ELEX Pre-Release Thread

[Jenkem]

http://www.gamestar.de/artikel/jubilaeums-gamestar-ab-209-im-handel,3319765.html

Titelstory: Elex
In unserem weltexklusiven Test stellen wir die Stärken und Schwächen des riesigen Rollenspiels heraus. Die Kurzfassung: Elex ist das Beste, was Piranha Bytes seit Gothic 2 entwickelt hat, allerdings muss man gleich zu Anfang eine ordentliche Hürde nehmen.

Die Kurzfassung: Elex ist das Beste, was Piranha Bytes seit Gothic 2 entwickelt hat

The short version: ELEX is the best thing Piranha Bytes has developed since Gothic 2

 

[Aqualung]

I need ELEX in my life. More ELEX and less problems in fact.

Have you tried applying ELEX in suppository form for best digestibility?

Hmm, I'm considering spiking your food with ELEX and see your later performance, if you know what I mean, "pretty".

 

[harhar!]

http://www.gamestar.de/artikel/jubilaeums-gamestar-ab-209-im-handel,3319765.html

Titelstory: Elex
In unserem weltexklusiven Test stellen wir die Stärken und Schwächen des riesigen Rollenspiels heraus. Die Kurzfassung: Elex ist das Beste, was Piranha Bytes seit Gothic 2 entwickelt hat, allerdings muss man gleich zu Anfang eine ordentliche Hürde nehmen.

Die Kurzfassung: Elex ist das Beste, was Piranha Bytes seit Gothic 2 entwickelt hat

The short version: ELEX is the best thing Piranha Bytes has developed since Gothic 2

They rated Elex with 85:

https://shop.gamestar.de/$WS/webedi...ar/einzelausgaben/2017/G2D1710_Leseprobe1.pdf

But they rated Risen 2 DARK WATERS with 86:

http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/risen-2-dark-waters/wertung/46392.html

So basically it is worse than Risen 2 but still the best since G2? How does that make sense? Did their rating system get tougher over time?

 

[Kahr]

lol Gothic 2 also got 86

The full picture of gamestar retardism:
G1: 88
G2: 86
G3: 84

R1: 87
R2: 86
R3: 83

ELEX: 85

R1 better than G2?

 

[Latelistener]

G1: 88
G2: 86
G3: 84

R1: 87
R2: 86
R3: 83

ELEX: 85

Gothic 1 is better than Gothic 2?
Risen 1 is better than Gothic 2?
Risen 2 is as good as Gothic 2 and better than Gothic 3?

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Gothic 3 is bettern than Risen 3?

 

[Aqualung]

R2 is awful!

 

[Doktor Best]

You shouldnt take Gamestars rating system at face value. They roll the dice when it comes to that.

Review sounds promising though.

 

[curry]

Gothic 3 is bettern than Risen 3?

Gothic 3 is actually good with the 1.75 community patch (that's included in the steam version btw.) I remember not being able to play G3 when it came out and was later completely surpirsed when I got the Gothic bundle from Steam and enjoyed playing it.

 

[JarlFrank]

Gamestar ratings are the result of rolling 1d100.

 

[Latelistener]

Gothic 3 is bettern than Risen 3?

Everything is better than Risen 2/3. Fuck Bjorn and Deep Shitter.

 

[Jarmaro]

Is any of Piranha's post Gothic 2 games even on Gothic 1 level? I think not. Risen 1 was close, but it lacked soul. Everything from that point was bad.

 

[Latelistener]

Risen 1 was close, but it lacked soul.

 

[Jenkem]

Is any of Piranha's post Gothic 2 games even on Gothic 1 level? I think not. Risen 1 was close, but it lacked soul. Everything from that point was bad.

To be fair none of those games were ELEX

 

[Paul_cz]

Who composed Elex? I assume not Kai ?

I miss Kai's music

 

[Latelistener]

Who composed Elex? I assume not Kai ?

Bjorn is the composer and sound designer. I'm serious.
Kai left PB soon after Risen, and it seems like he's not affiliated with PB Red too anymore.

 

[Kahr]

Who composed Elex? I assume not Kai ?

I miss Kai's music

Björn Pankratz himself.
(probably)

 

[Crispy]

I had never watched this before. You know what? I'm a convert. This looks fun to me, as goofy as it is.

If it were just another Risen or even a new Gothic I'd probably skip it, but the strong Gamma World vibe I get from it is giving me a considerable chubby.

I assume this is a fairly early gameplay video? Even so, it looks rather smooth unlike some of the other videos I've seen, presumable because they're playing on a PC. The shadows look surprisingly good, too. Sure, the somewhat rubbery typical PB animation is still present, but as long as it's all consistent with each other on a quality level I can live with that. I hope, however, that the English translation will be good.

Next month, right? ELEX for me!

 

[Ismaul]

Gamestar ratings are the result of rolling 1d100.

More like 75+ d10 +15 points margin for bribe money.

 

[Lyre Mors]

I had never watched this before. You know what? I'm a convert

After all that shit talking. Well, I'm glad you came to your senses.

I guess I can't blame you all that much. I think it's the way most people have felt about it because they haven't watched any of the the actual gameplay. Not just the combat trailers, not just the story trailers, not just screenshots from a couple years ago, but some actual gameplay. You can tell it's going to be fun if you just actually look at it. Especially if you are a fan of older PB games.

 

[HoboForEternity]

Even risen 2 and 3 combat and open world world structure are still better than all the elder scrolls game and the witchers.

If risen 2 and 3 are them at their worst, and elex is their dream game, it is at least gonna be as good as risen 1 with hopefully more fleshed out third act.

Problems of risen 2 and 3 rise from imo:

1. Console. They had to make it islands instead of a huge landmass. Like all last gen console, so they chop uo the landmass into islands and they are tiny. Their design itself is still decent, memoeabke areas with non level scaled enemies and secrets snd easy to navigate without mini maps.

2. Lack of interesting faction (esp in risen 2) gated content (the infamous lava river that cant be crossed in risen 3, jist even cheapen the open world.
3. Combat is too easy
4. Lack of coherent worldbuilding and sense of place. Pb never make a good story, and their writing plus translation is mediocre. But in gothic the world feel authentic, it make sense and you got a real sense of place. Risen got a cool thing going at first, part a dying world setting with supposedly lovecraftian monster wrecking the continent, but they turn underwhelming in the end. The first one is a typical zelda boss with disappointing shitty zelda boss, the second one is just a bitch with tentacle, aka poor mans ursula, and i dont remember anything about the 3rd except for the cool ish magic gloves and patty's breast implant surgery.

Looking at the footage and infos, atvleast there is an attempt (a good one so far) to fix problem 1,2 and 3.

4, we will see when the game is out

Otherwise all the usual pb formula are still thwre

 

[Jarmaro]

Even risen 2 and 3 combat and open world world structure are still better than all the elder scrolls game and the witchers.

No. Risen 2 had stupid combat, Risen 3 even more. R2 combat was reatarded, especially if you played Release version when there wasn't any roll. Risen 3 on the other hand is beyond the scale of insanity, even assassin's creed series had harder fights. Just mash left mouse. I didn't enjoy risen 2 exploration, world seemed empty. In risen 3 it was even more dissapointing, despite some good vistas.
TES smashes Risen series.
About Witcher, only 3 has open world. W1 is barely open, but still is better than Risen. At least R2 and R3, Risen 1 world was good. Witcher 2 is a mess. Clautrophobical mess. Calling it open world is a heresy. As for W3, I haven't played, but from everything I've seen and heard, it shits on R2 and R3.

 

[Doktor Best]

I had never watched this before. You know what? I'm a convert. This looks fun to me, as goofy as it is.

If it were just another Risen or even a new Gothic I'd probably skip it, but the strong Gamma World vibe I get from it is giving me a considerable chubby.

I assume this is a fairly early gameplay video? Even so, it looks rather smooth unlike some of the other videos I've seen, presumable because they're playing on a PC. The shadows look surprisingly good, too. Sure, the somewhat rubbery typical PB animation is still present, but as long as it's all consistent with each other on a quality level I can live with that. I hope, however, that the English translation will be good.

Next month, right? ELEX for me!

1 Peter 2:25
For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

 

[Cassar]

So the german GameStar magazine aparently has a review for Elex, but its locked for subscribers only. But they give us a glimpse of the review and they call it the best PB game since Gothic 2 and the game by which all PB games will be measured against from here on.

Elex - Testvideo: The best Piranha bytes game since Gothic 2


Piranha Bytes' gothic masters dare to take on a new setting with Elex : The Open World RPG mixes fantasy with science fiction, swords with plasma weapons, magicians with combat robots. Can this go well? Our tester Dimi Halley answers: "It can not only go well, it goes well! So much so that Elex can be described as the best Piranha-Bytes game since Gothic 2 .

World-wide test: How Piranha Bytes returns with Elex to old virtues

Why, explains Dimi in the detailed test video. And there is a lot to explain, because Elex is a very good game, but not a faultless one. Elex has corners and edges, it has weaknesses in technique as well as game mechanics , it just does not feel completely round - according to the Piranha Bytes tradition. Whoever can ignore these disadvantages and can not be frightened by the tough initial phase, however, experiences a tremendously fascinating adventure, which will improve with every game hour.

How do we rate Elex? Evaluation discussion with Dimi, Heiko and Micha

Because the traditional strengths of Piranha Bytes are well known in the game world and atmosphere - so Dimi also devotes himself extensively to the openworld , the factions and the quests in the test video: Are exploration and factional careers in Elex just as satisfying as in Gothic? Is Piranha Bytes able to fill the biggest game world of his story (yes, Elex is bigger than Gothic 3 ) properly without having to resort to lame bread-and-butter quests?

And above all: Does this time without bugs?

 

[Cassar]

1. Elex doesn't take your hand
   
   • tiny small tutorial
   • all enemies kill you at least within 3 hits
   • you can miss quests/infos/mechanics if you miss proper attention
   • first hrs are hard and at times frustrating
   • might be either refreshing or totally overwhelming
2. Elex embraces Piranha-Bytes strengths
   
   • your char is bluff; piles of coarse dialogs
   • huge open world however with fascinating details around every corner
   • environmental stories; hidden camps; people; weapons; all sorts of stories, audiologs and letters
   • gameplay is defined by the classic gameplay-quintet of combat, conversation, exploration, scavenging and leveling
   • ruthless difficulty
   • but ALSO all the known PB shortcomings (animations, textures, production values...)
3. Elex is NOT an AAA game
   
   • graphics doesn't knock anybody's socks off; not ugly either
   • 30 devs working in a single family building
   • animations are stiff, facial expressions and faces are repetitive, some textures look rough.
   • creative Art-Design: picturesque landscapes due to diverse sceneries
   • german syncro is doing well
   • best score since good old Gothic days
4. Elex runs on a toaster
   
   • runs on even weak PCs decently
   • with min. details (16x AF, SMAA) even a Geforce GTX 760 will run it with 45fps
5. The strength of Elex' stories is found offside the main story
   
   • main story THE most interesting PB has ever written: your alter-ego is a former terroristic ALB-General, who finds himself amidst normal people and societies. We gradually learn more about his own violent past, learn about a vile betrayal and decide how the world should keep on spinning.
   • mix of genres invites to learn and see more of the world
   • main story remains in the background for some time
   • no arc of suspense a la Witcher 3
   • interesting moments offside the main story - side quests, environment, companions
   • each main protagonist has its own little story
   • quests with nasty moral decisions which end up far more gripping than in Gothic or Risen series - HIGHLIGHTs of the game
   • standard fetch quests but also most quests can be solved in more than three different manners
6. Elex is no Bug-Fiasco, but has rough edges
   
   • while testing no severe bugs that affect test score
   • however glitches and small issues along the way; nothing has impact on the overall fun factor though.
   • many mechanics lack the necessary fine-tuning; combat can be fiddly and clunky; the jetpack lacks the proper pace; Interface and inventory are neither particularly impressive nor managable.
7. Elex is a true RPG
   
   • no Action Game with RPG elements but a true RPG
   • combat is subordiante to the character system
   • Leveling and specialization is often times more interesting than the actual use of such enabled combat mechanics; killing a horde of raptors after you've been pathetically running from them hours priorly is extradordinarily satisfying
   • satisfaction of leveling combat mechanics > clunky combat
   • Crafting, using sockets, alchemy and the correct choice of factions can create a deep and rewarding rpg system.