ELEX Pre-Release Thread

[Immortal]

Are they receiving any source of funding from this new publisher.. The project sounds way more ambitious then their past 3 games.

 

[Zombra]

I didn't realize that ELEX is a substance in the game. Drug/fuel/mutation agent/whatever. Sounds annoyingly like ADAM from BioShock. Blah blah blah ADAM get the ADAM everyone wants the ADAM I'll kill you for your ADAM! where can we find ADAM. Not looking forward to hearing the word ELEX spoken 10,000 times by badly localized voice actors. In general I'm not a fan of fictional arbitrary macguffin "thing everyone wants" things in games like this. Kind of distances me from feeling motivated in the game world.

I do like the sound of the first story hook though. Soldier shot down in enemy territory, separated from his unit long enough that even if he finds them again it's been too long and they assume he's compromised. Not bad.

 

[Jaedar]

It sounds pretty much exactly like what they said before ris3n.

Fool me once etc.

 

[meanwhileInPoland]

Actually they released Risen in 2009 which was excellent, one of the best Action RPGs I've ever played and up there with the first two Gothics as far as I'm concerned.

That said, yes I'm a PB fag for life that will probably at the very least try every game they release. Can't help it.

Risen 1 is not even close to Gothic2NoR. Its just prettier iteration of Gothic 1 with shittier atmosphere and without the charm of G1 colony and its 3 camps.

 

[Excidium II]

Risen 1 is not even close to Gothic2NoR. Its just prettier iteration of Gothic 1 with shittier atmosphere and without the charm of G1 colony and its 3 camps.

True but that is still a miracle in 2009

 

[ZagorTeNej]

ZagorTeNej - Are you polish? I am starting to see a pattern.. The minute you write that post..

Spoiler

: wspaniały!! All Potato Fist For You!

LOL, no. I'm from Serbia (the land of Styg and Underrail) and to be honest I don't care in the slightest about nationalities of other posters or game devs for that matter (all that matters is whether I like the game and it's translated to a language I can understand).

Regarding villages in Risen, I should have rephrased it as settlements (the Bandit Camp and Order/Volcano Keep) with one actual city (Harbour Town).

 

[Orma]

That is grabbing for straws.. Calling it one of the best action RPG's means it's better then most action RPG's. Unless you think every action RPG is one of the best. I understand there's a slight difference but it's not exactly apples and oranges here.

I think Dark Souls is the best Action RPG.. I also think it's one of the best.. I could also say Dark Souls 2 is one of the best because it's up there.. but maybe not my favourite. I wouldn't then say Mass Effect 3 is one of the best.

Your argument is weak son

You should stop shitposting and derailing threads if you are simply tasteless.
ZagorTeNej actually took you seriously and provided a number of reasons why people here like Risen 1, but you just keep repeating the same bullshit.

Risen 1 and Gothics (yes even 3) are much better than some japanese action game.

 

[Immortal]

You should stop shitposting and derailing threads if you are simply tasteless.
ZagorTeNej actually took you seriously and provided a number of reasons why people here like Risen 1, but you just keep repeating the same bullshit.

Risen 1 and Gothics (yes even 3) are much better than some japanese action game.

I replied to his post point by point. Some of his response had merit and some I disagreed with.

 

[Jaesun]

You should stop shitposting and derailing threads if you are simply tasteless.

Here, let me help you INCLINE your RPG Codex experience 100%, click here.

He is pretty much a dumbfuck shitposter who isn't actually here to discuss anything.

 

[Maschtervoz]

ELEX users lose their emotions and become more rational and cold

• which means their moral system isn't based on good vs. evil, but "human / emotional" vs. "machine-like / cold"

You start as an emotion-less ELEX consuming walk(war?) commander of one of the high tech factions who's glider gets shot down and lands in the middle of nowhere, where he lies for three weeks, ELEX withdrawal causing him to tan and feel emotions for the first time in his life. The free people hate you, because you waged war against them, your own faction hates you as well.

If the plot ends up bogged down in hamfisted and diabetes-inducing hurr follow ur hearts rationality is for robuts shit, I will be very, very furious.

Spacetime actually seems pretty interesting, completely amateurish looking promotional image aside. I hope a miracle occurs and they actually deliver on this one.

 

[Tigranes]

Stuff sounds really good. They can't copypasta Gothic forever, especially because they are increasingly incapable of copying anything good from it. They need to work out what their new franchise is, and in fact, Risen 2/3 might have been a lot better if the pirate / voodoo stuff was built better from the ground up. We know that they were contractually trapped into making Risen a trilogy. Hopefully they can actually create something good here.

 

[Kem0sabe]

After risen 2 and 3 you motherfuckers are still willing to give the benefit of the doubt to these guys?

This will be a train wreck of expectations.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.gamepressure.com/e.asp?ID=222

First Look at Elex - The Science Fantasy RPG from The Creators of Gothic

Narrative, environment, exploration and simulation – these are the key elements of Piranha Bytes’ newest game. The details revealed on the gamescom 2015 make a strong case for Elex being the best game in their career.

The dust has already settled after the release of Witcher 3 and we eagerly await new information about upcoming RPGs. German developer Piranha Bytes delivered when they disclosed the first specifics concerning their new game during the ongoing gamescom. Elex may not be a continuation to the Gothic series, but the game looks more than able to stand on its own and should appeal to those of us aching to return to the Valley of Mines.



The first thing we notice is that the plot and the setting deviate from what we’ve seen in Gothicor Risen. The creators emphasize that the game is a blend of science fiction and fantasy (hence the name: science fantasy) set in a post-apocalyptic world. The game takes place on the planet Magalan, many years after a meteor impact almost wiped out the planet’s highly advanced civilization. Some of its members survived but, although they still have access to some salvaged technology, they are nothing more than a shadow of their former glory. On the other hand, there are people that live in harmony with the nature and get by by using nothing more than basic tools and weapons. Still, the meteor impact has left more than destruction in its wake; a new, unknown element – elex – was discovered and harnessed to produce weapons and develop magical abilities. Not without a price, unfortunately – excessive usage of the new element gradually leads the human body to degeneration and eventually transforms people into half-synthetic hybrids, devoid of any emotion. Despite its negative side effects, the demand for elex is extremely high among both populations leading to a conflict that eventually involved the game’s protagonist.

Our journey will lead us through verdant forests, gloomy marshes or even snow-covered mountains. After clearing the starting area we have the whole planet at our disposal with our only restriction being our capability to dispatch monsters roaming the world’s various locations. The world itself is a single, seamless location without any loading screens and offering us roughly 70 hours of gameplay. The planet Magalan will be populated by numerous NPCs and each one of them will have his own opinion on the current events. Human settlements will offer a variety of styles with every fraction possessing its own unique characteristics. The creators also intend to implement a quick travel system, most likely in the form of teleports.



Apart from that, Piranha Bytes provides us with much more in terms of transportation. The vertical exploration system shown during the presentation was one of the more interesting options. Our character will possess a jetpack, allowing him to reach certain, inaccessible in any other way, places. We’ve seen this ability in action albeit Bjorn Pankratz specified that this not the final version that will be included in the game. The creators are currently busy properly balancing the gameplay so that the inclusion of the jetpack (or rather - a jetbelt) will be justified in the game’s setting and becomes an integral part of the game (and not a forced addition).

Our protagonist is not nameless. The developers were not eager to share any details concerning him, but we that know he used to be one of the commanders fighting alongside the faction known as the Albs. This means he’s been abusing elex and it had a significant impact on his humanity. His glider was shot down during a skirmish and crash-landed in the middle of the territory under the control of the Berserks fraction - his enemies. Deprived of any means to satisfy his addiction, our character gets back in touch with his human side. The player is free to join any of the other factions in the game, including: the Berserks, who seek to be at one with the nature, the Clerics, who boycott the use of the new element, the terrorist organization of the Outlaws or to return back to the Albs, who wish to subdue all the other survivor groups.



Some of the recent AAA RPGs familiarized us with the importance of moral choices. Piranha Bytes’ newest game will join the trend by forcing the player to make many important decisions that will establish the protagonist’s humanity of indifference. In this game you won’t find the classic good vs evil division – noted Bjorn Pankratz during the presentation. You will decide if you should take the reasonable or the ruthless approach. No one said a stone-cold badass can’t become the savior of humanity.

Another important part to the game is the combat, more advanced than in the previous projects by Piranha Bytes. Since the setting consists of mixed SF and fantasy motifs, the weapons we find follow that pattern: we have fantasy “classics” like swords and bows, and, on the other hand, futuristic laser rifles and advanced melee weapons. The host of the presentation mentioned that the team was even considering introducing their own version of the light saber but for now – as he noted laughing – the idea went down the drain. Defensive armament includes multi-piece armor sets for anyone to acquire, and special armors available only to the members of specific organizations. Advancing in ranks of the chosen faction will grant access to new weapons and fraction exclusive abilities.

The visuals in Elex are by no means groundbreaking, but you can observe some significant improvements when you compare them to the last Risen. The developers once again employ their trusted game engine, albeit upgraded to support the latest available features. On the videos we’ve seen there were some moments when texture loading seemed to lag but let’s not forget that the game is currently on the pre-alpha stage and is expected to change a lot before it is published.



Elex will be released on PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The creators emphasize the fact that all versions of the game are being developed by Piranha Bytes. Such thing is possible, with the limited human resources they have at their disposition, thanks to the partnership with Nordic Games and the architecture of current gen hardware. This arrangement put the game’s creators in full control of the development process as well as the quality-check of the ported versions. If everything goes well, the game’s simultaneous debut on all of the intended platforms will take place in late 2016.

There’s one question left: do fans of Gothic and Risen have a place in Elex? Bjorn Pankratz says that definitely yes. It’s true that Elex will aim for a darker mood, but it won’t be completely devoid of humor; it may, however, be stripped of the Risen kind of humor. The creators know what elements were causing problems in their previous franchise and are determined to packElex full ofthat “something”that made gamers love Gothic. Then why not just make a newGothic? The developers believe that the fan expectations are very specific at this point (like the unavoidable appearance of Xardas or Milten) and it could have gotten in the way of their creative freedom when designing the new setting:

„If you ask three people, what was so incredible in Gothic, you will hear five different opinions, but all of them will focus around the atmosphere of our game. We made a thorough analysis of our previous titles and noticed that all of them, at some point, had those mind blowing moments. Now we want to put these incredible moments in our latest project. The reason we are not making a new Gothic is because we want to make Elex.”



If you’re a fan of Piranha Bytes’ games, Elex is guaranteed to get on your good side. The developers still have 18 months of hard work left before them, but from what we’ve seen so far,Elex may be the best game from Bjorn Pankratz and his team since they released Gothic II.

 

[Eirikur]

Four joinable factions in a Piranha Bytes game? What sorcery is this?

 

[vonAchdorf]

Is Jenny Björns wife?

So the treehugger faction (Berserks) is the one which can use ELEX as "mana" without the side effects so they have a chance against the high-tech factions.

The PC has a long and detailed background story which can be explored by the player ih he wishes so.

The world will "tell" the story as well in form of books and documents you can fine at locations. Probably audio / video logs too, since she hinted at "other technologies" as well.

She finally explained the confusion with the three / four factions in the world. Some previews talked about four factions you can join, the developers at Gamescom talked about three factions.

So there are four factions in the world, of which you explicitly can join three:

• Berserks (magic, sword and shield, treehuggers)
• Outlaws (Mad Max Raiders, chain swords)
• Clerics (don't consume ELEX, plasma weapons)

The fourth factions (albs) can't be joined apparently.

 

[Maschtervoz]

Apart from that, Piranha Bytes provides us with much more in terms of transportation. The vertical exploration system shown during the presentation was one of the more interesting options. Our character will possess a jetpack, allowing him to reach certain, inaccessible in any other way, places. We’ve seen this ability in action albeit Bjorn Pankratz specified that this not the final version that will be included in the game. The creators are currently busy properly balancing the gameplay so that the inclusion of the jetpack (or rather - a jetbelt) will be justified in the game’s setting and becomes an integral part of the game (and not a forced addition).

I sure hope their idea of balance doesn't include invisible walls again. That shit was one of the lowest points of Risen 3.

Also, not impressed with all the fanfare around DEEP MORAL CHOICES. PB never were masters of writing even back when they were making good games and their recent titles are just downright embarrassing in this department. They were probably better off sticking with the more mundane and functional narratives that worked for them in the past instead of the dubious Biowarian crap they seem to be trying out. But then again, this fits their current design vision which seems to consist almost entirely of mindless bandwagoning. I'm expecting inclusive romances and house decoration are in too and the combat will be "Souls-like".

 

[Morgoth]

There should be no stupid invisible walls because there's 8GB RAM available now. That's not to say though the game still can't suck, but right now I feel good about it.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Jenny also said, that they don't want to reveal the composer now. I wonder if it's a fan favorite who's name will be used for a second marketing push?

 

[Bubbles]

Inon Zur?

 

[Outlander]

Fuck Inon Zur, bring back Kai Rosenkranz.

I see the hype train approaching in the distance, unsure if I'll hop on it this time. Last time was with Gothic 3, so...

 

[Bubbles]

Wait for the Codex report.

 

[Raghar]

Gothic one:
Treehugers.
Mages.
Scoundrels.

Gothic 2.
You remember that.

Actually G3 has three endings not factions.

Risen 1.
Outcasts
Mage knights
Mages.

Risen 2.
Patty.

(actually you could join voodoo tribes and piss governor, or work with governor.)

Risen 3.
Voodoo pirates
Mages from Risen 1
Demon warriors.

So it's not always three join able factions. Some games had less.

 

[Metro]

Four joinable factions in a Piranha Bytes game? What sorcery is this?

The factions in the last few PB games have been pretty terrible.

 

[Bubbles]

The factions in the last few PB games have been pretty terrible.

I feel like this is an understatement.

They should have gone the Larian route and kickstarted a PC-only game tailored for that community, banging the Gothic 2 drum, and then gently slid into a console release for the Enhanced Edition. But again, we do have a report on this.

 

[Metro]

They probably don't want to take the risk. As long as some publisher/Deep Silver is willing to give them money why rock the boat?