably worse skill. It didn't matter if I played something considered busted like LS or something stupid like reflect totems - I still had extreme amounts of fun.

In POE2, however, I do not have a choice. I am forced to play the way GGG wants me to play with all these combos, builder spenders etc. I am pigeonholed into a specific archetype with no real decisions to make. There is absolutely no build theorycrafting because the game just doesn't allow it.

In fact, we actually moved a step backwards from creativity with the removal of having the ability to use multiple copies of the same active skill gems (e.g. CoC). No matter if I would like to play with a wand + sceptre; there is little point to do so with the build I imagined with all the artificial limitations imposed by the game developers. Instead of having comfortable and fun experience with one to two buttons to press, I am forced to do keyboard piano in the same way we used to do it for years with POE1 flasks until GGG caved in and added flask enchantments.

The passive tree, despite being absolutely huge compared to the game's predecessor, is also so limited right now with abilities to make the build your own (cluster jewels? hello?). Essentially everyone using a particular skill goes for the same passive nodes.

To add to this, it's 0.4 and GGG still refuses to accept the fact that they managed to also create a game in which energy shield (apart from bloodmage) is the ONLY real defensive mechanic that does anything relevant. Trying to build into life and armour or evasion without ES is just suicidal. Why do you guys hate %life nodes so much?!

I really hope the game gets better over time, but as of now, it's just not there for me.

i have a similar feeling , builds are super restrictive and when u try to build something its always
its missing this,its missing that ....that could work but it sucks...and so on

Yup, game is so On rails its fucking insane
ruined
junk
simply trash
Also been playing PoE 1 since there was only 2 acts WAAAYY back in the day and even then there was more creativity then this dog shit game has

not to mention the skills themselves just simply fucking suck
basic attack in 90% of situations is simply stronger then any skill most classes have
sick game design

Well, I'm playing Werewolf and the skills work just like LoL's QWER keys.
But I'm having fun.