Same POE 2 is my definite best CRPG after BG2... Haven't finished BG3, but with everything i'm ready about how much of a drop Act 3 + the ending...
A case of Act 1 hype overtaking everyone's critical judgement in the reviews perhaps ?
I think it is just differences in what people like in games rather than overhype! For me I thought POE2 was a mess and didn’t finish it, but others put it among their top games! In contrast BG3 is one of my favorite games, and some don’t like it.
I haven’t reached Act 3 yet, but I am loving Act 2, especially getting new companions, the shadow curse plot, and seeing npcs from Act 1!
I think you and I have similar tastes. I really wanted to like PoE2, and there are some thing I like, but they don’t make up for all of the ways that game disappointed me. I cared nothing for the characters, the story was pitifully non-engaging, and worst of all, the game was just boring. All of the combats were either- my party just kills everything without me needing to really do anything, or- I need to rapidly pause and unpause to micromanage brining down an enemy with stupid dumb amounts of HP and it’s not hard but just annoying. Either way I’m not having fun.
I started the game 3 times before finally conceding that I just don’t like PoE2 and won’t ever finish it.
Edit: this is a minor gripe, but something that really hurt my ability to enjoy both PoE games. When you click somewhere for your party to move they all begin walking and stepping in unison. Most games know to avoid this because it looks terrible. Like a bunch of little robots.
