Elex First Impressions

Just finished Elex, absolutely loved it. Good story and I will play it again at some point on a higher difficulty with a more considered & informed approach to my Jax build. Now what to play? wonder if I should take a peak at Risen.

Risen 1 is actually really good, Risen 2 is mediocre and Risen 3 is somewhere between Risen 1 and 2 I'd say. Roughly.

Gothic > Gothic 2 > Risen = Risen 3 > Risen 2 > Elex > Gothic 3.

All good and worth playing, though.

But something serious happened to PB in terms of passion and innovation around the release of Risen. Risen was the last game they made that I felt was truly "loved" - where as the following games almost feel like they were made by a different team trying to emulate the PB formula. Succeeding in some ways and failing in other, less tangible ways.

There's something…. artificial about Risen 3 and Elex in particular - even though they're mechanically more interesting than the earlier games.

Gothic 3 is arguably the only "bad" game they made - but I enjoyed the heck out of it at launch, even so. But, even with fan patches, it's not quite a whole game. Something is missing from it.

Risen is great. Underrated a bit. But Risen 2 is also great and even more underrated. Not saying it's as good as Risen but it's not as bad as some have made it out to be. Risen 3 is fun, too, and has good exploration. But Risen is still a great game, recently replayed it for many hours and the level of detail and design of the island you explore is really second to none. Very cozy feeling RPG.

Originally Posted by TheRealFluent
Risen is great. Underrated a bit. But Risen 2 is also great and even more underrated. Not saying it's as good as Risen but it's not as bad as some have made it out to be. Risen 3 is fun, too, and has good exploration. But Risen is still a great game, recently replayed it for many hours and the level of detail and design of the island you explore is really second to none. Very cozy feeling RPG.

Well one has to remember Risen was in essence a new Gothic but PB lost the rights to Gothic. After ArcaniA and the closure of JoWooD the rights were given back.

Now as for me I prefer Risen but the sequels aren't that bad.

So my ranking of the games.

1. Gothic 3
2. Elex
3. Risen
4. Risen 3
5. Risen 2
6. Gothic 2
7. Gothic
8. ArcaniA - Yes I added it despite many hating it.
9. Gothic 3: Forsaken Gods - Deserves last place worse then the game above.

My yearly ranking of PB's games (which always changes ) would be something like:

1 - Gothic
2 - Risen
3 - ELEX
4 - Gothic 3
5 - Gothic 2
6 - Risen 2
7 - Risen 3

While I had fun with Gothic 2 I definitely preferred the first one in overall setting, charm and world layout. Gothic 3 I thought was really good after playing it recently, Risen 3 is by no means a bad game just the least inspired I thought, and Gothic/Risen are almost tied for first because they're both really good. ELEX is up there too because it's very creative and goes back to the roots a bit in a sci-fi Gothic/Gothic 3 kind of way. PB are one of my favorite developers and I'll always buy their games day one as long as they are making them.

After first few hours I like Elex. Only gripe is that this game requires careful planning in regards to the character. There is no respec or learn-by-doing so you are driven to study before playing. I know its the PB way but nowadays due to lack of time I would rather just play the little time I have instead of spending it on studying.

I'm not sure how anyone could put Gothic 3 above G1 or G2, but I suppose I've seen stranger things in my lifetime.

Risen 1 was easily the best of the Risen series imo, but I think they all tend to be underrated by the masses. Not as good as Gothic 1&2 but still better than most mainstream action-RPGs.

I can't put G3 above G2, but can and will put it above G1.
The unofficial patch version of course. Release version was Skyrim prequel when it comes to brokenss and if we'll talk about that version then my suggestion is the same as for unmodded Skyrim - avoidware.

Risen games are what you say for some other titles - criminally underrated.

The Alrik npc in this game reminds of Alriks favorite chacater. Same name, same class.

PB are very reserved but I've seen this interview where they talked about G1&2 development (working around the clock, sleeping in offices etc) and about new games where they manage family lives, work regular hours etc..

Don't wanna be an asshole as I also work as a dev and went though a similar path but it shows. Risen 2 was completely uninspired, didn't bother about 3 and am only giving ELEX a chance now.

Originally Posted by toltec7
Don't wanna be an asshole as I also work as a dev and went though a similar path but it shows. Risen 2 was completely uninspired, didn't bother about 3 and am only giving ELEX a chance now.

Your loss imo. I think Elex is their best game since Gothic 2.

Im playing bith witcher 2 and Elex currently. I like both but Elex graphics maybe bit more. Witcher 2 is just too gloomy. Combat is also maybe bit more interesting or challening in Elex. Exploration is maybe more fun in Elex. But overall both are amazing games.

I can understand why the start of Elex can be frustrating. Unlike in witcher2, in elex there is learning curve to the combat. Once you pass that though and get 1st companion, then it becomes quite palatable.

But he said he was now giving Elex a chance; so why is it his loss ?

Originally Posted by JDR13
Your loss imo. I think Elex is their best game since Gothic 2.

Originally Posted by you
But he said he was now giving Elex a chance; so why is it his loss ?

It was a reference to him waiting over a year to play it.

Originally Posted by zakhal
Im playing bith witcher 2 and Elex currently. I like both but Elex graphics maybe bit more. Witcher 2 is just too gloomy. Combat is also maybe bit more interesting or challening in Elex. Exploration is maybe more fun in Elex. But overall both are amazing games.

I can understand why the start of Elex can be frustrating. Unlike in witcher2, in elex there is learning curve to the combat. Once you pass that though and get 1st companion, then it becomes quite palatable.

The two games are very, very different, though

Witcher 2 is a mostly linear story-driven game with so-so mechanics and a powerful presentation. Elex is a non-linear open world game with cool mechanics and a pretty crappy story and even worse presentation.

That said, they both have their share of jank.

I've tried many ways to explain my feelings about Elex - but the best I can do is artificial - much like the protagonist.

It doesn't feel organic and I think they fucked up the balance tremendously.

But I'm curious about Elex 2. I need to try that out - to check if I'm just being grumpy about it - or if I'm actually right.

I don't care about balance in single player games, so I though Elex was just fine.

I agree it doesn't feel organic somehow…

Well…I completed Elex last night!

90 hours, level 44. I elected to side with the Beserker faction and went for an all round melee/ranged/magic play-style for the closest Gothic-like experience. I played on hard and that felt about right for challenge on the first time playing.

Excellent game - I had a really great time with it, especially the first 20-30 hours in Chapter 1 where you're extremely weak; slowly building up your strength and traveling the world of Magalan. I found that early period quite immersing (in all PB games frankly) and ironically as in the drug-like title of the game, found the pull of the world quite addicting.

Role-playing wise I avoided taking Elex potions though (aiming for a more emotional character) and will investigate the cold side of role-playing choices more closely in a future replay. I couldn't stomach the dogmatic zealotry of the clerics; but no doubt it'd be fun to play and build a character in that faction.

There's lots of sweet Gothic touches for the old school fans, especially in the quest design, mutants, dialogue and aesthetics of the Beserker faction. One highlight was definitely the Domed City in Abessa with its fantastic choices and consequences, a real staple in PB design. I did my best to steer a diplomatic course throughout that place but got a nice surprise when the outcome wasn't quite what I was expecting.

I also loved the fact that the game let me play on after the ending. Returning to the Fort and conducting a full scale genocidal operation of the place with my B II flamethrower was an absolute joy! It was so satisfying when Mad Bob and that smug asshole William went down. Amusingly though, the Camp Master could only be stunned - the same could not be said for the leadership of the place! That pleasure connects well with the power curve of PB games; returning to locations where monsters had been too tough previously to get some revenge!

Overall, for me this is the best PB game since Risen 1. Whilst that game for me had the more compelling exploration (more caves, dungeons, much better soundtrack) I also think in general I prefer its melee combat and UI. Elex's UI is a little gaudy and unintuitive but that's a minor nitpick in what was otherwise a significant improvement from Risen 2&3.

I felt the timing oriented nature of the melee system reminded me quite a bit of the original Witcher and it's probably the closest I can remember in similarity in recent times. As in most PB games, the dynamics of the combat encounters with multiple enemies could be great fun. I'd often die, reload and try another angle or approach in a fight to see how it'd affect the outcome.

The jetpack was also a wonderful addition which gave the player lots of tactical options as well as enhancing adventuring and making vertical spaces compelling to traverse.

The experience of playing this was quite reassuring in the light of my recent disappointments in Underworld Ascendant and Bard's Tale IV; two games I was very much looking forward to. The fact that Elex 2 has been confirmed is great news and I'd definitely check it out. It's good to know that PB appears to be in reasonable shape going forward.

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Role-playing wise I avoided taking Elex potions though (aiming for a more emotional character) and will investigate the cold side of role-playing choices more closely in a future replay. I couldn't stomach the dogmatic zealotry of the clerics; but no doubt it'd be fun to play and build a character in that faction..

Not using any Elex probably made for a decent challenge. I think Beserker is the toughest faction to play because they don't have any overpowered abilities (i.e. Cleric's Black Hole). I probably drank well over 100 Elex potions and still didn't find the game to be a pushover as a Beserker on Hard difficulty.

Originally Posted by Pessimeister
Overall, for me this is the best PB game since Risen 1. Whilst that game for me had the more compelling exploration (more caves, dungeons, much better soundtrack) I also think in general I prefer its melee combat and UI. Elex's UI is a little gaudy and unintuitive but that's a minor nitpick in what was otherwise a significant improvement from Risen 2&3.

I don't think there's any question that Risen had better melee combat. That game easily has the best melee out of all of PB's titles. I still enjoyed combat in Elex though despite the jankiness.

I have to say I found Magalan considerably more interesting to explore than the island in Risen. Faranga was much smaller and kind of generic by comparison. I agree about the soundtrack though.

Anyone know if PB is working Elex 2?