I love Elex 1 in almost every aspect of the game. I did wait this for a long time and....i got totally disappointed. 1) The map. How it's possible that I have explored Magalan more than 20 times and in this sequel I can't recognize it ? They cut around Tavar, stretched and deformed it, adding places that never existed before, and call this mess a world. 2) the combat system. What can I say ? totally boring, nothing else. The "Ironman" experience is disappointing, the 2 handed melee weapons are useless, no tactics are required. Just click the mouse fast as much as you can. In elex 1 the Jetpack was well balanced, useful to escape but not too powerful to totally avoid danger. 3) Quests. The quests are stupids, almost useless even to tell a story. The "Crater Siege" is the worst, 1 hour on the mountains to kill 3 animals and walk 3 minutes to reach the next 3, for a total of 100. 4) the technical requirements. Not only the ground seems more fake than Elex 1, it requires a LOT better hardware to run. The game itself was unplayable for months, before they puke out the DX12 patch. In short: Is it so difficult to KEEP the same map and the same mechanics and why not even the graphic models, sparing some time in order to focus on writing a good story, instead of making a mess to improve (and here I laugh) the graphic engine ? Bad, very Bad, useful only to know the story of the comet.
This game has only one flaw, the usual PB politic that you MUST join a faction (which does not change a bit to you). Except for that, you play in a fantastic post apocalypse world, what remains of the old world is stunning, full of recorded stories of the people that didn't survive, their belongings etc... plus, magic ! Everything is really cool but totally unbalanced: The monsters are everywhere, and not located according to your level. You can find big trolls and cyclops near the walls of a city or a main road or a simple rat in the woods because they live there, not because you must be cuddled. It's up to you to understand where you can survive and how...and of course it's up to your equipment and your skills. And here comes the big news in this game....the JETPACK. With that and a smart brain, you can explore the entire map even if you can't slay a chicken, and there is a lot to see.
This game has the usual flaws of Piranha Bytes games: - crafting is almost useless (but NWN is worst) - you MUST join a faction - the physic engine is not so good. Except for those little things, even from the beginning this game is a gem. - The gameplay experience is immersive - the music is hypnotic - it's playable on a GT 730. - the quests are cool and appropriate for the main plot. - the combat system makes you feel a real badass, totally unassisted fights: not like the Witcher and similar. It's an old game, but very enjoyable. In the past I would gave it a 5/5, but on ELEX 1 they did even better.
It's a great RPG, with a very good story, lot of sub quest, funny henchmen, some mini-games... Ok, the game has some flaws: - sometimes the frame-rate drops in a scary way (the air temple is almost not playable on my hardware, which is very cheap however) - the ground models sometimes makes you get stuck and there's no way out except using the map shortcuts. - too many trees: watching from the edge of a mountain (and jump with the levitation spell of course) was my preferred thing in the previous game. And some drastic changes: - the combat system is strange for who have played Risen 1. - the sensation of magic is gone, but it was planned (since in a book you can read that magic had been banned) and replaced with voodoo. - the crafting system is useless , worst than Risen 1: you find schemes when you already have the object, the cost of crafting is equals to the finihed object, the raw materials are quite limited... IN SHORT: If you think to it as a Risen sequel you will be disappointed, if considered it as a "Pirates of the Carribean" RPG it will become worthy of your time.
