ELEX ELEX RELEASE THREAD

[ortucis]

I am a bit worried this falls into the Gothic 2 trap of "Spend 40 hours in Chapter 1 doing every quest, then pick a faction, then spend 5 hours doing chapter 2-4 until the game is over."

Anyone play that far yet and have opinions?

Isn't that Risen trap as well?

Also, why are there skull level reapers in the same area as low level enemies you can easily kill at level 1-4 (basically in the beginning area where you start)? In Gothic, I remember harder enemies coming up the deeper you went exploring into the map. Here, they are just randomly placed all over the place.

Makes it annoying tbh, especially since every enemy seems to have a ranged attack for some reason. For example, ran into two mutants taking a swim in the river near first town, got almost killed in one hit, jet-packed to the top of the mountain, away from their view feeling safe. Next thing I know, there's a huge blast on me and I'm dead. I was laughing at how absurd that was, since the enemies were still way down the mountain and they couldn't even see me.

Waiting for more patches.. not that it'll stop me from playing, but I think a lot of people complaining about difficulty are just running into skull level enemies in areas where they shouldn't be (like right below the first town area). Game isn't hard because combat is difficult to get used to, it's hard cause enemies seem to be randomly praised. Are they being placed randomly by the game? I thought PB placed them manually? I am disappointed they went Bethesda route here.

PS: Is there a hidden numerical value for how much health and stamina you have? A lot of stats seem to be missing, the UI is shit and doesn't tell you a lot of things. While we're at it, right click on map should not close the map, it should allow you to drag the map. FFS PB.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Summoning most monocle codex members to answer my query

and you dont summon me

i'm offended

*roxorowski will remember that*

 

[Jasede]

There's an HP value but we can't see it. That sucks because it's kind of important so I can see how much benefit CON and the HP talent give.

As to why everyone has a ranged attack? Probably because I knocked down everyone in Gothic 1 and 2 for the XP by standing on a roof and shooting them with 200 arrows...

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Tigranes]

ortucis I seem to remember running into strong enemies here and there whenever you go off the beaten path in a PB game - and that's part of the charm, that enemies aren't 'zoned'. It's just easier for players to get lost in the Edan area because there's 80 roads instead of clear major thoroughfares. It's easy to use the highway to get up to Domed City, for example, whereas the abandoned buildings slightly off that path will contain tough critters.

The human enemies themselves I think drive it home that the Berserker control of the area has seriously eroded, every NPC complains there are no patrols anymore and it makes sense that the area is not safe.

 

[Darth Roxor]

Enemies having ranged attacks is a must because of the jetpack.

Also - Risen 1-3 were (in my eyes) notorious for enemies that didn't use any ranged attacks for shit, I'm p. sure I even mention that explicitly in all reviews. This is yet another improvement in ELEX, even if some of those ranged attacks are kind of silly (like toxic wolf spit etc).

 

[PrettyDeadman]

Witness my battle against mighty raptors - https://go.twitch.tv/metalgoatkaiser
Also, advices on how to make combat system good.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

Waiting for more patches.. not that it'll stop me from playing, but I think a lot of people complaining about difficulty are just running into skull level enemies in areas where they shouldn't be (like right below the first town area). Game isn't hard because combat is difficult to get used to, it's hard cause enemies seem to be randomly praised. Are they being placed randomly by the game? I thought PB placed them manually? I am disappointed they went Bethesda route here.

The enemies are not randomly placed, they were hand placed to create exactly this experience. You don't have to like it. I know it's very frustrating to be wailing away on a bunch of weaklings and then some mutant comes and one shots you (you can usually just sprint away though). Believe me, I get it. In a lot of RPGs, content is gated by enemy strength. That's not Elex. You can go anywhere as long as you're fast about running and smart about hiding. And, by the same token, you can't get anywhere if you don't run away from many of the monsters you encounter; no amount of grinding on low level enemies near Goliet will make you strong enough to win these fights.

But I don't understand how you can call this similar to Bethesda--it's literally the opposite of Bethesda's ultra level-scaled open worlds.

 

[SmartCheetah]

Summoning most monocle codex members to answer my query
Is ELEX good?

I downloaded a "free trial" as well. Had to uninstall it after 2-3 hours because even on lowest settings, this game had hard times running on my laptop(which is weird, because a lot of people with worse hardware had pretty solid FPS)
What can I add?
Start of the story looks like absolute shit. They send you on a mission, your ship is shot down, few dudes from your faction suddenly appear near the crash site and shot you because you "failed your orders". Either the writer had very low standards, or it's a part of "totally surprising" plot-twist.
Mechanics are similiar to other PB games, so they are rather unimpressive. Can't talk about exploration as I haven't really experienced it.

Maybe some rainy day I'd try it for a longer period, but for now I'll just let it rest.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[Hobo Elf]

Hah, I've just noticed that the hueg moon you see at night actually moves and spins. That's p. cool.

PB was always good at making comfy night time skyboxes.

 

[Darth Roxor]

The enemies are not randomly placed, they were hand placed to create exactly this experience.

Negative. I've seen a biter change into a critter after reloading. I'm p. sure these are spawned dynamically from some list.

 

[Lyre Mors]

What can I add?
Start of the story looks like absolute shit. They send you on a mission, your ship is shot down, few dudes from your faction suddenly appear near the crash site and shot you because you "failed your orders". Either the writer had very low standards, or it's a part of "totally surprising" plot-twist

It's actually surprising to me how many codexers are having a hard time piecing together that it was an ambush planned by those very Albs. Your ship was supposed to crash right around there and those guys were waiting there for the "reason" to execute you. It just doesn't blast your face with exposition like most games.

Main plot isn't great, but the overall lore is interesting, particularly the world heart and ELEX relationship with the Berserkers. Also, factions may be at odds, but the main concern of all of them is the recent increase of activity of the Albs more than one another. I'm enjoying the world and it's factions a lot.

 

[unfairlight]

Waiting for more patches.. not that it'll stop me from playing, but I think a lot of people complaining about difficulty are just running into skull level enemies in areas where they shouldn't be (like right below the first town area). Game isn't hard because combat is difficult to get used to, it's hard cause enemies seem to be randomly praised. Are they being placed randomly by the game? I thought PB placed them manually? I am disappointed they went Bethesda route here.

The enemies are not randomly placed, they were hand placed to create exactly this experience. You don't have to like it. I know it's very frustrating to be wailing away on a bunch of weaklings and then some mutant comes and one shots you (you can usually just sprint away though). Believe me, I get it. In a lot of RPGs, content is gated by enemy strength. That's not Elex. You can go anywhere as long as you're fast about running and smart about hiding. And, by the same token, you can't get anywhere if you don't run away from many of the monsters you encounter; no amount of grinding on low level enemies near Goliet will make you strong enough to win these fights.

But I don't understand how you can call this similar to Bethesda--it's literally the opposite of Bethesda's ultra level-scaled open worlds.

Highly suggest watching this for anyone entering a PB game. You are MEANT to avoid certain areas until you progress to a high enough level to fight them. You start off with scavengers, sell the loot you found, move to some mole rats, et cetera, et cetera until you fight trolls and dragons.

Also: Had my second crash now, it was at The Fort gate, first one was at the Domed City.

 

[ortucis]

Glitch in the matrix? Don't even know what this bug is supposed to be, never seen it before.

 

[Anthedon]

I assume that is what console graphics look like.

 

[Tigranes]

That's when you reach for the soft toilet paper

 

[unfairlight]

Glitch in the matrix? Don't even know what this bug is supposed to be, never seen it before.

I am assuming it's driver or AA settings issues. Try updating your drivers and restarting.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

This game is a more clunky Risen 3 and the only noticeable difference are the hp and dmg spikes and changing the general feel of combat

If you can't see how this game is objectively (yes, objectively) much better than Risen 3, then you're either a cretin or blind.

It has much less handholding, there are no invisible walls, the gameworld is one solid instance instead of being chopped up into bullshit islands, and it's also much better crafted instead of being just a set of network-connected corridors. This is all visible almost instantly the moment you leave the tutorial observation station (i.e. in some 5-10 minutes).

The same Risen 3 that was objectively a finished, functional game while this really isn't? But there are "no invisible walls", so I guess stuff like UI that is the worst console nightmare made flesh + has design and aesthetics of a russian game from 2006 + doesn't even give absolutely basic info or entire dialogue system and trees that "works" like it wasn't playtested at-fucking-all doesn't matter.

And are you even real with those "there are o island so it's different!" arguments? Seriously, I can't tell.

Then again, aren't you the guy who seriously claimed R2 is better than R3? I think you might want to be a tad more careful when calling someone a cretin over comparing PB games.

 

[ortucis]

Waiting for more patches.. not that it'll stop me from playing, but I think a lot of people complaining about difficulty are just running into skull level enemies in areas where they shouldn't be (like right below the first town area). Game isn't hard because combat is difficult to get used to, it's hard cause enemies seem to be randomly praised. Are they being placed randomly by the game? I thought PB placed them manually? I am disappointed they went Bethesda route here.

The enemies are not randomly placed, they were hand placed to create exactly this experience. You don't have to like it. I know it's very frustrating to be wailing away on a bunch of weaklings and then some mutant comes and one shots you (you can usually just sprint away though). Believe me, I get it. In a lot of RPGs, content is gated by enemy strength. That's not Elex. You can go anywhere as long as you're fast about running and smart about hiding. And, by the same token, you can't get anywhere if you don't run away from many of the monsters you encounter; no amount of grinding on low level enemies near Goliet will make you strong enough to win these fights.

But I don't understand how you can call this similar to Bethesda--it's literally the opposite of Bethesda's ultra level-scaled open worlds.

Yeah I'm gonna call bullshit on that.

Enemy placement seems to be random. If you manually place enemies you don't go from level one to level ENDGAME right next to it. In Gothic and Risen games, enemy placement makes sense, in this game, it feels random. They have basically set up regions for specific enemies and enemies just randomly spawn in those regions, that's why they are going around getting mixed up with each other. There is no sense in creature placement, no reason for some creatures to be in an area at all (like trolls).

They have cut corners like Bethesda and enemies have been randomly placed, just like that ugly grass texture that's floating around randomly on rocks and edges in "hand crafted" world. How do you mess up grass in a town which needs to be manually created? Obviously towns are not random, so someone actually had to do a half-arsed job of decorating the whole place.

Game is fun, but trying to excuse stupid shit in-game as "PB charm" is just dumb. This is how you end up with three Risen games.

Also, this patrol just passed by that chicken, which proceeded to attack me instead. Even in Gothic 3, humanoids would get attacked by creatures, in ELEX, they just directly aim for the player. Wow lazy AI regression in an RPG, must be that PB charm and difficult curve herp derp.

 

[Kyl Von Kull]

It's NOT like Gothic. Areas aren't gated by enemy difficulty. You literally can't get past level six or seven if you aren't willing to run for your life all over the map. In Gothic trying to sneak past the strong enemies was optional; in Elex it's mandatory. You have to be really careful when you're outside a settlement. There is no region that only has weak enemies. I can see why this would bother some people, but again, once you realize that running/jetting away is going to be essential until you become a late game ubermensch, the whole experience becomes a lot more fun. Think of it as a fleeing simulator. Or get a companion--as long as they don't get mobbed they can wreck most of this stuff.

 

[abnaxus]

In the small settlement where Rock is located there are berserkers working literally five yards away from murderhobo mutants. Kind of odd.

 

[hivemind]

still looking for either a computer or lap btw if anyone is curious

 

[Jasede]

Ignore-harvesting again, eh?

Also, yeah, that farm is weird, freakin' ubermutant right next to the farm. In eye-shot! If you lure him to the farmers and berserkers... he'll kill them all.

In fact, I have gotten multiple quest NPCs perma-killed because of me luring monsters next to them or encountering them fighting monsters and being too weak to help out.

 

[Quillon]

PB is similar to Bethesda, they just can't/won't improve their weak sides in game development. Played the game for an hour and fuck this 20 year old gameplay and those retards at PB building tons of content on it.