Posted on: August 25, 2025
Louard_le_Barbare
Games: 294 Reviews: 124
A great trio of add-ons
Those expansions are definitely high-quality. While each features a different design philosophy, they all explore the theme of Eora's gods and the lengths mortals will go to for them. All three stories are well-integrated within the main campaign, but the latter two only become available at the end, prolonging the game at a time when you may itch to see its conclusion (and in the case of TFS, possibly when some companions are unavailable). In a nutshell: - The Beast of Winter has you diving head first into the realm of the enigmatic Rymrgand, confronting you with his mordbid worldview. Combat is fairly scarce (though neither nonexistent nor unchallenging) as the game design instead focuses on puzzle-solving and worldbuilding. It's not the best DLC of the bunch IMO, but it's the one I enjoyed exploring the most, especially since it contains pretty cool revelations about Eora's past. - Seeker, Slayer, Survivor adds a gladiator storyline to the game, reminiscent of the ones from Oblivion or Fable. It's basically just a series of arena fights, most of which cleverly experiment with monster types and combat configurations: it's thus a must-play if you enjoy PoE's 2 battles, while still being surprisingly story-driven and full of cool lore. In fact, my biggest gripe with it are the ludicrous stat requirements needed to uncover the full picture of what's happening. - The Forgotten Sanctum is set in a dungeon designed to feel as lively as possible, featuring as much exploration as it does combat and still rewarding lateral thinking, diplomacy and even stealth. Its mix of strange visuals, bizarre horror and hilarious writing (largely due to my man Tayn and his Imps) reminded me of Planescape: Torment - which is high praise. My only issue is how brutal the final boss is, especially since the rest of the expansion isn't very hard. Overall, these are all fun to play and built with tons of care, making them pretty much a mandatory buy for anyone wishing to experience PoE2!
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