I understand people's skepticism with Piranha Bytes and ELEX. Risen 2 & 3 were clearly garbage shadows of the past glory of the studio, and I don't think anyone is arguing otherwise.
What people who shit on ELEX don't seem to understand is that the studio was also going through major changes and challenges during the development of those games. Piranha Bytes had a tumultuous and dysfunctional relationship with their publisher of the time, Deep Silver. They had a three game contract with them that they had to fullfil, and Deep Silver was forcing them to go in a direction with the games that they didn't want, and knew that their fans didn't want. This is why a lot of the charm of earlier titles was absent: because that charm didn't appeal to a wider audience. Piranha Bytes have even stated that they didn't enjoy working with Deep Silver and have since changed to a publisher that will give them the freedom to make a game they actually want to make. In regards to how many people from the past era are still present at Piranha Bytes: as far as I know 12 out of the 25 employees at the studio worked on at least Gothic II.
It's easy to look at a few screenshots and a 12 minute trailer that only shows combat and say that the game will be shit, but if you look a little further and check out the 3 hour preview and actually watch some of the gameplay, you'll quickly begin to see a lot of that former charm and love has been applied to ELEX. Exploration, world design, factions, character interactions, satisfying equipment progression, reputation system, player progression, and even trainers are all in. Yes, the combat doesn't look like the most amazing aspect, but if you enjoy the overall way combat is done in Gothic I and II, I don't see how you would dislike what you see. There are powerful enemies everywhere that will wipe the floor with you, You have to think tactically about your engagements and sometimes lure enemies away from one another. You have to understand how to sometimes keep your distance in battles. These are all things that I love about Gothic combat, and I see all of them present in one way or another in ELEX.
I don't think any Gothic fan really wants that much actual innovation at this point. We want to see something that calls back to those great games we all remember and love. ELEX is definitely a game for Gothic fans.
