Hero Siege

IMO the best ARPG on the market, it's as if D2 had kept getting updates and actually cared about it's player base. Lots of classes and lots to do, the devs seem to care but the player base is pretty toxic. If you play with friends or keep away from global chat it's a fantastic time.
TLDR
If you like ARPG's this is a master class on how to make a good game, every season brings new and engaging updates. Just be sure to stay away from global chat.

Patch 2.0 is bad. Destroyed the game.
On the good side they allowed old version (for local play at the moment) in latest patch.
Hopefully they'll see their mistake with 2.0, accept it as failure, remove it from the game and move from older version.
I understand that they spend time in development of it and don't want that time be wasted but a failure is a failure.
Recommended for single player mode in old version, not recommended for 2.0.

I played the old version of HS and it was fun, but it was a flawed game, what it is now is better. and the devs seem amenable to community feedback.
With Season 9 upcoming, im super excited, There are some things about the monetization that i would personally like to see bettered, but with the change to slowly making classes free is a huge boon to my feelings towards the monetization
Edit: I do wish they could get some real anti-cheat that isn't EOS/EAC. Because not only is EOS/EAC extremely flawed and exploitable, it also hurts performance really bad. Otherwise, I really like Hero Siege

Almost everything is behind a paywall.. inventory, housing, character classes, Skins /etc.
Features that should be standard feels locked away
Still, the core gameplay can be surprisingly entertaining, and there's potential if the dev ever decides to listen.

Great game, big recommend
Why?
Always new content and updates to come back to
There is no P2W at all, just a ♥♥♥♥ ton of cosmetics
Most action-packed endgame out of any ARPG out there
Devs are actively communicating and listening to feedback in the official discord and also respond to support requests there
Limitless potential in terms of build diversity and tons of things to do (Takes minimum ~100 hours to "complete" what I want to achieve in one season)
Lots of support for alternate gamemodes (Softcore, Hardcore, SSF, SSFHC, Customized Private Leagues)
For new players that are confused/overwhelmed about the many DLC's on the steam store:
There is no need to buy anything but the base game. The only extra content that you would want to consider is:
The latest expansion (Gates of Valhalla as of writing this review) has some additional story content, but is not required to fully explore the endgame content in Hero Siege.
Any Class if there is a particular class that you want to play.
You can always get more if you want to support the developers and there is also very frequent sales for the game, the expansion and classes.
I can't say anything less than that I've gotten my moneys worth out of this game with countless hours (11000 hours + 3000 hours in beta testing) of fun not just within the game but also from getting to know a ton of friends via the community discord. Is this game worth 8 euros to me? Yes, and you can even get it for 2 euros when its on sale.
For returning players:
There's a lot of negative reviews around "this game used to be different". Super valid if someone likes the old version, those old versions can still be played. There are tons of threads/guides on how to download old versions of a game in either the steam community or reddit.
New versions are infinitely better though, I've been playing all kinds of versions of the game since I started in 2012 and this is by far the most enjoyable state the game has ever been in (Season 8 as of writing this review, but season 9 teasers looks ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ awesome too).
TLDR: If you're a returning player and are nostalgic about what the game used to be, try out the new version, you will like it.

APPARENTLY MOVING AWAY FROM
'the excessive pay to play content'
COULD BE GOOD
this game did vslikes before vampire survivors. it did isaacstyle artifact upgrades (and lost them too). ive played it in three strikingly different forms, all of which were honestly pr satisfactory, and multiplayer
but ye, crazy history of paid extra content, game wipes, game redesigns and so on. its cool that its been around for so long, but progress and accounts have been reset over the years, and that sort of thing hurts. why play something that forgets you?

Great game overall, but here are some core areas that need improvement to keep the community engaged long-term:
1. Meta Progression: Hero and Ether levels should be account-wide. Starting from zero on every new character creates unnecessary friction and discourages players from trying new builds.
2. Loot Filters: We need more robust filtering options, specifically the ability to show/hide items by their specific names.
3. Pet Mechanics: Loot collection should be radius-based (e.g., 2 screens wide) rather than tied to the pet's movement speed. This would significantly reduce waiting pet loot time.
4. Tarethiel Market (AH): The UI needs a major overhaul. A web-based trading platform (similar to POEs) would be a game-changer for accessibility, price checks and listing items.
5. Satanic Zones: These should last longer (at least 1 hour) with more impactful mod combinations and better drop rates. Currently, they often feel unrewarding at all.
6. Quality of Life: Mailboxes should be available in all Acts.
7. Content Variety: Increase the number of daily quests to give players more stuff to do.
8. Trading: Soulforged rings and other bound items should be sellable. If there is market demand, players should have the freedom to trade them.
9. Codex Rework: The current Codex system is frustrating. They should either drop with a fixed 5-sockets/random sockets with gems included, or be reworked entirely.
To have 100% 4sockets recipe, 5 sockets recipe and 1>2>3>4>5 sockets upgrade recipe
10. Chaos Tower Integration: Chaos Tower progress should contribute to the Essence Vault. Kills any mob-Logion Mob it should fill essence vaults. players shouldn't be punished for choosing Tower over mapping.
11. Group Play & Bossing: Players should be able to invite others to their boss fights at the cost of a portal. There’s no reason for a helper to spend a full key's worth of portals just to assist, as long as the boss HP scales accordingly.
12. Mob Rework (Bees & Exploding Orbs): While high difficulty is expected, these two specific mob types feel mechanically broken rather than challenging.
The suggestion:
Bees: They should no longer be able to Stun Lock players, and their "Extra Projectile" modifiers should be removed. Being locked in place by a swarm is a frustrating experience with very little counter-play.
Red Explosive Orbs (after-Death Effect): The number of projectiles released upon death should be significantly reduced (fewer than 15), and their movement speed should be lowered. Currently, they create unavoidable "death zones" that feel more like a gear-check than a skill-check.
13. Relics - The most unused relics needs a rework and this is also speaks about the one that got nerfed and nearly not usable
14. Relic Pages - I would be amazing to let players to have different relic setups just like trees, and this should be account wide and not character bound.
15. Buried Monsters: These mobs currently serve no purpose other than spawning directly on top of your head and releasing "resurect in town" lightning burst. It feels like an unavoidable death with zero time to react. The suggestion:
Either increase their spawn detection range so they appear further away from the player, or simply have them spawn as regular, non-buried mobs. There should be a clear visual tell before they deal damage so players have a fair chance to dodge.
16. Proximity Shields: Every mechanic needs counter-play. Currently, this modifier is a dead stat on Codexes; since the game is built around zooming, stopping to enter every shield feels clunky and disruptive.
The Evidence: The market is flooded with these Codexes because no one is willing to buy them.
The Suggestion:
Make shields larger or periodic (cycling on/off), similar to the Path of Exile balance.
Alternatively, introduce a "Shield-Piercing" Charm or mechanic to allow dedicated builds to bypass them.
17. Account/Season-Wide Progression: Everything should be account or season-wide. There is no reason for progression to be locked to individual characters. Specifically, this should apply to:
* Mercenaries and their equipped gear.
* Relics (Season 10 is supposed to add relic storage, but they shouldn't be character inventory bound).
* Keys, Runes, and Material inventory tabs.
* Hero levels (thank God we got the 300% buff mid-season).
18. Codices & Balance: Instead of nerfing the current ones (which only affect Cards and Rifts anyway), consider adding new ones. Rework the existing unusable codices and find a practical use for the 80% of orbs that currently sit completely unused.
19. Charms Inventory: We are missing 3 slots to fill the inventory completely. Why not add 3 new quests to unlock them? For example: kill Gabriel on Inferno, kill Amun-Ra on Inferno, and kill the Orbiter. Voilà, problem solved.
20. Journal Improvements:
* Drop Locations: Add more detailed descriptions for item drop locations and required difficulties. For example: "Shadow Occultist's Wraps – Drops in Hell 1 or above, 10% drop chance."
* Relic Preview: On the relic page, add an option to hold Ctrl or Alt to view a relic's stats at level 10. Right now, we can only see level 1 stats, which hides the special effects unlocked at max level.
21. Steam Achievements:
If I'm playing on SC, I get SC achievements, right?
If I'm playing on SSF, I get SSF achievements, right?
If I'm playing on HC, I get HC achievements, right?
So why is it that when I'm playing SSF + HC, I don't get the achievements for both categories, considering this mode combines them both? This definitely requires a fix.
22. **Fragments & Shards:** While playing on Inferno difficulty, Battle Fragments and Dimensional Shards should not drop from altars and other sources; instead, they should all be Infernal.
23. **Target Farming:** While SSF & SSFHC both should be reworked to offer more loot and more ways to obtain gear, I personally have been after Glacier Talons for nearly 9 days on Inferno and target-farmed them. Eventually, I got them from a non-target-farm zone when I wasn't expecting them at all. Target-farmed items and their locations should have a significant drop boost for them specifically. What is the point of target farming if a week of farming leads to nothing, and then some random chest in a different zone drops it?
24. **Crafting Resources:** Orbs, Codexes, Satanic Dices, Gypsy, Mallets, and Kits should be easier to obtain. While you can purchase them on Trade, they are vital on SSF/SSFHC, and getting only a few a day on Inferno just ruins the entire experience.
25. **Bifrost Keys - Shadow Realm:** Why do we even have it there? Not the arena itself, but the default entrance that costs nothing to enter? and can be found in 1-2 zone refreshes'. This should be reworked to teleport you directly to the arena instead, and ideally to the area with double bosses and an increased chance for the rarest loot like torches.
26. **Bifrost Keys - Tower Boss:** This boss should be added to the key pool.
27. **Bifrost Keys - Vanaheim:** This one should be much more common. Using 27 keys without a single Vanaheim drop is painful, especially for SSF/SSFHC folks, especially considering a Vanaheim/Luna drop isn't even guaranteed to be good.
28. Obtaining divine moon & divine soon should be boosted on SSF/ SSFHC just like the overall 30% more MF on everything else in this mode.
29. Teleport Items vs. Teleport Class Skills — Is there any actual reason why items with a built-in teleport have a faster cast rate and a longer range than an actual class skill?
Take Jotunn, for example. The teleport skill itself even has a dedicated skill tree meant to upgrade cast speed and range, yet it’s still significantly shorter and slower than the item version. See for yourself here:
More to be added or removed according to the changes.