Dark Souls: Prepare to Die vs Path of Exile
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die
Dark Souls: Prepare to Die is one of the scariest and hardcore action role-playing game that's set in a dark fantasy world filled with demons, monsters, and even dragons. Unlike most games where dying is heavily penalized, this game actually lets you use every one of your deaths as a stepping stone to learn the where to avoid and where to press on... so expect to die... a lot. Sometimes, the deaths of the other players - their spirits, so to speak - will also show up in your game so you can learn from their mistakes before you atttempt a challenging part of the game.By playing, you'll be able to improve your mastery over weapons, spells, and other combat mechanics which will in turn help you progress and access tougher challenges. This Prepare to Die edition also features new mechanics, including Bonfires which serve as check points and will replenish your health and magic but at a pretty heavy cost - all the mobs you've killed will respawn. Dark Souls is a networked game and as such, you may bump into other players while dungeon crawling which may result in an impromptu PvP battle, or you can also work together with other players to take down difficult bosses.
Dark Souls have earned a name of itself for being incredibly punishing - there will be a lot of dying - and for being creepy as af, but it is also a game that's pretty unique, and to some extent, revolutionary since many of the game mechanics present in this game isn't even heard of let alone used in any other games.
Path of Exile
Path of Exile is a game come true for fans of the dungeon-crawling MMO genre, much like Drakensang Online. However, this game has a much more similar theme to the dark and brooding tone set by the Diablo series as opposed to the more lighthearted tone in the Torchlight series. Like most dungeon crawlers, the gameplay in Path of Exile is pretty much a straight-up hack-and-slash but interestingly, the character you play has a variety of passive and active abilities that provide players with the freedom to create whatever build they like. Of course, these builds and the players' skills will be put to the test when they attempt to take on an epic boss which if defeated, will shower their group with plenty of amazing loot.Another interesting aspect in Path of Exile is its robust and thriving player-driven economy. Similar to Diablo 3's albeit failed auction system in some way, players who raid often can sell any loot they don't need on the market rather than a mere AI vendor usually at a marked-up price. Other players who don't have that much time to raid but money aplenty can then spend the necessary amount to buy the stuff they need.
Path of Exile is definitely the sort of free-to-play game fans of Diablo, or any dungeon crawler game really, will love to play. If you happen to be one of them, then what are you waiting for? Try the game now!