so ive been playing d4 for a while now and though I like it in general, its only a poor excuse of what PoE offers.
d4 only offers a few cookie cutter builds, feels even more streamlined and dumbed down than d3 did and i dont see myself replaying it alot since its open world, from what ive seen so far, is biring and bland.
The tree has absolutely more than just boring passives. Just look at the keystones.
The gem system (aside from the sockets, but that will change with poe 2) might be weird at first, but it gives you skill versatility in a way no other game has. I find skill trees like they are in other games to be kinda eh in comparison now.