Diablo 4 has established itself as the new top dog in the hack’n’slay genre with huge success over the last year. But now there are 2 opponents who are vying for the throne: Last Epoch and Path of Exile 2. MeinMMO ARPG expert Benedict Grothaus explains why you as a player will experience the best year since the early 2000s in 2024.
Do you remember back when all the great games were released? Shortly after the groundbreaking success of Diablo came Diablo 2, Sacred, Dungeon Siege and later Divine Divinity, Titan Quest and Torchlight. All wonderful titles that provided endless hours of fun. And then? Suddenly nothing anymore.
We had a bit of a lull in the ARPG space before Diablo 4, at least when it comes to classic Diablo-style isometric hack’n’slays. The reason for this may be that new technologies have become more popular. There was more 3D, the ARPG genre moved to games like Dark Souls and Monster Hunter.
Only a few games still held the fort. Diablo 3 and Path of Exile dominated the market for years. Only Wolcen was somehow a big outlier, but it dried up quite quickly. But most of the hack’n’slays never made it big.
Now it’s 2024 and after less than 3 months we already have the best announcements that a fan of Diablo and Co. could only wish for. The year has already been outstanding and will only get better.
Last Epoch is the hero of the hour right now. Here is the trailer:
Last Epoch: The ARPG shows classes, battles and challenges in the launch trailer
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3 strong games that are worthwhile for every ARPG fan
This year, 3 new, promising Hack’n’Slays are coming out, are getting new expansions or have already been released. You’ll have more gaming to do all year round than you’ve had in years:
Path of Exile 2 is the great hope for many fans at the moment. The predecessor is considered THE competitor for Diablo, even if it is clearly too difficult for most casuals. According to initial play tests, part 2 is just as dark as Diablo, but not quite as complex as part 1. A specific release is still pending, but you can play the beta as early as July 2024.
Last Epoch has already been released and is currently dominating the genre on Steam. Hundreds of thousands are playing the new ARPG and are thrilled. For many, Last Epoch is the perfect medium between the overly complex Path of Exile and the overly easy Diablo 4. It has now been released in version 1.0 and promises patches and changes in the near future to make it even better. There are even plans to become the best game in the genre.
The “big player” Diablo 4 is currently going through Season 3 and has been making improvements since its release. In 2024 Vessel of Hatred will finally be released, the first expansion with a new area, new skills and new class. Despite all the criticism, Diablo is still the king of the genre with millions of players who traditionally storm the servers, especially for new seasons and expansions.
I was able to talk live with the bosses about the future of Diablo 4 at BlizzCon:
BlizzCon 2023: Diablo 4 bosses talk to us about the game’s development and future
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Consistently good content when everything goes right
What makes 2024 so special is that Path of Exiles, Last Epoch and Diablo 4 will fight for players. Unlike 20 years ago, the games are not simply sold and then perhaps added expansions.
All 3 titles are service games that want to work for years and provide you with new content to keep you loyal. As a rule, this is around 3 months per season plus a few events or patches in between.
You can pretty much only win:
Of course, it can happen that the 3 games destroy each other so much that in the end nothing good comes of it for players. However, I think that is quite unlikely. Path of Exile and Diablo have already shown that they can learn very well from each other and are constantly improving. With Last Epoch there is now even more incentive to do so.
Contrary to what the discussions on Reddit etc. might suggest, the genre doesn’t need a single king. The 3 titles offer you so much different content that you can play exactly what you want at any time. It can hardly get any better. But the year has even more to offer: New MMOs and multiplayer games in 2024: The big release list