Path of Exile

Intense overall intensity
Highest flag: Violence — graphic & gore
FantasyMMORPG

What's in it

Violence graphic & gore
High

Constant combat against monsters, undead, and human enemies with heavy blood spray, gibbed corpses, and gory on-screen death effects.

Spending real-money purchases
High

Free-to-play funded by real-money cosmetic microtransactions, stash-tab upgrades, and purchasable mystery boxes.

Occult & ritual player performs occult ritual
High

Dark rituals, blood magic, demonic summoning, and arcane sacrificial imagery appear throughout the setting.

Nudity partial/artistic
Moderate

Some enemies and NPCs wear revealing or minimal attire in a grim fantasy setting.

Dark themes intense
Moderate

Themes of corruption, madness, mass death, undeath, and bodily mutation run through the lore and environments.

Horror & psychological frightening
Moderate

Grotesque mutated creatures, decaying corpses, and dark dread-filled areas create frightening scenes.

Torture depicted
Moderate

Lore and imagery reference cruelty and captivity inflicted on victims within the story world.

Mutilation / body horror depicted
Moderate

Enemies can be dismembered or burst into gore during combat.

Animal combat combat mechanic
Low

Beasts and creatures are fought and, in some mechanics, captured as a normal combat/gameplay activity.

Sexual content suggestive
Low

Occasional suggestive character and monster designs; nothing explicit.

Language mild
Low

Mild coarse language appears in some NPC dialogue.

Spending pressure optional
Low

Purchases are optional and the game is explicitly not pay-to-win, though stash space is a common convenience buy.

Who can reach your kid

Chat with strangersDirect messagesStranger friend requestsGifting / tradingReal-money spending

What it is

Path of Exile is a free-to-play online action RPG set in the grim dark-fantasy continent of Wraeclast, where you play a banished exile clawing for power and revenge. The core loop is fast, top-down combat against endless waves of undead, beasts, and mutated horrors, with blood, gore, and enemies that can burst apart. The atmosphere is bleak and often frightening, with corruption, necromancy, blood ritual, and demonic imagery running through the world and story. It is played online in shared towns with global and private text chat, item trading, and party play, and it is monetized through optional real-money cosmetics, stash upgrades, and randomized mystery boxes rather than pay-to-win advantages.

How it's framed

The game frames violence as heroic survival and vengeance against a corrupted, monstrous world; enemies are largely inhuman threats, and combat is rewarded with loot and progression. Its darkness is atmospheric and mythic rather than glorifying real-world cruelty, and it explicitly positions its paid content as non-pay-to-win cosmetics.

Details

Developer
Grinding Gear Games
Publisher
Grinding Gear Games
Released
Oct 23, 2013
Metacritic 86critic score (third-party) · out of 100

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