Isometric action RPGs fans normally use the Diablo II series as one of the gold standards. Who blames them? Like really, no need to go much farther. A studio who took that too heart was Grinding Gears Games when they dropped Path of Exile in 2013 following a lengthy development cycle and open beta. The free-to-play project was so good, that Gamespot called it the game that out “Diablo”d “Diablo” when the outlet gave it its’ PC Game Of The Year. Since then, Path of Exile averages around one million players a month with the average session lasting five hours long. Members of “The Master PC Race” obviously love it. Though freemium games get a bad rep for being lower quality than titles requiring single transactions, Path of Exile has always set an example of how to properly pull it off. 
However, how does one translate that to consoles?
Both console version of Diablo III struggled to hold everything together control wise and still manages to damn near hold retail value even in second-hand markets. Outside of that, there isn’t much to fill that void of multi-class multiplayer dungeon crawlers. For the upcoming Xbox One port of Path of Exile, the game still remains free while featuring all the update’s including the upcoming Act 5: The Fall of Oriath endgame. From the time played during a press day in Culver City, it plays just as well as the PC version thanks to controls that at time feel more inspired Dragon Age: Inquisition and Gauntlet. All the character and weapon customization remain intact as well. As far as the visuals, it’ll probably go hand-in-hand with Smite as the best looking free-to-play title available for the console. 
So yes, Path of Exile gets the console treatment without missing a step both mechanically and visually. And did we mention it was free and will retain its eight-player multiplayer? Though Microsoft’s second place console may be missing that killer AAA title, this might be exactly what they need instead.
Watch the trailer for Path of Exile below:
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