ELEX - Preview @ Gamepressure

Gamepressure checked out the prologue of ELEX:

Elex hands-on – can this game turn out to be a great RPG?

Apparently, the team at Piranha Bytes looked to the first Gothic games as source of inspiration for Elex. True, world design and gameplay model bear some resemblance to those classics, but the prehistoric technology is a different thing altogether…

Frankly, I’ve never been as conflicted about a video game as I was after seeing Elex presentation In London last week. I have tremendous respect for the works of Piranha Bytes and I wish the team all the best, I really do. But the two hours I spent with the beta version of their latest title left me running hot and cold. On the one hand, the game features all the characteristic traits of a Piranha game, and these will probably once again gain admiration and sincere love from the fans (despite the rather drastic change of setting). On the other hand, you can’t help but think that the German developer is falling more and more behind the times, and not just when it comes to technology but also matters that are much more substantial.

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Thanks Farflame!

More information.

And there is also another trailer, very odd one:



No, it's definetly weird, I'm not high!

Originally Posted by joxer
And there is also another trailer, very odd one:

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No, it's definetly weird, I'm not high!

Well, that's normal German pop music for you.

Could I have missed the atmosphere and beauty of Magalan because I was stuck on stiff movement animations, cheap special effects, objects overlapping, and lifeless characters (both in appearance and in behavior)?

I agree in that combat feels like a second job.

The musician is most certainly fond of Black Keys….

Originally Posted by BoboTheMighty
Well, that's normal German pop music for you.

Hah, if only it were! Then Germany wouldn't be always last in the Eurovision.

Originally Posted by luj1
I agree in that combat feels like a second job.

A second job when it comes to games design is banging your head against the wall over and over while lying to yourself it's fun. Maybe I'm wrong though, maybe some people are not people but robots.
Repeating a boring process has nothing to do with combat.

Modern Times is almost a hundred years old masterpiece, still fresh, yet some people refuse to learn from it.

Ouch, that preview does not seem promising.

I'll grab a copy but downgrade my expectations.

I feel PB are in a bit of a difficult position - they're a relatively small studio with a well-known legacy to which every game they release is immediately compared. And I expect they're reluctant to alienate their fans by going too far beyond that legacy.

But I expect they're also under pressure to widen their audience and attract console players.

So the result is games that streamline (or dumb down depending on your pov) some elements but also continue to rely on gameplay conventions that were popular in the 90's and 2000's and it's a weird mix.

Won't touch the Greatness of Gothic 1, and Elex already looks worse than amazing Gothic 3 with INI edit to increase flora density.

Maybe if PB puts in more motion captured pole dancers and strip show girls then maybe it will be better. Or mass orgies?: Dunno what it would take to Make Elex Great Again..

Originally Posted by mercy
Won't touch the Greatness of Gothic 1, and Elex already looks worse than amazing Gothic 3 with INI edit to increase flora density.

Maybe if PB puts in more motion captured pole dancers and strip show girls then maybe it will be better. Or mass orgies?: Dunno what it would take to Make Elex Great Again..

This is a classic example of what I wrote about how every PB release is gauged against games that are 10+ years old now and how it must be a problem for PB moving forwards;

Well yeah, it kind of actually is a problem if a company is unable to make a game that's at least as good as a game they made 10+ years ago that ran on computers with a small fraction of the computing power…right?

There's a really stupid and crappy bubblegum type pop song called Hot N Cold…maybe they should have set the trailer to that instead…

Sorry, when I saw that phrase "hot and cold" in the quoted snippet, it made me think of that.

Originally Posted by Stingray
Well yeah, it kind of actually is a problem if a company is unable to make a game that's at least as good as a game they made 10+ years ago that ran on computers with a small fraction of the computing power…right?

And I'm saying the continual demand for PB to go back to ye olde Gothic gameplay/design template with every game release is maybe one of the reasons why PB's games aren't so well recieved 10+ years later. But you can't tell the fans that.

Originally Posted by Stingray
Well yeah, it kind of actually is a problem if a company is unable to make a game that's at least as good as a game they made 10+ years ago that ran on computers with a small fraction of the computing power…right?

I think it's more of a problem if people expect to go home again and re-experience their youthful and impressionable time with the original Gothic.

Apart from Ultima 9 - Gothic is probably the first and one of the most successful entries into the modern open world CRPG genre - at least in terms of critical reception. It broke new ground in many ways - and most of us agree that it was a fantastic game.

No matter what you do, you can't expect to relive that - or get another game in the same genre have as much impact over and over. I mean, it's possible - but almost unprecedented.

Heck, I was already a little weary with Gothic 2 - because they did so little to change the core formula.

Beyond that, you can't expect people to retain their hunger and passion after 16 years of doing the same thing over and over. It's simply not realistic to get an entirely fresh game every time.

To me, I find it pretty amazing that I enjoyed Risen 3 as much as I did. It speaks volumes about the basic design principles held by PB - even with flaws.

All things considered, I think they've been doing a fantastic job given their size and limited budget for development.

I think cutting them a little slack and having a little perspective would look good on quite a few consumers

Originally Posted by NewDArt
Gothic is probably the first and one of the most successful entries into the modern open world CRPG genre - at least in terms of critical reception.

You are probably right but I remember funny (or sad?) episode from that era… In our local media Gothic was heavily bashed as clunky or unpolished game from some "unknown garage studio". So the critical reception needed time.

Originally Posted by NewDArt
No matter what you do, you can't expect to relive that - or get another game in the same genre have as much impact over and over. I mean, it's possible - but almost unprecedented.

Yes, but some ppl think it could be done with exactly the same mechanics. I know some hardcore fans of Gothic who would like to see in new PB games the same combat from Gothic, the same inventory, the same gestures, the same level design, the same "smaller world", not huge world etc.

And what do you think about their combat animations? They basically recycle it for a long time. Its far from perfect but I see ppl bashing them for animations everywhere. Do you think its that bad?

You are probably right but I remember funny (or sad?) episode from that era… In our local media Gothic was heavily bashed as clunky or unpolished game from some "unknown garage studio". So the critical reception needed time.

You're right - it wasn't universally praised in the beginning by the mainstream media. You're also right that the control scheme, specifically, was a big problem for many.

Overblown criticism as usual, though, because it was easy enough to adapt to

Yes, but some ppl think it could be done with exactly the same mechanics. I know some hardcore fans of Gothic who would like to see in new PB games the same combat from Gothic, the same inventory, the same gestures, the same level design, the same "smaller world", not huge world etc.

Well, I think they're wrong - and I think they'd be bored pretty soon.

On the other hand, it seems people can enjoy essentially the same game over and over and over with the Souls series - so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about

And what do you think about their combat animations? They basically recycle it for a long time. Its far from perfect but I see ppl bashing them for animations everywhere. Do you think its that bad?

Well, I think they're much better in Risen 1-3 than they ever were in Gothic.

But it's a small team and the best animations come from either extremely talented craftsmen (Blizzard) or through motion capture.

I don't think they can afford that.

To me, their animations are servicable. They're decent - and I don't find them distracting.

That said, I'm one of those weird people who didn't really mind the animations in Andromeda either. I doubt I would have noticed them at all - if it wasn't for the excessive backlash.

Eh, let's be honest, this game will be torn to shreds in reviews. Guess we need to wait for Angry Joe on this one.

I'm sure it will. AngryJoe is just the kind of hyper populist mainstreamer to spew his ignorance in public

Originally Posted by BoboTheMighty
Eh, let's be honest, this game will be torn to shreds in reviews. Guess we need to wait for Angry Joe on this one.

I don't watch everything he covers but a review here and there. He just sucks at playing games.
After his Risen videos however, Elex review at his channel is a mustwatch. I need some laughter at his ignorance.