If you are as ingenious as they’ve allowed you to be, it will be a walk, eh, jetpack ride in the park. In fact the major brilliancy of fighting against Elex II the whole way through is that it felt all the more satisfying to, eventually, have reached the point of conqueror strength and obliterate the multitudes of task at hand. As an enormous fan of this series and the developer’s style, I wouldn’t have it any other way. The studio’s eighth game, and second within what is likely to be a trilogy, Elex II once again speaks to a pattern of obtuse combat systems, wobbly animation, satisfyingly over the top voice acting, jarring technical mishaps, and somewhat unforgiving difficulty dogging its opening moments. In keeping their stronghold scant and their ideals clear they’ve managed to sustain their own ever-evolving spiritus of classic (read: early 2000’s) PC open-world action role-playing games, presenting a hill to climb as prime motivation for the player’s persistence in exploiting various cryptic systems from all angles and fighting off “jank” with their own cheesy actions. Using their heavily modified in-house Genome Engine since 2006 and creating modestly sized yet ambitious open-world fantasy experiences with a team less than a few dozen people strong is an admirable independent feat for a (technically publically traded, well-backed) company. The soundtrack is good and the voice acting does a great job throughout too, joining up the writing well.For all of the complaining one could do in venting their pedantic man-child sized “gamer” frustration with German role-playing game developer Piranha Bytes‘ long history of struggleware, and we will get there at some point, most of that ire should sharply diffuse nearby completing any one of their charming, if not slightly busted games. That said, and considering the size of the team at work here, when you put ELEX II up in context with other big triple-A games they have done a remarkable job. The world that is ripe for exploration is nice though, and there are some beautiful places to be, but I found the character and enemy designs to be nothing more than just okay in relation to other open-world games. It is a tricky game though, and even when you think you’ll be able to cope, getting overwhelmed in fights is standard.ĮLEX II’s visuals are good, although not the best I’ve seen pretty solid throughout. It’s a really solid RPG in those terms one that will give you loads of hours of gameplay to play with. You can advance attributes like Strength and Dexterity if you choose, utilising skill points in the skill tree depending on how you see your own personal Jax life playing out. Levelling up happens in the usual manner and there are no real surprises here. You don’t have to worry about inventory management or weight limits either, because Jax seems to be able to work magic in that respect. Weapons are interesting though, mostly because you can have almost anything you could wish for from a one-handed stick to a rocket launcher. It’s here where ELEX II feels slightly similar to Dark Souls in that respect. But you’ll want to be warned that wandering off is a big no-no at one point I came up against enemies that I wasn’t making a dent on, whilst they could kill me with one blow. The whole map is open to you from the beginning of ELEX II and it’s easy to follow the quest lines which help to keep you focused on what you have to actually deliver. The overall tone of the writing is good at times, especially regarding Jax and his journey, but some of the side quests fall a bit short they are fun, but ultimately fairly throwaway. The world is set up into warring factions who you can choose to align with and this world mythology is enjoyable and well designed. I’ve liked taking in the story that ELEX II has told, especially spending some time with the characters that inhabit it. From there, it’s a case of making your way to numerous settlements, going on quests and enjoying many mini-quests that further the story along. You help Jax kill a few, then it’s off to warn others and help the world against this invasion. That is until aliens invade, destroying his home. Let’s delve into the story first.ĮLEX II puts you in the shoes of Jax and at the start of the game he is having a nice sleep in his house in the middle of the world. It’s a sprawling open-world RPG that plays out across a huge map and some lush environments – but even then it can – at times – feel a bit empty. The sequel adds to the world, bringing back all the elements that made the first game popular. The original ELEX first came to fruition in 2017 and provided an RPG that was able to mix futuristic and mediaeval fantasy, picking up some nice reviews and a host of new fans.
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