Since 2012, Action RPG fans have been gorging on some fine gaming experiences. Starting with Diablo 3, and ending with the single player adventures The Witcher 2 and Dragon’s Dogma. It is now 2024, and Action RPG fans are still eating incredibly well, with Diablo 4, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and the newest addition to the Action RPG genre, Last Epoch. With Last Epoch, Independent developer Eleventh Hour Studios has delivered a deeper RPG experience than Lost Ark, with more focus on enjoyment than endless grinding, and most importantly, it feels like a solid bridge between the mindless seasonal offerings of Diablo 4 and the incoming Path of Exile 2.
Eleventh Hour Studios takes the ‘light’ approach when it comes to story. Humanity is in peril, dark forces are inevitably ruining the world, and there are some convenient time travel instances that transport the player character from the “Ancient Era” of the world all the way to the “End of Time” and vice versa.
The time periods function to let the player know where they are on the timeline, but also where they are in the story. The story serves its purpose and EleventhHour pedals lore dumps which seems like they want you to understand the world at least. But if you’re playing Last Epoch for the story, you’re playing the wrong game.
“Last Epoch implores the player to ‘break their build’ by synergizing skills.”
If you are, however, playing Last Epoch for a stellar example of a Diablo-like Action RPG, with an incredibly robust character builder then you are in the right place. There are a total of five base classes and a staggering 15 advanced classes to wreak havoc on the hordes of Last Epoch with. After weighing options, I settled on the Mage class, with the option to transcend into either the Sorceror, SpellBlade or RuneMaster classes.
Unfortunately, Last Epoch doesn’t allow you to ‘test drive’ these classes before settling (this is irreversible). But I was able to sink my talons into the Mage, Acolyte, and Primalist classes, and the differences (and synergies that can be performed) are staggering. After ‘maining’ the Mage class to adventure through Last Epoch, I was incredibly impressed. Last Epoch implores the player to ‘break their build’ by synergizing skills. Where Diablo IV demands the player kill thousands of creatures, Last Epoch demands the player kill hundreds while placing a large emphasis on build management.
This focus on creative build management does something special that most other A-RPGs don’t, it feels as though every build I’ve attempted are ‘meta’. Last Epoch has threaded a much-needed gameplay needle, allowing players to build their character the way THEY WANT, without having to follow a ‘most effective build’ guide when hitting a wall. In Diablo IV, I was only able to get to a certain point before it felt like the hordes of hell didn’t allow my build to succeed any longer (this same wall is visible in other titles too, like Final Fantasy XIV and Lost Ark). Last Epoch lets you use your character the whole way through, and creativity is your ally.
After setting out as a Mage-main, you’re only given a basic melee attack, and gradually you have a five-skill hot bar of destruction. Somehow, Eleventh Hour Studios brings the heat when it comes to monster design, which is made even more apparent when you hit the Monolith of Fate dungeon at the End of Time segment of the narrative. Gameplay is silky smooth, with awareness being the player’s greatest ally, focus on where enemy attack patterns land is the way to survive in Last Epoch.
On particularly challenging encounters with massive health pool enemies, I deployed the altered volcanic orb skill so it spreads the frozen status effect, then was able to throw out a massive destructive titanic-sinking glacier and mopped up the rest with a literal beam of death (called disintegrate). The skill impact is sublime. The moment the beam strikes an enemy it feels as though you are willing them to melt, and it is satisfying when they evaporate in front of you.
After changing to a SpellBlade later in my playthrough, an advanced skill called shatter strike can be used to shatter all of the frozen enemies. This skill can be further improved by adding an ignition status effect. By the end of my journey as a SpellBlade in Last Epoch, I was basically a George R.R. Martin Game of Thrones character, a master of dealing death with fire and ice. Eleventh Hour Studios has impeccably balanced the created build power trip with difficulty, and I’m 100% locked in.
“Eleventh Hour Studios has impeccably balanced the created build power trip with difficulty, and I’m 100% locked in.”
Eleventh Hour has checked many of the boxes that an A-RPG needs. Incredible design that makes everything run buttery smooth, impressive synergy between skills (even when they aren’t the same element), all while providing a world with lush biomes that deviate from one segment of the game to the next. Even sound design is striking; the glacier skill (easily my favourite) explodes out of the ground, impaling adversaries with a resounding boom. After five years in early access, the polish on Last Epoch is apparent.
There are still a few shortcomings in Eleventh Hour debutante title to contend with. Server stability is Last Epoch’s Achille’s heel. While playing, I often ran into disconnection issues, impressive lag spikes, infinite loading screens that required a restart, and so on. You could play Last Epoch in offline mode (you hear that Diablo IV?) which solves the server issues, but it decreases the fun factor significantly.
This is due to a core mechanic of the game, having to choose between two factions (the Circle of Fortune and Merchant’s Guild) with the goal to incite either a solo playstyle or group playstyle which just doesn’t make sense when playing offline. Considering the storyline does fall well short when compared to other offline mode ARPGs such as Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, and Diablo II Resurrected, the real fun comes when playing online, which is janky at best.
Last Epoch is a triumph. Eleventh Hour Studios proves that game development doesn’t need AAA development costs (or a return to office mandate) to create a living world with incredibly fun game mechanics. The freedom of choice in Last Epoch is almost unrivaled due to the balancing of the game, and every build feeling viable. Sound decisions add to the experience, breathing life into the biomes of Last Epoch with a flourish. Only when you hone in on the story by itself and the miserable connectivity issues does the title show its biggest flaws. Even with the shortcomings, Last Epoch is a great addition to the ARPG landscape, and is a must play for fans of this flavour of RPG.
