Last Epoch review – a worthy challenger to the ARPG throne

After five years in early access, Last Epoch is finally here. Arriving squarely between the launches of Blizzard behemoth Diablo 4 and the upcoming Path of Exile 2 from Grinding Gear Games, this ARPG has long been heralded as the ideal middle ground between D4’s beginner-friendly systems and Path of Exile’s unrelenting depth and complexity. Built by Eleventh Hour Games, originally formed as a passion project by developers who met through Reddit, Last Epoch certainly bears the mark of that scrappy upstart origin. Yet it’s also clear that this is a game built by people who love the genre and have spent a lot of time playing it, and the result is one of the most delightfully player-friendly and welcoming RPGs I’ve ever played - one that pushes the genre forward in some ways its bigger-name rivals would do well to take note of.