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ELEX ELEX II - Jax is back

Roguey

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PB never supports their games for more than a few months (unless an expansion is involved). The four patches ELEX II received were likely it.
 
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PB never supports their games for more than a few months (unless an expansion is involved). The four patches ELEX II received were likely it.

They are, supposedly, working out some issues in the DX12 version ->

Zyddie [developer] Jun 2 @ 7:02pm


We didn't abandon the game, but the DX12 version have a few issues that we need to sort out first before we release it fully.

So please have a bit more patience.

//Zyddie

https://steamcommunity.com/app/900040/discussions/0/3419934180310478962/

Though who knows for sure, as you said, it is PB and minimal post release support seems to be their shtick.
 

HoboForEternity

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Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
My speculation is they left skeleton crew working on elex 2 patch while the main brunt of the workforce work on elex 3
I hope there will be Elex 3 eventually, cause 2 flopped due to bad release date and not great resease state.
It doesn't flop. It made profit, but underperformed so they got their money back. Piranha bytes always made trilogy and they survived worse release (gothic 3) before
 

Lord_Potato

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My speculation is they left skeleton crew working on elex 2 patch while the main brunt of the workforce work on elex 3
I hope there will be Elex 3 eventually, cause 2 flopped due to bad release date and not great resease state.
It doesn't flop. It made profit, but underperformed so they got their money back. Piranha bytes always made trilogy and they survived worse release (gothic 3) before
Hopefully that's the case, not just PR-speak. They majorly fucked themselves with the release date and state of the game was not satisfactory either.

And yet Elex 2, while in many aspects inferior to its predecessor, is still a very enjoyable game. After 57 hours I am still not bored, still busy with a steady stream of new quests and still finding new places to explore.

I hope PB manages to complete the trilogy.
 

Rincewind

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Elex 2 only redeeming grace is it's exploration, everything else sucks.
exploration sucks because there's nothing to look forward to besides more oddly placed cooked food
That was a bit of a problem in Elex 1 too. Getting another pack of soft toilet paper or cigarettes got old after a while... Still heaps better than Morrowind.
 

Lord_Potato

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Elex 2 only redeeming grace is it's exploration, everything else sucks.
exploration sucks because there's nothing to look forward to besides more oddly placed cooked food
There are some unique weapons scattered in the countryside and lots of Elex potions, priceless especially when you haven't mastered chemistry yet.
 
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Elex 2 only redeeming grace is it's exploration, everything else sucks.
exploration sucks because there's nothing to look forward to besides more oddly placed cooked food
There are some unique weapons scattered in the countryside and lots of Elex potions, priceless especially when you haven't mastered chemistry yet.
once you have a decent weapon there's nothing to look forward to, because the itemization is terrible and exactly one slot matters at all
 

Lord_Potato

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The most surprising part of itemization is how often murdered Skyand drop toy trains. Like wtf dudes?

Anyway... I completed the game. Took me 74 hours. In the end the game did overstay its welcome for about 10 hours.

For the first 60+ hours, I had a good time with Elex 2. Despite dumbed-down combat (no combos) and script which was at best serviceable and often pure cringe-worthy. Despite ugly faces and poor performance in towns (as compared with other, much more beautiful 3d open-world games). There was pure joy in exploration and questing. Also, the improved jetpack was pretty dope.

But finally, I managed to complete all the side-quests and had to focus on the main plotline. And the endgame is just pure decline. It's badly paced, terribly written, all logics jump out of the window and die. The great plot twist fails to shock or impress. Moments that should be moving fail to move.

The worst part is Dex's sacrifice. I could see it from 10 miles ahead when the boy first started talking about entering Skyandid capsule. When the inevitable happened it was plain stupid: Dex killed the main Skaynd AI, Cassandra, but could not open the forcefield blocking access to the main Former. So he decided to kill all remaining Skyand systems and by doing it, suicide himself. Jax's reaction to his infant son sacrificing himself for the salvation of mankind? A short monologue and two cutscenes when he's raging around the capsule. To make matters worse, due to lack of time or bugs in scripting the devs did not include dialogues concerning Dex's death from other characters. Neither Asgar, Dex's guardian and protector, nor Caja, his freaking mother, comment even once on his death! The final dialogue between Jax and Caja is surprisingly joyful, considering the grim tone of the ending and the fact they FUCKING LOST THEIR SON.

Before Elex 2 I played Horizon: Zero Dawn. It strikes me how much the plot of Elex 2 and its reveals are similar to the plot and reveals of that game. There is even an article about it: https://gamerant.com/horizon-forbidden-west-elex-2-similar-setting-cliffhanger-endings/ However I must say Horizon's story is much better written, delivered, paced and the ending actually manages to cause an emotional reaction. Elex 2 ending tries to achieve as much, but without success.

Concerning gameplay, for the most part, the game offers a nice RPG experience with lots of factions and multiple builds for Jax, but ultimately, the system becomes completely broken, especially when you abuse Elex potions (and with the Cold mechanism gone, there is no real downside to abusing them). In Horizon Zero Dawn, which is less "hardcore" RPG than Elex 2, I did not manage to max out Aloy, there were still two skill trees that I did not complete due to lack of skillpoints. In Elex 2 however, I managed to get it all. Every combat, survival, personal, and crafting skill, plus all the abilities of Albs and Clerics. When I ended the game at level 60, my stats were: 100s in Intellect and Strenght (you cannot go higher), 85 in all others. Jax became the Gary Stu of Magalan.

In the end, I really liked the gameplay of Elex 2 but was left unmoved by its story and writing and quite displeased with its technical side. The badly paced ending soured the whole game for me. At the 60th hour I'd give Elex 2 a solid 7/10. After reaching the ending I could not award it with more than a weak 6/10.
 

lukaszek

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When I ended the game at level 60, my stats were: 100s in Intellect and Strenght (you cannot go higher), 85 in all others. Jax became the Gary Stu of Magalan.
dont forget how in prologue you start all mighty after elex1, only to run away from few alien dogs and lose all your stats yet again. Then you pump your stats back up to kill aliens in bulk
 

Grimlorn

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For those who have played to the end a quick question.
I'm wondering, does it end with it turning out the aliens only sent a small mining operation that Jax barely beat, with it coming out they are sending a real, full force alien invasion for Elex 3?
 

lukaszek

the determinator
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For those who have played to the end a quick question.
I'm wondering, does it end with it turning out the aliens only sent a small mining operation that Jax barely beat, with it coming out they are sending a real, full force alien invasion for Elex 3?
not really. First thing you actually learn what elex is, where its coming from
then you learn that that big elex planet is accelerating to be reunited with those tiny pieces that everyone is snuffing
 

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