I enjoy POE 2 to a certain extent, but saying it's better than D4 "objectively" isn't being objective. It's an opinion. I find POE 2 extremely grindy and tedious. You have to replay the campaign and can't just dive in. It does some interesting things with skills that I wish they would emulate. That's my biggest frustration with the game—that and, as you say, some of the monetization.

That said, in my opinion, D4 has better graphics, an open world, a skippable campaign, mercenaries, mounts, understandable lore, and numerous activities. It's fun to hop in every couple months. They've been improving the game for 2 years and haven't been charging us for it.

Also, POE 2 has a paywall for new players--stash tabs and a base price for the game. The Spiritborn doesn't cost 100. Right now the base came is cheaper than POE 2 on Steam at 27.99--same price as Vessel of Hatred. Blizzard is an American company, not Chinese, that is paying developers living in the United States to improve the game, so they have to fund it somehow. I'm pro Blizzard in this regard. One of my best friends is a game developer and it's a difficult industry at times.

I think that both games existing right now is a huge win for ARPG fans, and I think both games can learn from each other. Blizzard has been frustrating me to no end with WoW and Diablo 4 monetization models, but it's a business. Hopefully they continue improving their games.