Have you tried Last Epoch yet? Are you planning to? For any ARPG player, Last Epoch has been a release we’ve all been waiting for. It has been playable in early acces for quite a while now and last week it finally released! All over the internet I am finding lots of questions about the game. In this blog I will tell you a bit about the game and the genre. Then I will focus on first impressions, my experience so far and answering most searched for questions.
About Last Epoch
Let us start with this, what is Last Epoch?
Last Epoch is an ARPG, short for action role-playing game. I will get into what this is later. On February 21st, Last Epoch 1.0 released.
The world of Eterra is threatened by the impending Void.
One of the aspects that makes this game unique is the time travel narrative. As a player you witness and influence the past, present and future of Eterra. The team of Eleventh Hour Games, who developed Last Epoch, started out from their love of ARPGs and wanted to make their vision. The biggest ARPG, for most players are either too easy, too complicated, too old or something else. With their idea of what they wanted to see in an ARPG they got to developing.
Eterra is a world of gods and empires doomed to a ruined future unless the past is changed and the Void is stopped.
lastepoch.com
Did you say action RPG?
As promised, a short piece about ARPG, or fully; Action Role-Playing Game. For anyone who is not familiar with this type of game, this is a genre that combines role-playing elements and combat. You control a character (or multiple) in a fictional world. In this world you embark on quests, slay enemies, gain experience and level up to gain new points. You use these to improve your abilities. The combat system requires you to engage in battles and use your skills. There is a big emphasis on maximizing the working of your characters abilities through collected gear and loot, strategy and skills you pick and level.
Playable classes and masteries
- Mage
Sorcerer
Spellblade
Runemaster - Rogue
Falconer
Marksman
Bladedancer - Primalist
Druid
Beastmaster
Shaman - Acolyte
Warlock
Necromancer
Lich - Sentinel
Forge Guard
Void Knight
Paladin
Great ARPGs
If you like the genre, you probably know all of these. If not, I would recommend checking them out. They are all really cool in their own way and I really loved them. Torchlight 1 and 2 where the first ARPGs I ever played. I did not play games a lot back then but I did like the experience of Torchlight and played around 40 hours or so per game. Diablo is a game I have played more and I have played 1, 3 and 4. Diablo 4 I have played the least ( still way more then Torchlight though). Path of Exile has long been my go to game and I wonder if in time Last Epoch could take its place. The complexity of PoE and leagues has me coming back and learning new stuff every time. With over 1500 hours and still counting, I can safely call this my favorite.
- Diablo
There are currently four Diablo games - Torchlight
There currently are three torchlight games - Path of exile
Path of exile is working on PoE 2.0
Let us play! First impression
Somewhere in the first half of 2023, I already played Last Epoch a bit. I stopped and did not touch it again until the release last week. Like expected, there was quite a queue at release and it took a few hours to get into the game. This is normal, but it seemed that servers kept overflowing. You can play offline and surpass the queue. Multiplayer was sometimes playable but had a lot of difficulties and sometimes did not work at all. I decided to shift my focus and try again on a later date.
There were 265.000 players playing and technical issues kept occurring. Maybe we were all a bit too excited for this game. The developers have been working really hard ever since. They keep the community up to date through regular updates and run an active discord server. As a thank you for everyone’s patience and loyalty, Last Epoch is giving a free cosmetic item to everyone who owns the game on March 1st.
Gameplay
The game has been out for five days now and I am experiencing lots of improvements. On a technical level I mean, otherwise the game was already just fine. Some parts of the day are better than others.
The different areas have amazing designs and vary a lot in style and vibe. I love exploring the world and seeing all these amazing creatures, places and biomes. A lot of functionalities are just what I am used to from other ARPGs and feel comfortable. I do also like the parts that make Last Epoch unique. The time traveling and influence you have as a player are unique. The game is engaging and I will play a lot more of it. I feel like I can relatively easily make a working build. I have found some items with special rolls and did some crafting and all this works really great. There are enough different build options that all have their own feel and are fun to play.
Controller support is really good, although with a Playstation controller takes a little bit of extra effort.
Is last Epoch online?
This may sound like a silly question, but has actually been searched for. There are no silly questions! Right? Mostly searched questions about Last Epoch (at the time of writing this blog, things change):
- Is Last Epoch online?
Optional. It has an offline mode, but is played online a lot. - Is Last Epoch free?
No. These games cost a lot of time and money to make and seen as how much work is put into it, and current pricing of games, Last Epoch is in my opinion, priced very decently at €34,-(price in the Netherlands at time of release) - Is Last Epoch multiplayer?
Also optional. You can play with friends, or even strangers but you can also play alone. Personally I play together in a party a lot but will also continue alone in time. - Is Last Epoch worth it?
I cannot answer this for anyone. Also, everyone’s perception is different. Personally I like this genre and think Last Epoch is in between other great ARPGs if it comes to how complicated it is and has its own unique strengths. That is why I expect to get a lot of hours out of this game. For me that will definitely be worth it. - Is Last Epoch pay to win?
No. Like lots of other ARPGs there is nothing you can buy that will make you better or change your opportunities. You will have to find, make and get stuff yourself or with your friends to get better and further into the game. There is however a shop for cosmetic items.
Conclusion – for now
In the future I am planning to update this blog, when I have played more and experienced the whole story. For now I am really excited to see the rest of it. It seems to me that it is a great balance between PoE that is complicated and hard (and I love that) and Diablo where I wish I had a little more depth sometimes. I hope your questions have been answered for now. I wish you the best of luck in your traveling adventures.