Yes. It's still diablo, but actually good. They just like to add unique and new stuff every once in a while

The skill gems in armor from POE1 (free to play right now by the way) has been replaced. you now have a gem page you can open.

When POE2 goes free to play it most certainly will be worth a check if you like ARPGs. If you were going to spend money on the game pickup one of the supporter packs instead of just buying the currency. You get in game currency worth the same amount you spend on the pack plus you get more on top. But putting money into the game is entirely optional. I still would recommend getting some stash tabs on sale to support the devs.

You aren't alone, i love both old PoE 2 and the new version. We will probably get that vision back at least little bit when they release Ruthless mode for PoE 2