Path of Exile is one of the best free-to-play action RPGs on the market. Millions of people still play it regularly, even though its initial release dates back to 2013.
If you’re a PoE fan, you’ll know that one of the best things about it is that there’s always new content to explore. The team at Grinding Gear Games constantly keeps things fresh and it’s hard to lose interest in the game.
If you love ARPGs that give you the chance to fight tough bosses, find exceptional items, and become increasingly powerful, this is the article for you.
Here are 10 games like Path of Exile.
1. Diablo 2 Resurrected
Diablo 2 is the continuation of Diablo that came out in the year 2000. One year later, the Lord of Destruction expansion pack came out and it too was very well received by the community.
For two decades, the game was a hit for millions and millions of people. And then, out of the blue, Blizzard decided to finally do something for its community and partnered up with Vicarious Visions for a remake that came out in 2021.
Despite its initial problems, the game was a big success. It’s a genuine remake of the original. The Diablo 2 spirit and its unique atmosphere are still intact. The only thing that has changed in a major way is the graphics.
Spoiler alert: the new ones look absolutely gorgeous.
Apart from that, the game has been improved in a lot of small ways that are barely noticeable if you haven’t played in years. The extra features implemented by Vicarious Visions are simply quality of life improvements.
If you haven’t played Diablo 2, you should know that this game has one of the best stories, and soundtracks in the history of gaming. Every character is beautifully designed and the voices simply have something spiritual about them.
The dialogue is brilliant, though brief, and mostly consists of NPC monologues. Whether you played the original or not, you should give Diablo 2 Resurrected a try.
2. Titan Quest Anniversary Edition
Titan Quest is one of the most successful ARPGs that came out in the years that followed Diablo 2’s tremendous success.
One such company was Iron Lore Entertainment and their game was called Titan Quest. This RPG came out in 2006 but its anniversary edition dates back to 2016. This version of the game is a vast improvement of the original and keeps its spirit intact.
In other words, if you grew up playing fancy-looking AAA games, you won’t need to torture your eyes to experience Titan Quest’s gameplay and story. Instead, you can play an updated edition that looks quite decent.
This edition combines Titan Quest and its Immortal Throne expansion.
The story of Titan Quest takes place in 3 ancient places that have some of the best monster lore on earth: Greece, Egypt, and China.
As the protagonist of the story, your mission is to defeat the Titans, who used to be locked up in a prison but have escaped and roam the world freely.
Titan Quest follows the typical ARPG formula: lots of monsters, great loot, epic bosses, a beautiful story, and an excellent atmosphere. This is a game that makes you want to play for the sake of getting stronger and fighting the next powerful boss.
There’s little dialogue compared to a CRPG but it’s enough to give you an understanding of the world. If you’re looking for something with PoE flavor, this is the game for you.
3. Torchlight 2
Torchlight 2 came out in 2012 and was built on top of the success of Torchlight, which was developed by Runic Games and, more importantly, by some of the people who worked on Diablo and Diablo 2.
Torchlight was great as a dungeon-crawler ARPG but it didn’t offer much else.
With Torchlight 2, the company hoped that they might be able to offer a more sophisticated hack-and-slash experience and take the original product to the next level. Based on the fan and critic reviews, you can tell that they succeeded.
Torchlight 2 looks and feels gorgeous.
Every step you take, every vase you break, makes you feel incredible. The more you play it, the more addicted you become. There’s a lot of great loot to find, there are monsters to fight, the quests are decent, and the progression is well-balanced.
There are 4 classes that you can choose from: Engineer, Outlander, Embermage, and Berserker. Each of them is unique and will give you a completely different experience of the game.
Everything about this game is great, except the main storyline.
If you want to play a story-driven RPG, you should try some of the other titles mentioned in this article. But if you just want to enjoy yourself, Torchlight 2 is absolutely an ideal choice. You can play it for dozens of hours without getting bored or feeling that it’s repetitive.
4. Tails of Iron
Tails of Iron belongs to the newer generation of RPGs, which blend genres and seek to offer players a rich experience.
This game has an excellent story, great action, a sublime atmosphere, souls-like elements like epic boss fights, and everything else that you might want from a well-designed ARPG.
The game came out in September, 2021. It’s definitely not as famous as some of the other big RPGs that have come out in the last 5 years, but it is worth trying nonetheless.
One of the great aspects of this RPG is its graphics. The cartoonish style is very appealing, carefully designed, and will remind you of games similar to Disco Elysium, Knights and Bikes, and Nobody Saves the World.
Tails of Iron utilizes the personification technique and asks you to play as a cute rat in a brutal world full of rats. Your lands are plagued by a devastating war and you, as the heir to the Rat Throne, must fight against a Frog Clan led by a merciless leader named Greenwart.
It might sound a bit childish, and it is, but the game itself is beautifully made and is suitable for people of all ages. Along the way, you’ll encounter memorable companions and will need to overcome your fears.
5. Dark Souls 3
Dark Souls 3 is for those who crave a real challenge.
Because it comes from the FromSoftware team, Dark Souls 3 is, just like the previous games of the series, a gem that can keep you busy for many days.
An expert playthrough would probably take you around 30 hours to complete.
But since you’re probably not an expert at fighting seemingly unbeatable bosses, you will need to think outside the box and dedicate a lot more time to get to the finish line.
This RPG is the perfect illustration of the phrase “It’s about the journey, not the destination.”
Dark Souls 3 utilizes many of the features of the first two games in the series and builds upon them, refining everything in a masterful way. This is a pristine souls-like experience.
The game came out in 2016 and received a rating of 8.6+ on Metascore. On Steam, 93% of the 200,000+ reviews are positive.
In Dark Souls 3 you can pick one of 10 classes. Each class starts with a different set of attributes and it’s up to you to choose an adventurer that excels at what you enjoy the most.
You can be a:
- Knight
- Mercenary
- Warrior
- Herald
- Thief
- Assassin
- Sorcerer
- Pyromancer
- Cleric
- Deprived
Choose wisely because the game is super hard to beat.
6. Elden Ring
Elden Ring is another souls-like title developed by, you guessed it, the same company that created the Dark Souls series.
What makes this game more special than any of the other brilliant titles created by FromSoftware is the deep focus on the story, the quests, and the dialogue.
After almost 10 years of effort, the company had developed a brilliant system with highly original game mechanics. So they decided that to take their RPG brand to the next level, they would have to enhance it with a story that was on par with the gameplay.
And that’s exactly what FromSoftware did.
The company invited one of the most famous fantasy writers of our time, George R. R. Martin, and allowed him to do for the Elden Ring Universe what he did for the Game of Thrones Universe
As a result, the story, all of the quests, and the characters are beautifully crafted.
When you play Elden Ring, you can tell that a large team of highly dedicated people spent many thousands of hours creating this game for their fans.
The game sold more than 12 million copies in the first few weeks after its release and is likely to be played for many years to come.
When playing this game, it’s useful to read some Elden Ring game guides that can help you to solve quests and puzzles such as the Mirage Riddle.
7. Skyrim
Skyrim was probably Bethesda’s highest peak and nobody knows when the company will manage to surpass itself in creativity and artistic skill.
The number of Skyrim mods that exist is staggering. There are tens of thousands of them and the improvements they bring to the game are very useful.
One of Skyrim’s strongest points is the atmosphere. You’re dealing with towns, forests, mountains, snow, rain, rivers, dungeons, and much more.
Capturing the essence of all of these places and creating a soundtrack that doesn’t get boring or repetitive is extremely hard. But Jeremy Soule achieved this and what he created will probably endure longer than the works of Beethoven and Mozart.
Skyrim’s music is on par with the best music ever created, from any genre.
Apart from its great atmosphere, Skyrim also impressed with its story and the vastness of its world. It’s so big that you could literally go to a library inside the game and read about the history of that imaginary world, its characters, and much, much more.
Add to that an amazing class system, engaging side quests, and the fact that you’re the only character in the game whom dragons are afraid of, and you’ll get a glimpse into one of the best RPGs of all time.
8. Grim Dawn
Grim Dawn is another ARPG designed for those who love combat and loot. The game came out in 2016 and has very positive reviews on Steam.
The character development in this game is absolutely brilliant and it’s often hard to decide how you want to play. There’s so much to do that you can play the game for hundreds of hours without getting bored.
Because of its excellent ARPG features, Grim Dawn is regarded as one of the best games in this genre. It’s similar to Path of Exile, but has very distinctive qualities of its own.
In Grim Dawn, you get to play in an apocalyptic fantasy world in which humanity is in a lot of trouble and there’s a lot that needs to be done if the species is to survive at all.
The game features 8 classes that you can play with, but that’s before all of the customizations that you can put on top. These classes are the following:
- Soldier
- Nightblade
- Shaman
- Arcanist
- Demolitionist
- Occultist
- Inquisitor
- Necromancer
In Grim Dawn, you can unlearn skills and the game encourages you to experiment with different builds. The items you will find make it highly addictive and add a lot of thrill to fighting countless monsters and powerful bosses.
9. Divinity Original Sin 2 Definitive Edition
Divinity Original Sin 2 is probably Larian Studios’ best game to date.
In many people’s view, it’s even better than Baldur’s Gate 3, and the players gave it a score of 88 on Metacritic. On Steam, this CRPG has an approval rate of 95% with more than 125,000 votes.
Divinity Original Sin 2 is one of those rare RPGs that excels in every single category: atmosphere, character development, story, quests, combat, and so on.
One distinctive quality of this game is its bright atmosphere. Despite the tough battles that you’ll engage in every step of the way, there’s light everywhere, enchanting inns, and beautifully designed NPCs that will talk with you as much as you like.
The dialogue in this game is on par with that of the world’s best films and it will make you want to listen. Unlike most other games like Path of Exile, this is an RPG that focuses on storytelling elements and makes you want to stay a while and listen instead of just fighting.
Divinity Original Sin 2 is played using the party system, which means that you will always be surrounded by several other characters that you’ll get to talk to and customize.
10. The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing
This ARPG will keep you glued to your screen for many hours.
The fighting is relentless and the items you will find give you a genuine feeling that you have been rewarded for your efforts. There are multiple specializations that you can choose from and each of them allows you to carve a path through the thousands of monsters in a unique way.
This game came out in 2013 and not that many people know about it. But those who do, regularly go back to playing it because it’s such an addictive experience.
A Van Helsing session feels a lot like one of Vampire Survivors. The mechanics are quite simple but they’re so well designed that it’s hard to stop playing.
If you’re a casual gamer who just wants to have fun, you can set the game to a lower difficulty and you won’t have any problem finishing it. But if you like challenges, play it on Hard or even Heroic and you’ll see just how complicated it can get.
