ELEX - Some Thoughts
 

Cohh recommends ELEX for fans of the Gothic series:

More information.

I had very low expectations for this game, I was planning to play an hour or two just to check it out and then return it.

But I've being enjoying it so far, although it has cluncky combat and it's really unpolished. But not as buggy as I was expecting.

Sure, hearing a NPC apprentice asking me to find his bow that he lost in a hunt, that he can't get another bow because his master won't give him another one… While having a huge bow on his back… And then me turning to his master and him telling me to be quiet to not scare the prey, while the apprentice starts banging a wall with an hammer… Can be a little bit off.

Or entering a restricted area without the guard seeing and then getting out through his gate and him only telling me I can't enter (apparently, he didn't find it strange that I came from inside), is the type of unpolishness of this game.

But it has an interesting world, interesting factions with interesting philosophies where none stand out as being the good guys or bad guys, etc.

Oh yeah and then you go to the spot he said he dropped the bow and foirst stumble upon a troll then go back avoid that miniboss go for a bow and two hard to kill trashmobs are guarding the bow…
I love this game! :D

Had a great time watching Cohh play this game but also have no wish to play it myself.

Yeah, no. I've played 36 hours and this is by far their most polished release yet, and a highly polished release overall relative to their budget and manpower.

While bugs are present in ELEX they are minimal overall, the game runs rock solid and there are no gamebreaking bugs in sight.

Fortunately, I have three new games to play and several replays after those, so Elex can wait till a summer sale and a bunch of patches for me. I do like the PB games, but I know how they usually are released.

Gothic 3 is their most recent release that was crap and that was over a decade ago. Time to let this myth die.

unpolished != buggy

i preffer buggy over unpolished anyday. and this game would require mountains of work to get to a decent state.
if the people who made it were so oblivious, its pretty hard to repair. best start from scratch

Did I say it did?

The game is neither unpolished or buggy. Anyone who has played it for more than an hour or two and is honest about it will tell you that.

If you want to split hairs and talk about overall polish or bugginess levels compared to larger game developers, ELEX still comes out on top because of the budget and manpower used to make the game. PB is using a small FRACTION of what other AAA developers use and still getting similar (I'd argue BETTER in some ways) results.

For what they accomplished with a team of 27 is remarkable.

I got a chuckle from Cohh’s Statement that if you’re expecting a super polished AAA title like Skyrim… I guess he forgot Skyrim had thousands of bugs and broke when I tried to play it the month of its release.

Define 'polished'. Skyrim and the Fallouts weren't exactly 'polished' IMO. Even patched and modded, there was a fair amount of goofiness and quirky behavior.

ELEX looks damned good to me. The only thing I would change in the character models is doing hair and eyebrows better. The lip-synching is okay; I don't pay that much attention to it in any case. True, combat could be a bit smoother. The world and textures are top notch. AI is a tad wonky at times, but not more so than many other AAA games.

One thing I noticed that PB changed from the Gothic series is looting bodies. You no longer can collect weapons to sell. Cash can be a little tough to come by in ELEX.
I have found some excellent weapons that I can't use until I pump up my stats more.

Early on, you're almost forced to play a stealth character to avoid combat because you get owned in an instant. The jet-pack is a game saver and a life saver. Cliff jumping and heights are a noobs best friend.

I know this won't be a very popular comparison around here, but what you said reminds me of the early stages of Breath of the Wild.

Breath of the Wild, while I haven't played it, is probably the closest thing to a PB open-world in some ways. I hear it's quite the realistic/challenging world with minimal, or no (?) level-scaling.

I have played Breath of the Wild. I've enjoyed the PB games, but none of them would come even close to that masterpiece. With that said, I've yet to try Elex, but I'll give it a fair shake, once it is done baking. I bet I'll wind up replaying Breath first, though!

I've played more than a couple of hours and it sure is unpolished. I gave some examples.

About it being from an AAA studio or not… I don't understand that argument. I care about the game as it is. It being made by a big or small studio doesn't affect my enjoyment of the game. It can help to explain why it's good or bad, but won't change the game experience itself.

Your examples are ridiculously petty.

Yet, you're being petty to me for having my own opinion about the game that doesn't suit your views.

They are off putting to me and believe me that I wasn't searching for negatives to talk about the game. I was clear that I was enjoying the game. But it seems that for you, the game is perfect, there's no flaws and no one should say anything negative about it. Ignore the facts just because the game has a smaller budget and manpower behind it, compared to AAA games.

This must be the first video game you've ever played then if those examples make you call the game "really unpolished."

The examples are valid enough, but that also means only The Witcher 3 is actually polished among the big, open world RPGs available on PC.

Witcher 3 isn't perfect either. No game is. And regardless those miniscule issues do not warrant a "really unpolished" tag.

No, it isn't, but it's certainly polished. It's the only game of such scope I can think of that doesn't have things like a dude with a bow asking you to find a bow. Even way back in Gothic 2, Dragomir would ask the player to find his missing crossbow despite being equipped with a decent weapon already. Skyrim, Fallout and so on have loads of quests and issues that make no sense.

I'm sure if you look hard enough you'll find weird things in Witcher 3. Like respawning drowners.

No game is perfect, period.

It's not about perfection but about not being blind to flaws…



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I would say Fallout 4 has way more shitty things than ELEX. If ELEX is unpolished what is Fallout 4 then?

Are you reading the thread? Gwendo said the game is "really unpolished" and then proceeded to give examples equivalent to a grain of sand missing on the beach.

So no, it's not about being "blind to flaws" (who is blind to flaws anyway? I've found many things in ELEX that could be improved, anyone who plays can), it's about being honest and forthright in your description of the game.

It is far from unpolished. And if those hairs out of place on an NPC's head equal a "really unpolished" game, then a proper game really has never been made.

Yes, that was a lesson in 'don't assume it's easy' I arrived, tried to melee them and died ;-) Eventually when I got a decent ranged attack - I just sniped them to death from above. Oddly enough they didn't have any ranged weapons (unlike F'ing mutants spitting raptors and what not).

I am a big fan of this game and I will recommend it to anyone even in its current state but I won't call the game polished at all. It does also has CTD bugs as well.

When it comes to exploration and atmosphere, this game is miles ahead of Skyrim and Witcher 3. Maybe its the hard combat at the beginning but something makes you respect and fear the world. Always keeping you alert and on the look out for danger around the corner.

Yes the story and dialogues are sub par but it doesn't seem to bother me much since I am too busy mucking about in the world. In fact I am glad this game doesn't have Witcher 3 style story (which I loved) since that will get in the way of things here.

This is his M.O. about just every opinion of his. He's got his view and it's got to be the best one around; he won't accept different points of view and will get passive agressive if you try to discuss politely. I have never seen him concede a point or agree with an oposing argument once his opinion is set. It's like a bull or a tunnel vision, it borders obsession to me.

That said, he looks like a pretty nice guy - albeit a little naive at times, but that's not necessarily bad - and, if you disagree with him, the best course of action is ignoring him, there's no such thing as convincing him. In other words, just try not to oppose or argue.

Excellent. CohhCarnage is a high profile streamer. Makes the bed of those who claim that streamers'opinion is irrelevant.

Now, about CohhCarnage, he is highly professional. He has been streaming for four years (and some days) every day without missing one day.
Streamers trade themselves as having fun. Basically, products are meant to be fun from the start. There might be one product or two products he failed to find fun over the past four years. All in all, by trade, as a streamer, products are meant to be fun.
Other recent products he had fun with: ME:A and Shadow of War.

Passive aggressive only?
I guess you missed his rampage on the forums here few months back over Demons Age alpha.

Fluent has two states: Super happy, everything is perfect over games he likes. And full rampage, burn it all to the ground over games he does not like (which atm seems to only be alpha version of Demons Age).

Polished, even though often used, is not appropriate.

Polished suggests that even minor inconveniences are eliminated. Less and less vid products can aim for that target.

Skyrim was not polished. Now Skyrim was in an accomplished state: the major features to drive the experience were established and secured.

It is not the case for this product. One example is the combat system that works to the opposite: strong enemies are supposed to deter aggression. The combat system, though, leaks. Players can cheese their way in fights. Instead of being deterred, players feel challenged and keep taking on higher level enemies, knowing they can beat them.

What do you claim as the major feature was in Skyrim?

How does it leak? Are you claiming that getting companions or other monster to fight each other leaking?

The way combat leaks was already documented.

One example of major feature in Skyrim: exploration. Exploration was well set from the start. It was not polished but it was an accomplished feature.

I missed that thread, I'll take a look.

As for the game, it's clear that it has a host of bugs, quirkiness and overall unpolish. I recommend gameranx's before you buy ELEX. That review nailed it, in my opinion.

elex is low quality, if it comes from lack of resources / priorities or just plain stupidity from the designers its irrelevant

I'm also low quality. Are you saying I lack of resources / my parents were stupid?
Or that my quality is irrelevant? :D

I'm sure that your parents tried hard joxer. Alas… :lol:

All I was trying to say is that not everything has to be Philantropica to enjoy it. I would love more humor in Elex, but cmon, the game is fun enough even without it - it just won't get 10/10 from me. Big deal. ;)

My experience was quite different. When I came to the ridge above the canyon and saw the Big troll and armored men, I waited for the troll to walk out of the canyon and the told the two guys there momma was a big fat troll :-) They did not much like that so they ran out of the canyon to get me. I just used my trusty old jetpack to hope in, grad the lost bow, and then hopped out. The dumb troll never saw me and the two guys are probably scratching their heads wondering where I went :-)