Path of Exile
Path of Exile screenshot 1Path of Exile screenshot 2
ActionAdventureIndieMassively MultiplayerRPGFree To PlayAction RPGDark FantasyHack and SlashLootMMORPG

2,974 playing

Peak in the last 24 hours: 5,423

Peak in the last 7 days: 6,058

Path of Exile Steam store

Game description

You are an Exile, struggling to survive on the dark continent of Wraeclast, as you fight to earn power that will allow you to exact your revenge against those who wronged you. Path of Exile is an online Action RPG set in a dark fantasy world. The game is completely free and will never be pay-to-win.

Basic info

DeveloperGrinding Gear Games
PublisherGrinding Gear Games
PlatformsWindows · macOS
Release dateOct 23, 2013
Price

Minimum specs

OSWindows 10
ProcessorQuad core 2.6GHz x86-compatible
Memory8 GB
GraphicsNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 650 Ti or ATI Radeon™ HD 7850
Storage40 GB
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Review Analysis Score

Based on 401 reviews from the past 1 year

80.4/ 100
Top 50%

Steam rating: Very Positive (89%)

Metacritic: 86 /100

Review analysis summary (Reviewed Oct 21, 2026)

This free action RPG with a vast skill tree scores 80.4, and its loop proves addictive for its fans, though it asks a lot of newcomers.

👍 Strengths

109 reviews describe an addictive loop with satisfying combat, and some say it has kept them entertained for thousands of hours. 98 praise the depth of strategy in building characters, where the passive tree and support gems turn a single skill into many different tools, and some enjoy moving from guides to their own builds. 23 point to a huge amount of content and endgame activity, all available for free. Content Volume ranks 73rd of 1351, and Multiplayer ranks 221st of 642.

👎 Where it falls short

95 reviews find it overwhelming for beginners, with systems that need outside guides and wikis to understand and a steep learning curve. 25 report server lag and disconnects, and some describe ping spikes and packet loss on certain regional servers. 18 feel progression turns into a grind, with rare drops, complex crafting and a campaign to replay each season, and some realize too late that their build was wrong. Gameplay appears in 69% of analyzed reviews and ranks 671st of 1396.

Representative reviews Original reviews ↗

“addictive gameplay loop, satisfying combat moments” · 109 reviews
“single skill becomes different tool via passive tree and support gems” · 98 reviews
“800 hours invested shows substantial content depth” · 23 reviews

How it holds up

−50+5

Controls, difficulty, progression and depth
Mentioned in 69% of reviews · Top 50% of the games we've analyzed

Strategy +3.86 · Depth of builds, tactics, and meaningful choices
Positive “single skill becomes different tool via passive tree and support gems” · 98 reviews
Negative “limited skill tree and restrictive reallocation system prevents build experimentation” · 3 reviews

Progression 27% · Difficulty 10% · Onboarding 40% · Freedom 8% · Controls & feel 8%

Plot, characters and the world
Mentioned in 10% of reviews · Bottom 50% of the games we've analyzed

World +3.51 · Lore, atmosphere, and how immersive the setting is
Positive “dark fantasy atmosphere and world-building is incredible” · 3 reviews

Story 5% · Characters 1%

How much there is to do, variety and replay value
Mentioned in 35% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Volume +4.07 · How much there is to play, including endgame, for the price
Positive “800 hours invested shows substantial content depth” · 23 reviews
Negative “very long time investment required” · 2 reviews

Variety 11% · Replayability 7%

Graphics, art style, music and sound
Mentioned in 13% of reviews · Bottom 30% of the games we've analyzed

Visuals +1.75 · Graphics, art style, and animation
Positive “beautiful graphics with excellent visual design” · 11 reviews
Negative “visuals too dense, would prefer more sober aesthetic” · 1 review

Audio 3%

Playing with others, the community and servers
Mentioned in 17% of reviews · Top 40% of the games we've analyzed

Community +2.65 · Who you play with — how many, and how friendly
Positive “30 players helped me in global chat with a podcast about mechanics” · 5 reviews
Negative “community largely toxic with poor attitudes and copycat builds” · 1 review

Playing together 2% · Servers & Connection 7%

Pricing, cheaters, balance and matchmaking
Mentioned in 22% of reviews · Top 10% of the games we've analyzed

Pricing +0.29 · Whether the price, DLC and microtransactions are reasonable, and how much paying gives you an edge
Positive “free-to-play model saves the game” · 10 reviews
Negative “Mandatory stash tab purchases and $500+ cosmetic packs while owned by Tencent.” · 10 reviews

Anti-cheat 0% · Balance 9% · Matchmaking 0%

Bugs, performance and developer support
Mentioned in 28% of reviews · Top 30% of the games we've analyzed

Developer support +0.19 · Updates, patches, and how devs respond to players
Positive “devs actively improve mechanics and add quality-of-life features” · 10 reviews
Negative “support blamed me for account hack, refused to help after 13 years” · 15 reviews

Stability 5% · Performance 9%

Grey means too few reviews mention it to trust. — means almost no reviews mention it.

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