ELEX ELEX RELEASE THREAD

[Master Librarian]

Completed Elex for the first time like three days ago, stayed clear of it for the past few years due to a PC just slightly younger than PB's engine for these games.
I don't know what to make out of it, honestly. A part of me is flabbergasted that after 2 trilogies of identical games, they still can't nail down the correct formula and keep repeating the same exact, if not even worse mistakes.
This game needed more linearity and chapters, including properly gatekept content behind the said chapters. I mean, what's the point in having a faction if its interaction with the world is absolutely static as you progress throughout the main quest.

PB games contain a lot of mistakes but... linearity????????

You take what I said outside the context. Both Gothic 1 and 2 had a dose of linearity realized through the mechanics of chapters. Or at other times, you were "gatekept" via precise placement of certain strong creatures to block the path etc. Elex is far too open in this manner, absolute quantity over quality. Exploring a deserted house/landmark or any landmark in Gothic had some meaning to it, because the world was condensed and actually hand-crafted, while Elex had me explore 6 gorillion iterations of the same house/facility to find toilet paper and mugs in obscene quantities.

 

[Master Librarian]

please remind me how elex is this grandiose immortal masterpiece.
i remember it as a sort of almost decent game but with a combat system as unique as the demotivational's bent fork, some guns as overpowered as melee was underpowered, fights which were "i'm dead as soon as you blink", "you're dead as soon as i blink" or "i'm completely safe from any thing you might do but this will take hours of bombardments" and throngs of armies of thousands of bugs.

I don't exactly understand the circlejerk. Sure, the game is decent, but it's nowhere near groundbreaking and they'd have to go a long way with Elex 2 to actually fix most of the wrong stuff.
I mean, once you get a black hole as a Cleric you've pretty much won the game - it's laughable. The balance is all over the place, as is due for a PB game however.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

getting in early before the news drops

 

[Curratum]

please remind me how elex is this grandiose immortal masterpiece.
i remember it as a sort of almost decent game but with a combat system as unique as the demotivational's bent fork, some guns as overpowered as melee was underpowered, fights which were "i'm dead as soon as you blink", "you're dead as soon as i blink" or "i'm completely safe from any thing you might do but this will take hours of bombardments" and throngs of armies of thousands of bugs.

So basically every PB game ever? :D

 

[Ismaul]

getting in early before the news drops

i hope you choke on that popcorn

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

still waiting for a serious answer to my serious question.

 

[Multidirectional]

So basically every PB game ever? :D

I enjoyed Elex but in some ways it's a step back from what I love about PB formula. For one, world is too big. What I love about best PB games (Gothic 1-2 and Risen 1) is that maps aren't huge but memorable and fun to explore. In Elex they went for quantity over quality and as a result exploration ain't anywhere as exciting and full of places with boring trash loot. Another thing I love about PB formula - no respawns. The world only gets repopulated after you advance main story. In Elex respawns happen all the time and they're random too. And because of these things game just lacks that handcrafted feel that best PB games offer. They've moved more towards generic open world formula and I would be really surprised if they get back to their old ways after doing this.

 

[1451]

I don't understand the criticism of the fights, I found them enjoyable. Only two boss fights were horrible, dunno maybe they patched them now.
One is when you fight the bomb and the other is the final boss.
Badly designed and implemented.

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

still waiting for a serious answer to my serious question.

Didn't run into any of the issues you've mentioned yet. The melee combat is clunky but it was like that since Gothic 1 so I'm avoiding it for now. The only bug I've encountered is that the game crashed twice while I was throwing grenades.

EDIT:
I'll give you a proper reply once I beat the game, but that might take some time.

 

[onemananadhisdroid]

I don't understand the criticism of the fights, I found them enjoyable. Only two boss fights were horrible, dunno maybe they patched them now.
One is when you fight the bomb.

Just hid behind a stone wall and nuked the shit out of it with fireballs, done.

Speaking of which, the character progression in this game is a bit abrupt. You start out as this poor fella who can't take a hit (and remain so for a delightfully long time) -- and suddenly, you nuke everything in sight. What's tipped it for me was joining the Berserkers and leveling up their magic powers. Apparently finding the flamethrower and similar has had the same effect for others.

Still enjoying this. The cutscenes (and flashbacks) are really weak though... luckily, the game doesn't overly rely on them, e.g. Witcher.

 

[Zlaja]

I mean, once you get a black hole as a Cleric you've pretty much won the game

Filthy cleric scum!

 

[Hobo Elf]

I don't understand the criticism of the fights, I found them enjoyable. Only two boss fights were horrible, dunno maybe they patched them now.
One is when you fight the bomb and the other is the final boss.
Badly designed and implemented.

I don't think the combat system and game balance lends itself well to proper boss fights in PB games, but at least they aren't doing shitty puzzle bosses anymore like the insultingly awful Risen 1 final boss.

 

[MadMaxHellfire]

still waiting for an explanation. something simple, "it's the best at this and that", i can easily settle with "it's awesome at this and that", I won't mind. as far as i remember, it was fairly decent at this and that, mostly because of lack of contenders unfortunately.
so, is it gameplay? hardly, it's a pb game.
is it for the interaction between factions? they felt pretty far from each other to me, with the few quests in between them often bugging.
is it the atmosphere? holy crap i hope not, it made barely any sense.
graphics? still a pb game.
dialogues? few and far between, again still a pb game.

don't get me wrong, i had my share of fun with it, enough to buy it, but one of the best rpgs ever? it gave me nothing a decently modded skyrim can't give me ten times over.

 

[GhostCow]

Melee combat in PB games is really fun and I like the jank. I don't know what else you expect anyone to say about it. It's certainly way better than something like a Bethesda game. That's what makes ELEX good to me anyway. It certainly wasn't the factions. The factions were kind of shit in ELEX. It was obvious that the Clerics were the most OP, the Berserkers were merely decent, and the Outlaws were shit. I don't know why anyone would choose the Outlaws. Graphics weren't great but good enough. Dialogue was pretty decent.

 

[Elex]

 

[rusty_shackleford]

this video contains nothing new, it's just speculation for clicks to get ad money

Spoiler

because elex 2 was canceled

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

The factions were kind of shit in ELEX. It was obvious that the Clerics were the most OP, the Berserkers were merely decent, and the Outlaws were shit. I don't know why anyone would choose the Outlaws. Graphics weren't great but good enough. Dialogue was pretty decent.

Hey, I'm about to join them! The grenades I'm buying at their camp had carried me through most of the combat-heavy quests. I've tried the flamethrower but it's been nerfed into the ground and can't really compare.

 

[Reader]

In Elex they went for quantity over quality and as a result exploration ain't anywhere as exciting and full of places with boring trash loot

I disagree. I traveled along elevated highway chewing my meat. When shadows became very long i noticed some building in the distance across the gap. It looked like there is definitely something in there. Couple of monsters were thrashing somewhere thirty meters below but it was no doubt that there were more in that building. I decided that i have not much provision left and continued to my destination.
The game is full of moments like this.
About loot. Hand placed loot is everywhere. Plus bits of lore here and there.
Just an example from the very beginning of the game

Spoiler

In the very first building you enter after the crash i noticed a broken ceiling. After you get jetpack the elevator doesn't work anymore but i was able to climb back there. If you get through that broken ceiling you will find a hanging skeleton, a good ring, a note and some stuff.

Again the game is full of things like this if you really like to explore. And actually G1 wasn't looter's paradise. There were kinda empty or just "meh" places. And even G2 which is better had them too.
Monsters respawn just like in Gothic - every chapter adds more powerful creatures. Now i DID read that some plain roaming monsters DO respawn as you level up but i didn't noticed it myself though i backtracked a lot.

I think that in case of Elex many people just didn't like the setting initially and didn't give much chance to the game. I like G2 more than Elex too but it is not nearly as bad as some people describe.
And actually i didn't notice a single glitch or bug on my Elex journeys.

 

[Multidirectional]

About loot. Hand placed loot is everywhere.

Oh yeah? When I played toilet paper guarded by strong monsters was fucking everywhere too. Maybe the toilet paper was hand placed, but who cares.

Monsters respawn just like in Gothic - every chapter adds more powerful creatures. Now i DID read that some plain roaming monsters DO respawn as you level up but i didn't noticed it myself though i backtracked a lot.

Bullshit. If I fast traveled to a place and then fast traveled to it again the monsters around it could completely change. There's nothing Gothic-like about this.

 

[Reader]

toilet paper

Do i really have to remind you about tons of rusty shit and clubs in Gothic?

If I fast traveled to a place and then fast traveled to it again the monsters around it could completely change

Then maybe you're special? Because i cleared monsters one by one. Especially in the beginning. Returned to camp, healed, returned to the area and those i killed were no more through the chapter.

 

[JDR13]

About loot. Hand placed loot is everywhere.

Oh yeah? When I played toilet paper guarded by strong monsters was fucking everywhere too. Maybe the toilet paper was hand placed, but who cares.

The point is that eveything is hand-placed not just the trash loot.

 

[1451]

My only problem with monsters in Elex is their weird placement. Extremely dangerous monsters sit just outside of starter villages.
If the game world's logic worked, those villages would not be there when you arrive. The guards are too weak to fight off those monsters and the only reason they exist is to stop the player from exploring.
This is very lazy world design, something similar was done in divinity original sin.
Make the environment stop you, not conveniently placed monsters.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

This is very lazy world design, something similar was done in divinity original sin.

codex will only critique one of these games for this because of fanboyism
the other game is a work of genius for doing it

 

[Gangrelrumbler]

If the game world's logic worked, those villages would not be there when you arrive. The guards are too weak to fight off those monsters and the only reason they exist is to stop the player from exploring.

These villages are usually populated by incredibly high-level NPCs. I didn't really see any monsters that are very close to villages and at the same time too powerful for the NPCs inside to deal with if they attacked.

 

[Reader]

Extremely dangerous monsters sit just outside of starter villages.
If the game world's logic worked, those villages would not be there when you arrive.

Why? The white bear is one of the most dangerous predators in the world. It often comes to the arctic villages and they are still fine. Except a few casualties maybe.