Diablo is a long-running and much-beloved series that, frankly, sort of missed the mark with its fourth entry. While Diablo 4 is enjoyable, it’s almost soulless, lacking the shine that helped Diablo 3 survive for so long. That’s probably why every patch features an entire rework, with the next big slew of changes coming in the next season. You could wait for that, or you could just play Last Epoch instead, and you 100% should.
Last Epoch is another action RPG that launched into early access back in April 2019, nearly five years ago. It was solid in Early Access, but the real waves came back in February with its full launch. Boy howdy is it a good game. It takes the standard ARPG stuff we all know and love and turns it up. You still walk around clicking, using skills, working with friends, and finding far too much loot, but it’s just better. Plus, the skill system is some of the most fun going if you’re a fan of tinkering.
As you level up, you not only get new skills but can also improve them as you progress. All you must do is put a skill into a special slot; you start with one and gain more as you level. Then, you can gain points for that skill to buff or change it. This isn’t just little things like the skill doing slightly more damage. They can inflict new status effects, completely change elemental damage, or trigger other skills in succession.
By the end of the game, you’ll have enough slots to buff every skill on your hotbar. The best part is that means you can have them all triggering each other and all working towards the same goal. It’s a true joy to play around with. When you add in the cool time travel stuff and the sheer fun the classes offer, you’ve got a game that’ll have you wondering why Diablo 4 didn’t come out swinging that little bit harder to begin with.
