ELEX - Review @ Eurogamer

As a fan of PB games, I felt right at home after the beginning cutscene. Big, sprawling world waiting to be discovered. Classic Gothic feeling plus post-apocalyptic flavor which is all the better for me. The world seems whole and vast which is good after the segmented island exploration gameplay of Risen 2 and 3.

One thing I noticed is the decent English localization this time. Risen 3’s English localization was somewhere between mediocre to terrible and lots of texts were lost in the translation. Luckily it’s not the case here.

I have begun Elex in Ultra difficulty and I can easily say that it is indeed hard. Since I like challenging RPGs and "you can explore anywhere you want at one’s own risk" gameplay, again I felt right at home. I get the taste of Gothic 1 and 2 difficultness from the game.

I had some concerns about the combat because of the early reviews but thankfully it’s not that bad. Actually it seems same with Risen 3 which is ok for me. The best combat in PB games was in Risen 1 and I don’t think they can catch that quality again anytime soon. One thing I noticed is the variety of weapons. From medieval to modern weapons, you have lots of options to choose. Also monsters seems more aggressive than previous PB games. They leave their territory and chase you relentlessly. Don’t think your jetpack can save you because they can easily switch to projectile attacks and nail you down with their deadly aim.

If you hesitate whether or not to buy Elex and generally like PB games (especially Gothic 1,2 and Risen 1) don’t miss this one.

Gokyabgu said:

Also monsters seems more aggressive than previous PB games. They leave their territory and chase you relentlessly. Don’t think your jetpack can save you because they can easily switch to projectile attacks and nail you down with their deadly aim.

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So I wasn't imagining the hyper-aggro monsters....they are evil! Maybe I killed their mamma at some point and now they are pissed off

I don't plan to play this as I don't like these action type RPGs but I have been watching people play it on Twitch and it does seem better than your average Bethesda or Bioware open world RPG. Also seems better than TW3 due to less time spent in cinematic experience and more exploring and fighting.

Archangel said:

Also seems better than TW3 due to less time spent in cinematic experience and more exploring and fighting.

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Gokyabgu said:

Also monsters seems more aggressive than previous PB games. They leave their territory and chase you relentlessly. Don’t think your jetpack can save you because they can easily switch to projectile attacks and nail you down with their deadly aim.

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This is not really true in my experience. Their aim is very realistic actually, in that they can miss you even if you're standing still sometimes. I've had bullets whiz by my head, etc.. They also try and "lead" you with magic or ranged attacks, but it is nowhere near 100% accurate. I can escape with the jetpack now by varying my ascension/descending and generally making myself a hard target to hit. Sometimes they still get ya though, and it always remains challenging.

Overall it's probably the best enemy ranged aiming AI in an open-world RPG yet, IMO.

Enemies are also not overly aggressive to me. I escape them all pretty easily and they give up the chase quickly. It helps to escape upwards too, jetpack to a ledge, over a tall rock and put distance between you and the creature, etc.. Not sure how much you've played but this is my experience after 35 hours.

I only played it for several hours so you are far more experienced than me Fluent.

I fought my first group of Albs last night and it was difficult, mainly because they are accurate with plasma guns. But I had a couple shots whizzing by me. A few archers earlier in the game missed me by inches while I was standing still, which I thought was pretty amazing. I've never really seen that in an open-world RPG, where the ranged AI had that kind of possibility to miss even a non-moving target.

If you make your ascent with the jetpack too straight, i.e. predictable, the enemies will likely hit you. So when you escape via jetpack you have to maneuver a bit and be unpredictable. Same when running away, really. Will add that to the Tips N' Tricks thread now actually.