Path of Exile is pretty refreshing. I haven't had too much time to play with it, but it looks like they really did do away with a "main" gold-like currency pretty well. I've played with a few others trying to do away with a main currency and they always felt very restrictive, but PoE does more of a hybrid system than completely doing away with "normal currency." The crafting/selling hybrid system is totally unique, too, AFAIK. Haven't cracked into much of the game, though - haven't found a rare item or map mod, yet.
Pleased that the skill tree is completely overwhelming at first glance. Nice to be able to sit back and study something again, restudying it over and over as I progress and want to work with the items and gems I have without everything being intuitive and obvious. Multiplayer being very clearly opt-in is nice, too, though I'd guess it's necessary on highest difficulties (did first roll on Ambush to get working knowledge of game).
Path of Exile is awesome, I played it religiously for half a year. Once you get used to it, my favorite part is running whatever new hardcore league is currently up and doing races. I would literally die and start over in the Nemesis league over 40 times - I didn't care that I lost all my progress because it was so competitive and fun to progress and learn. And Races are just the most competitive thing I've played in the longest time - you compete against thousands of other players, and to get into the top 10 or 20 position for a race is just an awesome feeling. Plus you get rewards if you do well over the Race season as well.
The game just has such a refreshing amount of depth compared not just to Diablo 3, but to any non-indie release. Sure, it doesn't look and feel as flashy as the more polished AAA games, but it will take you literally over a year to learn everything in the game. And if you only play hardcore, it will probably take you a very long time just to reach the end-game part when you start running maps. I haven't even progressed that far because I haven't played the normal league at all.
Idunno, I think it looked comparable to D3, but that might just be from still feeling bitter over pre-ordering it. D3 had all sorts of over-the-top lighting effects, but the 3D models in PoE are pretty well-done and level design has each place feeling unique. It's even nice how "sub-maps" give a break from sprawling zones you need to poke in every nook and cranny of, instead being relatively linear experiences where you "know" where you're supposed to go. I don't think I've ever played a game out of NZ (and I've played at least 300 different games in my life), so it's been really surprising to see how polished it is, especially without pay-to-win or upfront costs. Sometimes, it does feel a bit like they copied straight out of D2. Pit of Sins or w/e it was called felt just like the harem in Act 2 of D2 (well, without ancient tomb and whatever the inside of that was called, with the book at the end, which I'm pretty sure was the hardest part to solo in D2). Soon after Sin, there's a place literally called "The Den," which looked pretty damn similar to The Den early in D1 where you kill all the mobs and then there's a little lighting effect and calming music when you kill everything in there. I was actually surprised that didn't happen - I actually made sure I killed everything in there just to be sure.
I decided to go with the paradoxical-seeming choice of a necro ranger (with all the benevolent "I put you out of your misery like I would any wounded animal" speech) with Vaal Skelly Summon & Raise Zombie in the lineup. Haven't died except when I decide it's time for a smoke and try playing one-handed, but that's still on the easiest difficulty.
Trade system's a PitA. Glad they're changing that. I'm never in the mood to spam trade until I find someone willing to trade a particular support gem I found and already have for one I can use. Dev came in chat yesterday to mention 2.0 would allow total respecs, so now I just want to try leveling up a bunch of different builds as fast as I can, then reallocate the points at 2.0 update to fix all the mistakes I learned were mistakes.
Overall, really excited by it. Can't wait to give it another go when I'm finished working today. I haven't gotten into the race leagues, even (or had a real chance at the month-long league), but might give it a go since Ambush is going away late tomorrow my time.