>It’s unbelievably refreshing. Rather than following a series of linear objectives across the map, you’re instead invited to explore and immerse yourself in the alien world of Magalan, drawn in by the emergent way in which the art of the possible presents itself as you go about accomplishing your goals. That Pirahna Bytes were able to keep this up over my 40 or so hours with the game, and still leave me feeling like I had barely scratched the surface of this world, speaks volumes about the scale of the choice on offer.
>Interestingly, Elex II landed with me around the same time I was starting to sample Guerrilla Games’ latest epic, Horizon: Forbidden West. Jumping from Elex II to Horizon was an incredibly jarring experience largely due to the reasons set out above. Compared to the incredibly linear nature in which Horizon tells its story, Elex II feels incredibly liberating. It draws me back to that word I used at the start; ambition. Whilst this is a game that, of course, does not even begin to scratch the surface of its triple-A competitors in terms of polish and budget when it comes to sheer ambition and complexity in how you can carve your own path through its narrative, Elex II is leaps and bounds ahead of any other competing open-world action RPG that has come out of the west.
Do I have to play the first game to understand this one?
Owen Morales
Yeah probably. Elex is severely underrated as an actual RPG in my opinion.
Parker Nelson
PASS
Nicholas Murphy
>What I’m really trying to get at here, is that Elex II is a game that manages to break down that awkward barrier between side-quests and critical path objectives that exist in so many RPGs. I’d go so far as to say that side-quests are virtually non-existent, such is the ripple effect that even the most minor of actions can have.
Colton Morris
Damn
Cooper Cook
>Much like its predecessor, Elex II’s greatest strength lies within its world-building and ability to deliver quests that interlink and overlap in a non-linear fashion. Miraculously, it does so in a manner that somehow never feels disjointed. From the moment you receive your initial quest to help strengthen the 6th Power through aligning with one of Magalan’s primary factions, the choice, and freedom to go about achieving your goals are truly staggering.
>I lost count of the number of times I would stumble across what seemed like a dead-end to a quest, before finding a solution presented itself much further down the line as a result of exploring and exercising my influence over how I approach my playthrough.
Welcome to Eurojank RPGs >here's a map >you want direction about what to do? Nah. >try not to die to the first boar you meet (you cannot outrun the boar. You do, or die.)
Justin Rivera
From what I’m hearing it’s improved over elex but that’s not saying much. I found it to be adequate in the first game. Piranha games appeal are the choices and actual role playing to me anyway…
Joseph Diaz
Which is absolutely based.
Ryan King
Time to finish around 60 hours Two very different parts, the first half of the game is more about avoiding enemies, exploration, and the second half is more about fighting Elex 2 is set as part 2 of a trilogy and you can clearly make that out, by the open ending for several parts of the storylines First half plays like a survival game, probably with a lot of quick saves / load and you try to avoid battles where possible (sounds exactly like Elex 1) Four difficulty settings More than 80 skills (Very) good skill tree (system) Made for fans of Gothic and Elex Five factions to choose from (but you don't have to choose one, though it is recommended - also for the story) The Main story only picks up in the second half of the game It is recommended to have played Elex 1 (to get all the story details in Elex 2) Faces of the characters are a huge weakness in most cases (looking like wax figures in many cases) Quests, cities, and the world, in general, are highlights again Game world is pretty much the same size as in Elex 1 Choices by the player have real consequences A ton of dialogues, especially if you first enter a city/camp from one of the factions (lots of talking) Companions in Elex 2 as well, complete with their own quest lines Controls/Combat and animations still feel a bit clunky, but improved compared to Elex 1 (don't expect a AAA modern combat system and animations/graphics in general) Grenades and rocket launchers are mostly of use to "push back enemies" rather than weapons to actually fight/kill them Flying feels better/improved and is a lot more fun, but is limited in time (jetpack can be upgraded several times) and one point I won't mention here Only very minor quest and tech issues in this near-final build, which should be fixed for the release version
Mason Stewart
Can you finally bang an alb chick
Adrian Sanchez
I don’t know why piranha isn’t more popular. They’re the closest thing to that morrowind type of experience on the market.
