As a Gothic Fan, I really enjoyed the first Elex (even on release) but Elex II unfortunatelz is not playable for me. The fixed FoV and the fast zooming effect when you stop running just makes me feel nausea. The performance hovers around 40fps with an RTX 3080 and Rzyen 3800x, regardless if maximum or minimum graphic settings, something seems to be broken here. I reallz hope this get's fixed and I can update my review to better reflect the game itself, but as it stands it's unplayable.
As someone who first played the original on PC around 15 years ago, this ticks all the boxes for a remake. The positives first: - The new graphic options are fantastic, it looks like the game was always meant to look like that. - If you don't like any of the new effects, you can turn each one off individually, even the HD textures. - Full resolution support, I'm playing at 3440x1440 (21:9) and it works perfectly. - The new gamepad control scheme along with allowing diagonal movement make navigating a lot easier. - Updated soundeffects, especially the Shadow Gun is now WAY less annoying when firing all the time. - Restored original content: in my 3 hours I already encountered a new boss and kept wondering, if that was already there, as it fit in seamlessly. There is one negative though: - The game sometimes hangs briefly during exploration. Not sure if it's due to loading, but that is annoying and hopefully get's fixed. But under all that coat of paint, it's still the same game. - It's a action adventure with a dark story, which somtimes is a bit cheesy on purpose, sometimes by accident. - The game can be gory at times, expect to see some blood. - The movement, although arguably better in the remaster is still a bit clunky, especially since there are lot's of platforming sections which can insta-kill you and send you back to the start of the area. - The mechanics aren't explained that well in-game, so reading the manual or watching a short tutorial can helps. - No handholding in this game, you'll probably be confused a few times as to where you should be going next. All in all, for me this is a diamond made slightly less rough by the remaster. If you liked the original, you'll love the remaster. If you've never played it and are intrigued, this is the version to get.
