General Gaming Elex II - Information Thread, update: reviews from OpenCritic posted

[Mr.Vic20]

9 hours ago, Bacon said:

I guess it is time to be a Berserker. 

That was my second run as well, I felt no desire to play as the mad max team. 

[Bacon]

55 minutes ago, Mr.Vic20 said:

That was my second run as well, I felt no desire to play as the mad max team. 

Their leaders are just so shit and major assholes with zero redeeming features. It feels like fear is the only reason the Duke isn't taken out. And even then, Jax can take him out no problem. Jax has no reason to serve under such people and all of the work he puts into the faction is barely rewarded and no one really seems to care if he joins or not. I mean, Rat has a higher position than Jax when Jax did all the work, and all Rat did was kill Blake and he become a head honcho. 

[Mr.Vic20]

43 minutes ago, Bacon said:

Their leaders are just so shit and major assholes with zero redeeming features. It feels like fear is the only reason the Duke isn't taken out. And even then, Jax can take him out no problem. Jax has no reason to serve under such people and all of the work he puts into the faction is barely rewarded and no one really seems to care if he joins or not. I mean, Rat has a higher position than Jax when Jax did all the work, and all Rat did was kill Blake and he become a head honcho. 

Agreed! I feel like the only reason the Junkions are even in the world is to prevent a simple binary struggle between two wasteland peoples (Albs aside!). They offer little in the way of compelling equipment of story line. I guess you could consider them the scrappy underdogs, but uh, they're all assholes, so who cares?! 

 

If you do play Berserker, I recommend:

Spoiler

Finding the island near the berserker town that has a well on it. Sneak past the demon there or kite it away and then get the flaming sword at the bottom. Good boost, not an end game blade, but solid. 

 

[Bacon]

Man Melee is so trash. The Berserkers and their magic are so trash. Clerics are like 80 million times better. The stats for Berserkers are fucking all over the place. FUCKING CUNNING? REALLY? You literally need like 60 in every stat to access their basic shit. Like, might as well just use the redeemer again. 

[Bacon]

Also, melee is bullshit for one major reason. Basically, melee has reload animations aka combo reset. And the reason why it is bullshit is because it defeats the purpose of getting more stamina. because of this "reload animation" that melee weapons have, you can't just keep swinging. Which means any stamina past the final hit in the combo is nearly useless. The only reason to have more stamina than that in combat is to then dodge roll. And of course the reload sucks because it leaves you wide open. You have to dodge roll after the final hit in the combo or you WILL be hit because monsters have a much higher attack rate and recovery time. So, for combat purposes extra stam out of the full combo and dodge roll, it is useless. It is only good for running longer and even then, the stamina meter refills so fast extra stam isn't important for running either. The whole appeal of extra stam is to get more swings in without stopping, but you still have to stop because there is an animation reset after so many swings. I mean, you do want some extra stam for melee. Like make 40-60 extra stam so you can full combo, special hit, and dodge, without running out, but any more and the game just ignores it. 

 

Really, I'm just mad I wasted time running around the game world getting all the Wolf Leaf I could find and grabbing the 9 Golden Whispers so I could boost my stam super high early without needing to invest my early attribute points into Constitution... Man, I really don't get why melee is even this game. AND THE BERSERKERS SUCK BALLS. Literally the hard mode faction of the game if you want to actually RP as a Berserker.

 

And, man, I would love to give commands to companions. When I was ranged only, I thought the AI was good enough. Especially with Caja being a fire blaster. But, wow, now that I am trying to be melee only, my companions only seem to attack in melee as well. Like, I just wish I could command Caja to stay ranged and never get close to the enemy. I just want her to sling fireballs while I slice and dice. 

[Bacon]

I beat ELEX as a Berserker. I really tried using melee, but ended up using War Bow III. Literally 120 damage vs 87 with the 2-handed sword. Ranged and more damage is just too good to pass up. Literally "2" shot the final boss with the multi-shot bow skill. 

[Fizzzzle]

It's been a while since I played it, but I remember ranged being kind of useless early in the game, but by the end guns are OP as fuck

[Bacon]

36 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

It's been a while since I played it, but I remember ranged being kind of useless early in the game, but by the end guns are OP as fuck

All forms of attack are useless until you get a weapon that does more than 30 damage. Melee does have the special attack or whatever that after you build up the combo meter up enough which is your only form of dealing damage, but you are better off just not doing any quests that require you to fight until you have a good weapon. I am going to do an outlaw run to finish it off, but I'm just going int and dex from the get-go to use the redeemer asap. 

[Bacon]

So, the Outlaw faction feels the most in place in the game. The "story" of the quests to rank up in the faction are probably the best and really fit the Outlaw theme. But, wow, you fucking devs. The devs are lazy AF. The Berserkers and Outlaws literally share quests. One is this debt collector shit. Both Factions have you follow a guy around, who collects money and then reports back to the faction leader with an amount. That is when the Faction Leader ask you if the amount the Debt collect was the right amount. AND FOR BOTH FACTIONS the answer is exactly the same. Both debt collectors are skimming off the top. Like, it wouldn't have been so bad if you had to give different answers but as it is now, that quest is literally the same for both factions. Like, it is fucked that the faction quests aren't unique.

 

Oh yeah, the other shared quest is, with both Berserkers and Outlaws you have to navigate this crag and kill the other faction. If you are an Outlaw, you go up the crag and kill Berserkers. If you are a Berserker, you go down the crag and kill the Outlaws. You could say, "well that is actually pretty cool because you get to see both sides" but there is literally nothing to see. You just show up and murder both times. There is nothing to the quests at all. The Outlaw's version is slightly better tho because the Outlaw Raid Leader on this mission thinks Berserkers actually have sex with trees and that was pretty funny with how it was delivered in game. 

[Bacon]

Yeah, the bad end is really dumb. All that work to join the Hybrid. Feels pointless. Jax really should have became the new Hybrid. Like, not actually become the hybrid, but like he should have sucked all the elex out of him or something. Jax should have achieved the evolution the Albs were trying to obtain and actually led the Albs to a new future. But no. The bad end is really just a BS maintain the status quo ending. Sure, the Zerks and Clerics are hostile, but I was BUMMED when all of my companions were just fine with it. I was legit hoping they'd turn hostile and killing all of your friends and allies was the final mission. 

 

And while it actually didn't feel that weird to join the outlaws, I think it totally would feel weird if you did so on the first go around. I still don't like them and it still makes no sense to join them. I still never used Outlaw Weapons or Heavy Weapons. When It comes to ranged weapons I have only used the Bows and Plasma Rifle. All melee is the same, but I only used like 3-4 differently named melee weapons because I always switched to Ranged. And while the War Bow + Scatter Shot is really fucking strong, the stat requirement is way too damn high. This game's shitty stat requirements make RP'ing a faction really fucking annoying. The Redeemer just makes every other build feel shitty. It is this game's Master Sword, the Ultimate Weapon. Even if you are an Outlaw or Zerk, pumping Int and Dex is just the way to go and you don't even have to pump very hard. You only have to get Dex and Int to 65 and you can use a necklace which gives 5 dex so you really only need to get to 60 Dex and 65 Int. On this final play-thru, I didn't even kill anything until I had enough attribute points to use this Plasma Rifle PT3 which you can do very early on. At that point I just kept pumping Dex and Int until I could use The Redeemer.

 

I was thinking about 100%ing this game(achievements) but I really don't care. I am not nearly as excited for Elex 2 after experiencing basically everything ELEX has to offer. Part of is just fatigue of course, but another part of it is realizing how little ELEX offers. You really get the full ELEX experience in one play-thru.  Am I gonna get ELEX 2? Yeah but more because I just want to see what's next. I want to see if ELEX 2 actually improves on anything or if it is just ELEX 1 episode 2. 

 

And this game isn't even a 5/10. More like a 4. More time with it only made it worse like (relationship joke). But until halfway thru my Zerker play-thru I was really addicted. There still is just something about this game. The game is a lump of coal in giant pile of shit. But with a budget of $1B that lump of coal could probably be one of the greatest diamonds of all time. I really think it is that "imagine what ELEX could have been" is what makes it so addictive. Like, even after beating it 3 times I have this feeling that the game could get good at any moment. The game constantly feels like it is about get good. The game edges you the whole time. Perpetually about to cum. Even now, knowing I'll never cum, I still feel like I could cum at any moment, but I know it will never happen. And it just makes me want to "hah, sigh, yep"  for eternity. 

 

I give ELEX a ... out of 5

[Bacon]

Holy crap I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. None of the companions talk to each other. It is totally missing the companion banter that happens the BioWare games. Why aren't these fuckers talking to each other. It even tries to do the fire or ice romance shit with Caja and Nasty, but they literally never, not even once, talk to each other. Even when you choose one over the other and have your lover in your party while talking to the other, nothing is said. They fucking needed that so badly. 

 

I just realized this and if felt like I just realized I was missing an arm or something. Like, not even the game realizes it's missing. The game is fucking handicapped and it isn't even aware.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Ahem...

 

 

 

"ELEX II on Steam"

ELEX II on Steam

STORE.STEAMPOWERED.COM

---

In this sequel to the vintage Open World RPG ELEX, Jax must once again unite the free people of the Science-Fantasy world of Magalan against a new threat - the Skyanides, who want to change the face of the planet forever.

 

 

[Mr.Vic20]

Hell yes, lets go! 

[Bacon]

YEAH BOIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I can't believe it. Perfect timing to play ELEX on my part. Holy shit. I woke up this morning, and checked reddit and thought I was dreaming when I saw ELEX 2 on my front page of reddit. I backed out of reddit and when I went back in it was no longer on my front page. And then I had to check here. And wow, no one tagged me. WTF! I almost missed that my thread was updated cuz I was looking for an ELEX 2 thread. Man, what a start to my day. It can probably only go down from here. And yeah, I expect anything that nintendo announces will be of a far lesser value to me. 

[Bacon]

OK, so, the trailer. 

 

Man it is great to see a trailer straight out of 2007 in the modern day. It is great to see a game not use garbage hip-hop rap music. Metal is so much fucking cooler and epic. Metal fits games so much better. I don't even care if it is "nu-metal". Rap is just so shit. Ruins any trailer it is in. Well, maybe not the mercs 2 trailer but that is a different kind of thing. But man, as much as that trailer hypes, it also hurts. I wish melee combat was actually as good as the trailer made it out to be. That was some Dragon's Dogma level of combat but we all know it is gonna be that timed clicked bullshit that ends with you pressing E to actually do damage. Although, when Jax enters the scene in the trailer, he is actually using combat animation from the came. Jet pack smash, Special E attack, and one of the normal attack animations. Also, while he still looks far better in the trailer, trailer Jax actually looks like game Jax now, and not just commander Shepard. They really nailed the perpetual frown Jax has in the game. The devs really know who Jax is now. 

 

Now the factions. How strange. Either the Outlaws or Clerics have changed bigtime and I can't which faction is the new Black and Red faction. I think it is the outlaws tho, (edit: but there are Cleric styled mechs in the trailer). I am guess, based of the trailer, the Clerics are gone, and the Albs have taken their role. Which is great TBH. Also noticed the new Berserkers seem to be much more modern in appearance, which addresses some of my criticism of ELEX 1 and how the Berserkers don't fit into the world even tho they were the main faction. They now have a modern medieval style that matched the feeling of magical progression in a world that has technologically regressed. Of course that could all be trailer fluff and in game it is the exact same armors and gear as last time. I wonder if the purple baddies are mainly comprised of a previous faction. The trailer also gives me hope that magic won't be tied to a tiny little gun that shoots out magic balls. That was really lame in ELEX 1. Should be able to wield a sword in one hand and magic in the other. Magic should be supplementary. Also, omg, a faction leader with a vagina... I wonder if that is Caja. And I guess the new bad guys are creatures totally transformed by Elex. If that is the case, I wonder if there will be a way to un-"zombify" them or if they fucked AF. 

 

See next post for non-trailer thoughts about elex 2. 

[Bacon]

from reddit

source: https://www.gamestar.de/artikel/elex-2-preview,3370730.html (german/not my translation)

Because Elex 2 is more Gothic 2 than Risen 2 . In concrete terms: It primarily continues the strengths of its predecessor instead of breaking with them. It expands instead of revolutionizing. You get a comparable open world, comparable fights, a comparable narrative style and - you guessed it - comparable open-mouth moments.

But before you confuse "conservative" with "boring": Elex 2 has cool new ideas, an exciting story starting point, new open world areas - and you can now fly with the jetpack! So don't float, just fly properly. Like Iron Man.

The rough outline: what is Elex 2?

The absolutely most important information first: Yes, there is a chainsaw broadsword again in Elex 2, yikes! Elex 2 plays a few years after its predecessor - and what is bad news for the inhabitants of the game world should again please fans. The world of Magalan still doesn't get the hang of leaving its own post-apocalyptic devastation behind. So a mix of dense fantasy forests, weathered skyscrapers and science fiction innovations is waiting for you. Here are the basic facts:

Story and quests

• You play again as Ex-Alb Jax, but there will be no savegame import from Elex 1. As in Gothic 2, you lose your skills and can decide again which path your non-nameless hero should take.

• Anyone who has played Elex 1 will know: A new threat hangs over the world. But nobody wants to believe Jax, which is why he fell out with the old factions and went into exile. In Elex 2, he returns from oblivion to convince people of his cause.

• According to Piranha Bytes, none of their games have had as many dialogues and storylines as Elex 2. By the end of the credits you are busy an average of 60 hours, 100 percent natures naturally need significantly longer - and the factions mean that there is always a high replay value.

• There will be more than three factions, but the parties still represent certain character classes or weapon types.

• It is still unclear how many factions are completely new. But we speculate that at least berserkers and outlaws will return.

• The companion system returns: Jax hires familiar and new companions to accompany him through the rugged wilderness. As part of the quest, there should be significantly more decisions and hard consequences. Open world

• Elex 2 offers a new open world that consists partly of old and partly of new regions. The old areas have been changed drastically over the years and by the hearts of the world, but you also travel to completely new areas. So overall like in Gothic 2.

• Your jetpack not only allows you to float, but you can also jet through the landscape like Boba Fett. But only after a few upgrades.

• Children are now a part of the play world.

• The nights in Elex 2 are significantly darker than in the predecessor. But hey, now you've got a flashlight for that.

Further gameplay adjustments

• Little changes in the classes: You can play as a ranged fighter, magician, thug or a mishmash.

• Because you are now more agile in the air, there is also pure air combat against other flying opponents. So Jax can fight gargoyles at a height of 20 meters.

• The moral system has been revised: Instead of a cold value for Jax's emotional state, there is now "creation" and "destruction". Whoever kills defenseless sheep, for example, increases the destruction value. This new moral system is closely interlinked with the parliamentary groups - more on this below in the article.

• Technically, you can see Elex 2's leap forward, even if you still can't expect the smoothness of a 1,500-person Ubisoft production, for example, in the animation.

So, if you have seen the steam pictures or any of the new Elex 2 pictures, you know the shit looks like the same game from 2017. Which is great for my PC from 2016. And, real quick about my previous post, I think the Outlaws conquered the clerics and that is what we see in the new trailer. This is also because there is a new screen shot of the final tier of cleric armor from ELEX 1, but it lost all of its cleric colors. 

 

It is great to see some of my criticisms address right away. There will be children in the game, and the Jet pack is upgradeable. I just hope that the Jetpack doesn't start out worse because of that tho. Of course it won't happen, but I'd love to see melee combat worked into some more souls like, and your iframe dodges use jetpack fuel instead of stam. Meaning that you dodge dash with you jet pack instead of just rolling around.... Well I am just realizing that it says there will be more than 3 factions so... 

 

While I thought I'd prefer my choices not carrying over, I also worry that Elex 2 will be rewriting history and none of the major events will be canon in ELEX 2. While Jax not remaining in a faction totally makes sense, seems kinda fucked he just spent years in exile. And like, none of the factions believed him after the events of ELEX 1. Man, wut? Again, I know this next thing won't happen, but with their being more than 3 factions, I REALLY fucking hope PB abandons the idea of joining a faction. I really want Jax to be his own faction and I hope that happens. There is also this blurb from an article I read "In order to defend the peace on Magalan and the safety of his own family," so I wonder if one of romance options from the previous game will be canon? Or maybe he has a harem with both Caja and Nasty. Now that would be pretty poggers. 

 

Seems like ELEX 2 will have nearly the exact same amount of content as the first one. 60 hours casual, 100 hours for 100% ish. That is great. Bitches on reddit saying 60 hours is too long. BITCH, I NEED 200 hours... well not really. Seems like they are attempting to make combat have a bit more depth. That could be good, or it might just make me wish for a time where I could ignore combat via the plasma rifle. And having a different morality system is just lame when ELEX2 is proving choices don't really matter. Morality system really should just not exist. The Witcher does it so much better. But well, that just least to people looking up what to say, instead of just picking the blue option or red option. 

 

In the end, shit could just be the same game new story and I'll be getting it day one baby. Hope it comes out this year. The sooner the better. But fuck please don't come out the same time as Endwalker. 

[Bacon]

BTW final ELEX play time

 

Doubt I actually play it before ELEX 2 especially as I don't need a save to carry over. 

[Brian]

[Bacon]

1 minute ago, ManUtdRedDevils said:

Hell yeah it is. Total trash. Can't wait to play it. 

[Bacon]

 

And now and altered quote 

"take notes japan, this is how you fight chaos"

[Bacon]

[Bacon]

I think that is 

Spoiler

Jax's kid...

 

[JPDunks4]

I've never even heard of Elex before.  Watching a trailer it doesnt look all that bad.

[Mr.Vic20]

7 minutes ago, JPDunks4 said:

I've never even heard of Elex before.  Watching a trailer it doesnt look all that bad.

Elex is like a weird comfort food that at first taste is tangy but eventually you get into the groove and you don’t notice the tang. Eventually you come to like it not necessarily for the many things it does wrong but for the freedom to experience the things it does oh so right! 

[Bacon]

Just now, JPDunks4 said:

I've never even heard of Elex before.  Watching a trailer it doesnt look all that bad.

Bro, this trailer is an absolute lie. The only honest part about it is the factions and armor it shows off. The melee combat in ELEX 1 is fable melee combat but worse. Ranged combat feels worse than Fallout 3. Will this change in ELEX 2? Doubt it, but we gotta wait and see. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

ELEX II Q&A - Much More Responsive Combat, Deeper Romances and Other Improvements

WCCFTECH.COM

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We interviewed Piranha Bytes on the recently announced ELEX II, sequel to 2017's RPG set in a world that mixes magic and technology.

 

@Bacon

@Mr.Vic20

[Bacon]

DAMN that spoils shit right off the fucking bat jesus lol 

[Bacon]

OMG FLYING MELEE COMBAT

[Bacon]

EW THEY CHANGE JAX'S VA EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

[Bacon]

Caja looking fucking rough. Hopefully that is just the because the game isn't finished yet. I mean, there you clearly plenty of unfinished things in the videos. 

 

An actual city lookin place. Tall buildings and shit. 

 

Jax new VA is bad 

 

Melee combat now looks viable and fucking FLYING MELEE COMBAT

 

Flying looks cool AF, but I mean, this kind of flying is in all the newer games with jetpack. Not something rare to see, but still great to see. 

 

Hud is more clean. Still has the pointless radar.

 

Clearly some faction changes. Looks like some faction mergers happened.

 

Plenty of returning characters right off the bat. 

 

Looks like there is no more "pure fantasy skyrim" faction and a more realistic modern-medieval aesthetic faction has taken over. Thank the heavens. 

 

 

[Bacon]

Quote

Speaking of factions, is Jax still restricted to only joining one at a time?

Piranha Bytes: There are more factions to choose from and we will tell you more about the factions soon.

BUT still looks limited to 1 faction

Quote

Will choices matter more in ELEX II? How many different endings can players expect?

Piranha Bytes: The world reacts heavily to the player’s choices, even entire battles are happening or not happening because of what the player did. Some consequences will be happening directly, some much much later, spanning over different acts. The choice of the faction you join is an important part of that experience, too. As for the endings: there are many. Depending on what faction you joined, 

 

 

[Mr.Vic20]

Well, at least the frame rate was inconsistent! 

[Fizzzzle]

If you came to Elex for the voice acting, you're barking up the wrong tool shed

[Bacon]

4 minutes ago, Fizzzzle said:

If you came to Elex for the voice acting, you're barking up the wrong tool shed

No they change the voice actor. I don't care about the acting. Jax doesn't sound like Jax. 

[XxEvil AshxX]

"Will the game still be janky as fuck?"

"We'll try to remove as much of the jank as possible."

"YOU FUCKING BETTER NOT."