Current Events > so i played several hours of ELEX, piranha bytes' new game. here is my impressio

(+) Yeah! (+)

ns.

i will be over viewing some part of the game. the general review of the game is quite mixed because the combat is brutal, and the mechanics are quite complex. most gamers and reviewers now are used for games that hand them everything and make everything a simple as operating a washing machine.

i am a gothic fans, so i am biased toward's piranha byte's formula and i will be making alot of gothic comparison as it is my ceiling of what ELEX achieved.

-combat: i think the combat is okay. it is a MUCH better improvement than any of bethesda's elder scrolls which is basically hit the left mouse button till the thing die.

in gothic, combat need you to watch stamina bar like dark souls, and combo meter. basically, you have to time your button click, everytime you attack with correct timing, a combo bar gets filled and when it is enough, you get to do a special power. there is light attack and heavy attack, each with different animation and effect. most of your attack and enemies attack will stagger the victim and may cancel their attack animation.

like in dark souls, animation can't really stop when you start attacking. you either have to land a hit or have a stamina, time wasted and the risk of getting hit. you have parry, block and dodge. the standard stuff.

each enemies so far have pretty good moveset, well telegraphed, and it feel quite satisfying to dodge your enemy and land a combo.

on paper, everything is good so far. with a few enemy on screen, the combat works. like 1 v 1 to 1 v 3 decently strong enemy is a fun battle.

the problem though, when you have more than 4 participants on the battle. with companions, and some additional enemies, the battlefield can be unamanageable mess.

some criticism for the combat also it have weird AI behavior, and sometimes innacurate hitbox, and doding with keyboard is double tap WASD / direction button, and somehow you cannot rebind that.

oh yeah, about the difficulty, it actually have customizeable setting:


most game journos probably are too dumb and lazy to notice this or too incompetent to play it even on easy.

-quests and RPG mechanics: really robust. deeper than most people would have like. you got attributes and skills. everytime you level up, you got attribute point, and skill points. attributes are simple. get it , spend it on stats like STR, DEX, CON, INT, etc which correspond to weapons and equipment you can use.

skills are a bit complex, and it has been a long time PB tradition. instead on directly putting skill point into skills, you have to find a teacher and it cost money most of the time. it has been like this since gothic 1, and i personally like it. most beginner don't like this.

weapons are stat locked, so if you have low STR, you wont be able to equip a giant axe, etc.
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- world and exploration: this is the best part of the game. in this aspect, i think ELEX beat all of its competitors by huge margin. even witcher 3. the map is so well designed, and there is no mini map, only a radar that show enemies and PoI and a compass, so your attention will be focused 100% on the surrounding. there is an optional quest marker, but the game generally tell you good direction. every quest give you clear direction instead of "i will mark it on your map"

enemies and loot are all hand placed, no level scaling. every items you find i nthe world is hand placed. the jetpack is FUN. the map are really vertically designed and using jetpack to zoom around is fun.

i personally vouch for the exploring feel in this game.

yes you will find enemies that will butt fuck you in 1 hit, it is how piranha bytes open up their map and frame you into a location you're supposed to visit. i think this part of this video depict accurately how the game enemies placement work:

https://youtu.be/hVYrALStucs?t=333

most people are used to level scaled enemies and they generally can kill almost everything you can see in the world 5 into 10 hours into the game. PB games will have dangerous areas till the end of the game, and getting strong is REWARDING. you see this big mutant early, and it kicked your butt. several levels later you gonna go back and kick its ass. with gothic the dynamic goes the entire game, it is a cycle of getting your ass handed, and you handed them back. it is a world rife with secrets and interesting things to see.

- graphics and sound: music is good, nothing special. sound effects and graphics are admittedly a bit lacking. animations are really stiff and janky. i personally care little about these things

- story and writing: the writing is nothing special. i think it's better than most of bethesda's flicks, but it's definitely no new vegas and witcher 3. the freedom and context itself is quite good, and i think it is the most freedom you can have in an open world RPG since new vegas. 4 factions to join or screw them all. no NPC is essential, depopulate the world, the game and story continues.

factions are permanent, and based on gothic, even risen 1 and 3 they are really different in term of style, gameplay and characters/stories.

the quests are interesting, it is almost withcer 3 level, but not quite. at the very worst, you will do some menial task (with actual good context at least) and at best, you will be investigating missing forbidden weapons, traitor etc and various ways to side with different people, backstab or screw them all.

yeah, i think that's all i can say now. for general impression, i think the game is really fun, with some distracting flaws, but worth to endure just to experience the good it has to offer.

@Alucard188
@Leanaunfurled
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The perk and weapon requirements are pretty crazy. Level 4 and I'm still running around with my shitty rusty axe because I can't equip any of the other weapons that I found in a house or shop. ;_; I'm so scared to go outside.
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Leanaunfurled posted...

The perk and weapon requirements are pretty crazy. Level 4 and I'm still running around with my shitty rusty axe because I can't equip any of the other weapons that I found in a house or shop. ;_; I'm so scared to go outside.

i tried stealing and got ohko by the bartender lmao. every character so far killed me in 1 hit
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apolloooo posted...

Leanaunfurled posted...

The perk and weapon requirements are pretty crazy. Level 4 and I'm still running around with my shitty rusty axe because I can't equip any of the other weapons that I found in a house or shop. ;_; I'm so scared to go outside.

i tried stealing and got ohko by the bartender lmao. every character so far killed me in 1 hit

I actually managed to take him down way earlier, when I was 3/4. Doing that quest that involved the clan dispute and the tavern, and the bartender called my bluff that I'd kill him, and he was like "OK COOL BRO MEET ME OUTSIDE THEN!" He could 2 hit me but every time I hit him, he staggered, and sometimes got knocked down. So I never let him hit me. :P Took a few minutes I was doing so little damage but I did it lol.
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I will play it when it's cheaper for sure.
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I have like 30 hours in it now, level 26 and I made Paladin in the Berserker faction. Ran around all 3 factions and finished every quest I could find, so I'm trying to focus on main story and my remaining companion quests now. <3 Ray
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Got the Warrior Blade III 2H sword and holy shit am I wrecking everything in my face now. Those mechs the clerics and Albs have? yeah, they go down in 3-4 hits, and my super (Q) move, HOLY FUCK OUCH QQ. All the converters are downed now and I'm wrapping up some shit for Thorald.

This Arx companion is an asshole. Kind of considering just killing him. Can I do that?
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wtf how are you playing so fast
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apolloooo posted...

wtf how are you playing so fast

I only have 31 hours in it. o_O Not that much.
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This game seems to have come out of nowhere, but seems awesome. While not perfect, everything I've heard ticks all the right needs for me.
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Leanaunfurled posted...

apolloooo posted...

wtf how are you playing so fast

I only have 31 hours in it. o_O Not that much.

i have around 22 hours and still on level 11 lol
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The exploration are still amazing as the game slowly open up to you.

So i found an anti toxin chem, i remember a house near goliet with toxic smoke around it, went there, use the anti toxin, and explored it, found 2 grenades.

I wandered around, found a quest where you have yo kill 5 alb patrol, all which are better equipped and beyond my level.

Near, there are 2 swamp spider nest, so i ran into the nest, ran the fuck away to the alb patrol, and they aggro'd each other. Flew with my jetpack to a platform, watch they slaughtered each other, and it was down to one alb and a dying spider. They are still a threat, but i used the grenades from earlier to finish them both off.
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apolloooo posted...

Leanaunfurled posted...

apolloooo posted...

wtf how are you playing so fast

I only have 31 hours in it. o_O Not that much.

i have around 22 hours and still on level 11 lol

Same, man almost 28 hours and still level 5. Pretty difficult in one hit kill as i was free roam.
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Richbark1 posted...

Same, man almost 28 hours and still level 5

what the hell?
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Leanaunfurled posted...

Richbark1 posted...

Same, man almost 28 hours and still level 5

what the hell?

Manually Save game 1 to 5 for different fraction.
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M3sterybumper posted...

@apolloooo
There's a rat in this topic.

i was warned lol. just let this one go
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