Path of Exile 2

Grinding Gear Games built its reputation on refusing to simplify, and Path of Exile 2 holds that line while fixing the parts of the original that were hostile rather than deep. Combat is slower and more deliberate, encounters expect you to dodge, and bosses have real fights rather than health bars.

The build system is the draw. Skills come from gems, and support gems modify them, chaining, splitting, converting damage types, so a build is a small machine you assemble rather than a row you pick from a menu. Combined with a passive tree of over a thousand nodes, the result is a game where two players at the same level can share almost nothing. It is free, with monetisation confined to cosmetics and stash space.