![]() Third time was the charm, though, and Jax made it. In this case, that means I took the hero another direction to be instead eaten by a raptor. The next attempt saw Jax being more careful. Fortunately, load times are quick and the autosave is generous, so moments like these aren’t as punishing as they could be. The path to the amphitheater seemed straightforward and simple, leading me to believe that this was a simple novelty quest because, hey, they got Billy Idol in the game. An early example is a throwaway quest that tasks Jax with going to a Billy Idol concert. Early on, players will stumble past enemies that will one-shot kill a player. What sets Elex II apart from a From Software game is that it is not intended to be fairly balanced. Magic and sci-fi powers do come into play, as well. Lock onto an enemy, dodge roll and block, watch the stamina meter, then kill the other fool. ![]() It’s based off of a loose interpretation of the Soulsborne genre. With five different factions, each with their own deep stories, lore, and player ability skill trees, there’s plenty of replay value, though players who take up with one faction will still be able to assist with others.Ĭombat is acceptable but not great. For a game to get me to step outside my comfort zone and make choices that I ordinarily wouldn’t is an accomplishment and a journey that I’m glad I saw through. Still, the idea of a society based on balancing taking the right amount of “drugs” to suppress emotion to be a contributing member of the group while not losing their own humanity is a concept, a plot thread that I wanted to see through. Arriving to their homestead, the player is welcomed by the execution of an Alb that was guilty of being “inefficient.” That’s a pretty big red flag, right there. During my play, I ended up choosing to join the sci-fi based Albs. Through talking to folks and completing quests, one learns that their inner workings have been in a bit of a rough state, leaving shades of gray. ![]() Berserkers, for example, are more of a magic using group, seeming to be the hippies of the game at first blush. The Magalan’s factions do fit some general archetypes, but do so in an intriguing fashion. New players will have plenty of chances to play the “amnesia” card with NPCs, so there are multiple ways to get caught up. Returning players will get plenty of winks and nods from the writers. Even giving away the identity of the doctor who rescues Jax at the beginning of the game feels like a major spoiler. It’s easy enough to pick up what’s happening based on context clues, so it’s not a hopeless situation for new players, but the amount of returning characters seem specifically chosen to reward folks who invested in the first title. If this description seems vague, that was intentional. Since “world annihilation” isn’t much of a motivating factor, Jax will need to navigate the politics of the rival five factions to build an alliance that can withstand the onslaught. It’s there where the denizens of the world will make their stand and save the world - or so one hopes. Upon awakening, the doctor gives a rundown of the situation: more of these things are coming and Jax is the best hope for uniting the planet around the fledgling fort of Bastion. Jax is soon bitten and infected with a mysterious illness, only to be saved by a doctor. While living out in the middle of nowhere, he’s ambushed by aliens who are looking to take over his home world of Magalan. Taking place after the events of the first title, players take on the role of Jax, a generic bald space marine. ![]() When it comes to story, the game does start off on a rough footing. Some of the jankiness that the developer allows to slip by is still present, but this title might be Piranha Bytes’ most compelling yet. In actually playing the game, though, a vast world with interesting conflicts was discovered. It looked interesting immediately prior to stepping on the proverbial rake, with jetpacks and sci-fi themes mixed in with medieval fantasy, but the expectation for frustration was hanging over my head, ready to drop. So, it was with no small amount of hesitancy that I approached their newest title, Elex II. I can say that my own personal experience with their titles is marked with brief engagement and then bouncing off in frustration. They have a tendency to repeatedly whack the player in the face in the opening hours, leaving the impression that balancing wasn’t a major focus. Creators of the cult-favorite Gothic series, they’ve built a reputation on complex titles that require players to completely immerse themselves into the world as presented and actually take a role. The developer Piranha Bytes is one that is well known to western RPG fans. ![]()
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