Elex is a rich RPG with a lot of depth, great mechanics and amazing world. It looks kind of modern but the laggy controles, stiff animations and complicated shooting mechanics still show the gothic ancestry. The one gripe I have is that it feels unfinished. It seems like they build that amazing world and story and then ran out of time. A lot of end game storylines dont make any sense and once you are strong enough to explore the world theres not a lot to find.
Seriously, ID software figured this out 20 years ago. I don't care how little or underfunded your company is, this is not complicated!
PC Gamers, by and large have keys they're accustomed to using. WASD is a TERRIBLE keyboard layout leftover from two player games on Apple IIs. ALL KEYS SHOULD BE REBINDABLE!
Not only is it impossible in game to bind the keys I want, there doesn't even seem to be a reasonable workaround like a .ini file I can edit.
There's a big thread on Steam from 2018 where they tried to figure this out, contacted the publisher, still they haven't fixed it? Just shows a lazy developer and I'm sure the port will aggravate me in other ways. I hate being irritated by a game before I can even started playing in this way.
After improving so much in combat mechanics in Risen 1 and 2 to some extent, then we get this... Poorly thought out mechanics giving no interesting dynamics and trade-offs between attack wild-up, recovery, dodge frames (beasts are ridiculous, chronic issue with this developer) , range vs attack speed (two handers are so painful to use), useless jetpack in combat due to every enemy having ranged attacks. After churning out so many titles this developer still don't understand basics of a fighting game, even though there are so many excellent old arcade titles to learn from. Please spend some time to learn basic concepts of frame advantages and anticipations vs risk-taking, such core concepts to any proper fighting game... there are none in this game.
Story is non-existent for the most part.
Then we have the much-advertised big world with so many loots. But unless you are a toilet paper and cutlery aficionado, exploring and looting in this game is painfully boring and tedious.
Regret 100% buying this game, even on sale for 15 bucks. Can't get it back now. But I'd pay another 15 bucks if the system would allow me to rate this game score of zero.
Like all of Piranha Bytes' games, ELEX lacks polish, but it excels in a few key areas that distinguishes it from other open world RPGs. Exploration and world design were always strong points of PB's games, but ELEX takes those concepts to new heights (literally) thanks to the jetpack. I've always appreciated the vertical level design of the original Gothic games (and Risen 1), but ELEX pushes that even farther thanks to the jetpack. While it doesn't allow you to fly across the map like Superman, it does enable you to reach areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. Exploring ELEX's hand crafted world is a lot of fun, and you are almost always rewarded with useful items, tidbits of lore and environmental storytelling, or just a scenic view.
Combat is fine. It's not going to appeal to everyone, as even the melee combo system can be a bit unintuitive, but it's visceral, challenging, and rewards skill, which is more than what could be said for most games in this genre. I played as a Cleric, who in addition to having access to some of the best looking armor in the game, are able to learn some devastating 'magic' abilities, like the ability to open small black holes that pulls enemies in. I was less impressed by the plasma and laser guns, however.
Like all of this developer's games, ELEX isn't going to appeal to everyone. It doesn't explain its systems very well, and in a game this punishing that can be an issue. But at its core ELEX is another immersive open world RPG by developer Piranha Bytes, and is quite possibly their best game since the incredible Gothic 2. The setting is refreshingly original, and it's clear a lot of thought was put into the world design and lore. It's fun, challenging, beautiful, and a bit janky.
I did not have high expectations of this game, I liked Gothic 2 a lot and enjoyed Risen 1, but this futuristic fallout-ish fantasy story did not fit so well with my PB image. And then I tried it out, and found out I could not let go. The workd is beautiful, even tranquil sometimes, much in contrast to the beasts that roam it and want to kill you with one blow :-). Exploration is rewarding. Game mechanics are good, fighting is good, and the story is captivation. Above all this, it preserves the spirit of PBs games, it is hard in the beginning, and every fight won is an acomplishment.
I had a lot of fun with this game.
