Piranha Bytes have always been known for how dense their worlds are, much less for their size. They are known for the replayability and possibility for choice, much less for the actual quality of the main plot. Yet ELEX delivers both rich lore, amazing story and huge world, without losing whatever Gothic and Risen were always good at. The game is not perfect, yet its flaws can easily be neglected. Certainly, animations could be more polished, and there are some minor bugs (most of which are already patched), also melee combat doesn't feel very comfortable. However, the design of the world that uses 3d dimension in the best possible way, and is made so that your jetpack adds to the exploration instead of taking from it, is just amazing. The factions design is incredible, not only in terms of variety, but in delivering the feeling the feeling that your choice is never the greater good, but mostly the lesser evil. The alignment system that actually matters a lot is a rare thing as well. All in all, the game does deliver what previous games of the studio managed to deliver while also succeeding where those games failed. And it does make you feel awesome.
One would think that an RPG with strict definition of "Light" and "Dark" would have straightforward morals and character diversity. That, however, is not the case with KOTOR 2. The game is all about the spectrum of grey, both in its story and main character development. There are always so many options in each of your choices, of which most matter in one way or another, that they let you actually form a very accurate personality of a character you're playing rather than just "good" or "bad" guy. The dialogue system is amazingly complex, and your choices always have effect, if only the slightest. Characters, especially your companions, are, most of the time, detailed personalities that never reveal to you instantly. It's the only time I ever felt sympathy to side character's love to protagonist. The game does convey some interesting thoughts, both in regards to SW universe and general philosophy. It leaves you thinking that perhaps the films were deeper than they seemed as well. For its age, the game looks beautiful, as, I suppose, what matters is good design, not texture resolution. The only thing I had to change was how the Sith protagonist face changes, as it was too repelling for me but I wanted to try playing as Dark Side character at least once (having played as Light Side three times already). TSL Restored Content Mod is worth mentioning. However, despite the amount of the cut-out content it restores, as it seems, the core of the game was mostly untouched, and the story is as well-written in the vanilla game as it is after installing the mod.
