ELEX ELEX RELEASE THREAD

[Nikanuur]

https://www.nexusmods.com/elex/mods/103
https://www.nexusmods.com/elex/mods/100
https://www.nexusmods.com/elex/mods/57

How are these overhauls?

The first link is my (rather simple) incentive-improvement mod.
The second and third links are mod-overhauls, as in changes of plethora of stats, skills, item strenghts, features, etc.

 

[Gnidrologist]

I understand. How are they? Improvement?

 

[Nikanuur]

I understand. How are they? Improvement?

I think Elex is quite alright to play as vanilla, and, to be completely honest, I only tried the said overhauls for a while.
I recommend skimming through the Elex Overhaul, and Elex Overhaul Plus descriptions to get the idea.
Or maybe someone else here will answer more for you.

Tl;dr for you:

People in comments say those overhauls work nicely. That they improve the overall RPG feel through classical tropes such as 2-handed weapons doing bigger damage but becoming extremely slow, swords being the most accessible but least penetrating weapons, heavy armor offering better protection but slowing movement, various ranged weapons behave *really* differently and show various accuracy and recoil, crafting makes more sense and is more impactful, the really good items' bonuses are better and not a 'meh' bonus, there are some bug fixes, stuff like that.

 

[Old One]

Found Walter chilling near the volcano teleporter. Now another problem has appeared. I can't pickpocket anymore. Option just doesn't appear anymore, when crouched. Is this a known bug?

IIRC, you can't pickpocket Walter. It's a special case.

Any tips on starting this game?

I would simply practice by killing the bird monster and the rats you meet in the beginning a few times over.

As an experienced player, I can kill them all without difficulty, but when I first started I got slaughtered by them because I didn't understand the combat system.

The problem with learning the combat system is that Jax is weak and feeble at the beginning - you're trying to learn a system with a character who is terrible at it.

Priority one: learn to manage you stamina, because if you run out you're dead unless you can escape. Priority two: learn how to avoid attacks.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Finished.
I think this is a great game. With no exaggeration. Especially in comparison of the all the nu-shit that has come out in recent decade. But not without flaws, obviously.

I'll not write down bullet points of pros and cons, because all is intertwined in this game.

First of all, my main gripe and reason i will never ever play this game second time around.
It's just too huge. It's enormous. The sheer time to explore all the regions is only available to stay at home children or disabled people imo. And i wasted 200-250 hours at least and still didn't explore all the shit. I had to consult the internet to find all the "four houses clues" (i really wanted to find out the lore in this game), despite looking in all the nooks and crannies all the time.
I think everyone here remembers Night Of Raven. It was huge, but so utterly focused, that you never felt like doing "busywork". Unfortunately Elex has this. It's certainly not as shallow world as ES games, but still, they seem to have given into "reign of quantity" meme. Like taking cues from Ubishit. Gothic games were so satisfying, because you could finish them in decent amount of time, without going around the map of 10 0000 kilometers to find out oil lamps and random monsters to kill.

I didn't like melee combat, but that's because i sucked at it. It seems like a neat system, especially with "evade" button. I was always shit at this kind of gaming even in my youth, and now i'm basically invalid, so i stuck to the ranged weapons most of the time. Using melee only, when no other option. It's clunky, but overall i think neat idea. For people with good reaction and sense of timing, so not for me
The story.
I don't know if this would sound controversional as i haven't read much on this thread, but i think Elex has the best story ever told by PB.
The first two Gothics are still my top games, but not because of stories. More like general ambience, atmosphere and interaction dynamics with different factions. The general story was just "kil big BAD".
In Elex it's complicated at then end. The more you move to the finale, the more interesting it gets. Especially, if you learned the truth about "Callan".
It's even fascinating, because the story seems plausible within the context of our own Earth and history, with all our cataclysmic events and shit. Hit close to home.

Combat. Yeah, as i said, never learned the proper timing and evasion skills so mostly focused on ranged weapons and later 'black hole' that served me well. That doesn't mean i denigrate the melee combat, i just suck at it.

Anyway, the certainly made a mark on my memory and will always be remembered cordial.
All the PB best things are in there + never before epic story telling. Melee combat that i didn't like, because i suck at it.
Only IMO objective criticism is going Ubishit way and artificially enlarging world so that there's more busy work to do, more monster to kill, probably to accommodate slow skill progression.

All in all great game anyway. The final story and ending felt really impactful even with all the occasional cringe in dialogs. Companions were good too.

Negative thing i have to add - i would never play this game again "to try different outcomes" because if reason said above. It's too huge and unfocused. Just make smaller worlds with more focused narratives instead of huuuuge wastes of land and monsters and small settlements here and there.







B tw, is Elex 2 really that bad? I want to see what they did with the plot.
I've seen Jax in some E2 videos and he looks hideous. Like some weak cuck, who never seen the world. WTF. Elex Jax was badass, even, when showing emotion and compassion. This looks like some nu-male.

 

[cvv]

B tw, is Elex 2 really that bad?

People will insist the difference between E1 and E2 is like the original Ghostbusters vs. nuGhostbusters but to me it was just more of the same, more or less.

The same map, same assets, same size, exploration, same "PB formula". Same boring, grindy, terrible last act, a staple of PB games since G1.

As you've noticed the NPCs are uglier and the combat is parry-based instead of combo-based....could be more up your alley but neither one is anything to write home about in any rate. It's got the "jet-forward" feature, one of the best features in any RPG ever.

Oh and the story is kindda retarded. Also a staple of PB games since the beginning. That's about it. Just more of the same.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

Finished.
I think this is a great game. With no exaggeration. Especially in comparison of the all the nu-shit that has come out in recent decade. But not without flaws, obviously.

I'll not write down bullet points of pros and cons, because all is intertwined in this game.

First of all, my main gripe and reason i will never ever play this game second time around.
It's just too huge. It's enormous. The sheer time to explore all the regions is only available to stay at home children or disabled people imo. And i wasted 200-250 hours at least and still didn't explore all the shit. I had to consult the internet to find all the "four houses clues" (i really wanted to find out the lore in this game), despite looking in all the nooks and crannies all the time.
I think everyone here remembers Night Of Raven. It was huge, but so utterly focused, that you never felt like doing "busywork". Unfortunately Elex has this. It's certainly not as shallow world as ES games, but still, they seem to have given into "reign of quantity" meme. Like taking cues from Ubishit. Gothic games were so satisfying, because you could finish them in decent amount of time, without going around the map of 10 0000 kilometers to find out oil lamps and random monsters to kill.

I didn't like melee combat, but that's because i sucked at it. It seems like a neat system, especially with "evade" button. I was always shit at this kind of gaming even in my youth, and now i'm basically invalid, so i stuck to the ranged weapons most of the time. Using melee only, when no other option. It's clunky, but overall i think neat idea. For people with good reaction and sense of timing, so not for me
The story.
I don't know if this would sound controversional as i haven't read much on this thread, but i think Elex has the best story ever told by PB.
The first two Gothics are still my top games, but not because of stories. More like general ambience, atmosphere and interaction dynamics with different factions. The general story was just "kil big BAD".
In Elex it's complicated at then end. The more you move to the finale, the more interesting it gets. Especially, if you learned the truth about "Callan".
It's even fascinating, because the story seems plausible within the context of our own Earth and history, with all our cataclysmic events and shit. Hit close to home.

Combat. Yeah, as i said, never learned the proper timing and evasion skills so mostly focused on ranged weapons and later 'black hole' that served me well. That doesn't mean i denigrate the melee combat, i just suck at it.

Anyway, the certainly made a mark on my memory and will always be remembered cordial.
All the PB best things are in there + never before epic story telling. Melee combat that i didn't like, because i suck at it.
Only IMO objective criticism is going Ubishit way and artificially enlarging world so that there's more busy work to do, more monster to kill, probably to accommodate slow skill progression.

All in all great game anyway. The final story and ending felt really impactful even with all the occasional cringe in dialogs. Companions were good too.

Negative thing i have to add - i would never play this game again "to try different outcomes" because if reason said above. It's too huge and unfocused. Just make smaller worlds with more focused narratives instead of huuuuge wastes of land and monsters and small settlements here and there.







B tw, is Elex 2 really that bad? I want to see what they did with the plot.
I've seen Jax in some E2 videos and he looks hideous. Like some weak cuck, who never seen the world. WTF. Elex Jax was badass, even, when showing emotion and compassion. This looks like some nu-male.

Yes we agree, just don't play Elex 2.

 

[Gnidrologist]

If it's more of the same, then i'll play it definitely. The final part of any PB games is always somewhat a chore. Even in Elex1, it was kinda funny. I explored all the map and did all the quests in chapter 1 and little bit in second so most of the reminder was just teleporting from one place to another to finish the story quests, which was kinda awkward and immersion killing. But i guess it was my own fault top be autistic in ch1.
Also,. i chugged huge amounts of elex potions at early to mid game and still ended up with "intuitive" at the end and finished with the outcome i would myself wanted - the mana ending.
Interesting that some people say you can't choose the ending and it's dependent on cold status. I could definitely choose the option to kill Hybrid within the Thorvald dialogue, if i wanted. There were no brackets of (not enough emotion) under it. Though i didn't tested it.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Yes we agree, just don't play Elex 2.

What would happen to me, if i do?

Mind you, i actually enjoyed Risen 2.

 

[soulburner]

Mind you, i actually enjoyed Risen 2.

Risen 2 is actually a good game. It may be considered a bad sequel, but is generally very fun. Elex 2 is not fun and it's a technical mess, abandoned and never to be fixed. It has its moments when you might feel it's good (and indeed there are good things to be said about it, which will cloud your judgement for several hours) but that feeling will be gone sooner or later.

 

[cvv]

Mind you, i actually enjoyed Risen 2.

Risen 2 is actually a good game. It may be considered a bad sequel, but is generally very fun.

The first half is fun, it's a traditional open-world-ish PB fare.

Game collapses into a linear, weird adventure-esque shitshow in the 2nd half.

 

[gurugeorge]

Yes we agree, just don't play Elex 2.

What would happen to me, if i do?

It'll sour your fond memories of Elex, which is, as you say, a pretty good game. Best just leave it there, trust me.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Mind you, i actually enjoyed Risen 2.

Risen 2 is actually a good game. It may be considered a bad sequel, but is generally very fun. Elex 2 is not fun and it's a technical mess, abandoned and never to be fixed. It has its moments when you might feel it's good (and indeed there are good things to be said about it, which will cloud your judgement for several hours) but that feeling will be gone sooner or later.

I will take your word for that, but still try it out. Just can't help playing PB games, even if they're shitty. :ELEX:
The first half is fun, it's a traditional open-world-ish PB fare.

Game collapses into a linear, weird adventure-esque shitshow in the 2nd half.

That's a staple of ANY PB game ever. The final chapters are always straight forward - kil da big bad.
Overall i enjoyed Risen 2 mostly because of its well written protagonist and his adversaries. Also i like pirate setting, It was a good ride.
Will do a Risen 3 soon also. See how it goes.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Yes we agree, just don't play Elex 2.

What would happen to me, if i do?

It's sour your fond memories of Elex, which is, as you say, a pretty good game. Best just leave it there, trust me.

But if i'm junky of PB jank?

 

[cvv]

Yes we agree, just don't play Elex 2.

What would happen to me, if i do?

It's sour your fond memories of Elex, which is, as you say, a pretty good game. Best just leave it there, trust me.

But if i'm junky of PB jank?

Just give it a go and then report back.

I'm curious about what you'll say because after so many people said E1 is great and E2 is trash I played it and thought I was going crazy - I didn't see much difference. I was annoyed with the game not because it was dramatically worse than E1 but because it was such a lazy, copy-paste job with hardly any improvement or innovation (except for the ability to jet forward). As if PB totally gave up.

 

[gurugeorge]

Yes we agree, just don't play Elex 2.

What would happen to me, if i do?

It's sour your fond memories of Elex, which is, as you say, a pretty good game. Best just leave it there, trust me.

But if i'm junky of PB jank?

Just give it a go and then report back.

I'm curious about what you'll say because after so many people said E1 is great and E2 is trash I played it and thought I was going crazy - I didn't see much difference. I was annoyed with the game not because it was dramatically worse than E1 but because it was such a lazy, copy-paste job with hardly any improvement or innovation (except for the ability to jet forward). As if PB totally gave up.

I think that's what I mean by E2 being trash. Elex has some soul, you can tell there was love there - that seems to be absent from E2, which makes it kind of a hollow experience. After a few hours I just thought, "Why am I even playing this when the devs evidently just phoned it in?" I mean, ofc I might be wrong, but that's how it struck me.

 

[Gnidrologist]

Okay, then there's actual question: Which is better - Elex2 or Risen3? Because these are next PB i want to try out at some point. I know i'll try them both at some point. But witch one is better? Or worse?

 

[Gnidrologist]

Okay, just checked out the E2 and am already dissapoint.
Not only the voice of Jax is some cuck shit squeeky shit, his face is basically how i look after 3 days of heavy drinking. WTF?

I'm demoralized already. Was that the purpose, ze germans? Was Jax too toxically masculine?

Also, is there no way to zoom camera a bit further from protagonist like in previous games? I hate the behind the shoulder shit. Get dizzy.

EDIT: He now looks like hangovered Nico from GTA4. What happened?

 

[Latelistener]

Mind you, i actually enjoyed Risen 2.

Risen 2 is actually a good game. It may be considered a bad sequel, but is generally very fun. Elex 2 is not fun and it's a technical mess, abandoned and never to be fixed. It has its moments when you might feel it's good (and indeed there are good things to be said about it, which will cloud your judgement for several hours) but that feeling will be gone sooner or later.

That's exactly my experience with Risen 2. At some point I thought it was decent game, until the last 5-10 hours or something.

Okay, then there's actual question: Which is better - Elex2 or Risen3? Because these are next PB i want to try out at some point. I know i'll try them both at some point. But witch one is better? Or worse?

I haven't played Elex or Elex 2 yet, but Risen 3 is overall a better game than Risen 2. Problem is, it's still a mediocre game.

If you desperately want that PB fix, how about you take a look at Ghost of a Tale or Outward?

 

[Darth Roxor]

B tw, is Elex 2 really that bad?

Yes, avoid like the-

Okay, just checked out the E2 and am already dissapoint.

FOOL, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

 

[cvv]

Risen 3 is overall a better game than Risen 2

Depends on "overall". It doesn't morph into a Monkey Island-style adventure in the last act, it's still an open-world RPG, but until E2 it was also the most tired, phoned-in, lethargic, disinterested RPG I've ever played and not just by PB. It's so soulless and by-the-numbers if it came out today ppl would totally believe it was made whole cloth by AI. Got 40 hours in the game and the last 25 I was sick to my stomach of it.

I ultimately disliked E2 too and it's got the same kind of problem - tired, phoned-in, copy-pasted - but I think it still "wins" as the second worst PB game ever.

 

[Nikanuur]

Gnidrologist
I found Elex 2 to be a very enjoyable game, as far as PB games are considered.
However, it took some time to get to that point.
The initial ca. 4 hours were like, "What!? Why!!!? What have they done??! Is this for real?!' for me.
The funny thing is that the beginning's nonsense, e.g., heaps of loot everywhere, chaotic combat, Jax's face, everybody behaving like a bitter, passively aggressive prick, and then some, slowly disappears some time after you are in the 'real open world'. That is after the initial Fort quests.
I think half of the people are hating Elex 2 because of this, and they didn't play much beyond the unsavory beginning. Or that they've become conditioned by the feeling and couldn't let go of the disappointment.
I only wonder why PB made the beginning in such sleazy-easing fashion. I suppose it was something like to attract more of the generic audience this time, and not just their fans. You know, sales and stuff.
Because there are plenty of lovable, classical PB tropes later on.
Stuff like looking around the corner is important in order to discover treasures, lore, or quests, or that getting a new weapon or skill matters a lot, unless you are nearing the end and have become the classical PB-end-game killing machine :D
Talking about quests, hah, those have even more variable outcomes than before and are often highly imaginative or fun. Take the detective work for the kids, for example!

Spoiler

The quest line about the thives guild ends with you either ousting several actors from the town, making it more secure, but by that also procuring Thieves' undying hatred towards your person, and they'll go vendetta on your ass sometimes later. Or, you help them, and that means you get two new teachers, several quests' worth of small story, etc.

I know that the following will be met with criticism, but I liked the combat. It normalizes after those unfortunate initial hours. It starts to be the good-old-clunky-PB stuff, but this time with several new improvements after some time.

So, that's that.
I advise bearing with the horrible Jack's face and several other nonsenses at least until you get to Berserk's town and start doing quests there. You should be met with good old Elex from that point on.

 

[Nikanuur]

Also, is there no way to zoom camera a bit further from protagonist like in previous games? I hate the behind the shoulder shit. Get dizzy.

Definitely. It's been often pointed out. The camera mod is a must.
https://www.nexusmods.com/elex2/mods/16

EDIT: He now looks like hangovered Nico from GTA4. What happened?

PB (tried to ) explain this hangover, weathered look, and also the overall rudeness and bitterness of NPCs as a rationale of Elex 1 ending. Everybody got their asses kicked hard; factions are fractions; all are licking their wounds, knowing that it's far from being over.
While this is all truly questionable, there are some interesting overlaps. I don't want to spoil much, but factions tentatively cooperate with each other now, and some true lore surprises are coming your way. That is, if you continue playing `,-]

 

[Gnidrologist]

Mind you, i actually enjoyed Risen 2.

Risen 2 is actually a good game. It may be considered a bad sequel, but is generally very fun. Elex 2 is not fun and it's a technical mess, abandoned and never to be fixed. It has its moments when you might feel it's good (and indeed there are good things to be said about it, which will cloud your judgement for several hours) but that feeling will be gone sooner or later.

That's exactly my experience with Risen 2. At some point I thought it was decent game, until the last 5-10 hours or something.

Okay, then there's actual question: Which is better - Elex2 or Risen3? Because these are next PB i want to try out at some point. I know i'll try them both at some point. But witch one is better? Or worse?

I haven't played Elex or Elex 2 yet, but Risen 3 is overall a better game than Risen 2. Problem is, it's still a mediocre game.

If you desperately want that PB fix, how about you take a look at Ghost of a Tale or Outward?

If you only disliked Risen 2 in last 5-10 hours, then it's a good game overall, right? I pretty much dislike every single PB game in their last 5-10 hours.

I checked what Outward is in Mortismal channel. It's a survival and resource management game. Want none of that shit. Not saying it's a bad genre, just no for me.
And no, i'll not playing as a rodent. And that game is stealth game anyway. Again, nothing to do with PB jank.

B tw, is Elex 2 really that bad?

Yes, avoid like the-

Okay, just checked out the E2 and am already dissapoint.

FOOL, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

You seem to have very contrasted views on both games. May i ask you why?


(or you're just memeing all the way :D)

Gnidrologist
I found Elex 2 to be a very enjoyable game, as far as PB games are considered.
However, it took some time to get to that point.
The initial ca. 4 hours were like, "What!? Why!!!? What have they done??! Is this for real?!' for me.
The funny thing is that the beginning's nonsense, e.g., heaps of loot everywhere, chaotic combat, Jack's face, everybody behaving like a bitter, passively aggressive prick, and then some, slowly disappears some time after you are in the 'real open world'. That is after the initial Fort quests.
I think half of the people are hating Elex 2 because of this, and they didn't play much beyond the unsavory beginning. Or that they've become conditioned by the feeling and couldn't let go of the disappointment.
I only wonder why PB made the beginning in such sleazy-easing fashion. I suppose it was something like to attract more of the generic audience this time, and not just their fans. You know, sales and stuff.
Because there are plenty of lovable, classical PB tropes later on.
Stuff like looking around the corner is important in order to discover treasures, lore, or quests, or that getting a new weapon or skill matters a lot, unless you are nearing the end and have become the classical PB-end-game killing machine :D
Talking about quests, hah, those have even more variable outcomes than before and are often highly imaginative or fun. Take the detective work for the kids, for example!

Spoiler

The quest line about the thives guild ends with you either ousting several actors from the town, making it more secure, but by that also procuring Thieves' undying hatred towards your person, and they'll go vendetta on your ass sometimes later. Or, you help them, and that means you get two new teachers, several quests' worth of small story, etc.

I know that the following will be met with criticism, but I liked the combat. It normalizes after those unfortunate initial hours. It starts to be the good-old-clunky-PB stuff, but this time with several new improvements after some time.

So, that's that.
I advise bearing with the horrible Jack's face and several other nonsenses at least until you get to Berserk's town and start doing quests there. You should be met with good old Elex from that point on.

Good to know. Does Nico er.. Jax fix his face and stop being depressed meth addict at some point?

I already like combat better than E1, because i never could get a grip of the melee meter. Obviously, you could just shoot your way out, but i like more organic melee instead of Mortal Kombat style button sequences, where you either get gud or get rekt.

 

[Darth Roxor]

You seem to have very contrasted views on both games. May i ask you why?

Elex 2 is fundamentally flawed in its every core aspect. I still have a list of notes from back when I thought I'd be reviewing it, so every now and again I read through it when I encounter another reality denier who says 1 and 2 are near-identical, and boy does that provoke Vietnam flashbacks. The most aggravating problems however are related to combat and exploration.

1. The combat must have been designed by some seriously big-brained people, because nothing about it works or makes sense. Humanoid enemies have an entirely different set of combat moves and animations than you do, which is idiotic for a number of reasons.
- First, and by far the worst offender, is how enemy humans can actively block hits while you can't. You can only execute timed ripostes, but you CAN'T actually BLOCK. It's pants-on-head retarded.
- Their attack anims are also universally faster than Jax's, and they can whack you with 2-handers faster than you can do the same with 1-handers.
- Furthermore, they don't at all play by the rules - their attacks don't depend on stamina (while yours do significantly), and the weapons they use are purely 'cosmetic' because they have some external damage value. I stumbled upon this by accident once when I pickpocketed a scary chainsword off a hobo who'd one-hit-kill me with it, and then after triggering him again he'd suddenly material a lead pipe out of nowhere and one-hit-kill me all the same (even though this is quite literally impossible within the confines of this game's systems).
- Niggas can just fire their ranged weapons into your face at point blank and you can do absolutely nothing about it.
- It takes a very special kind of genius to base one of the core aspects of combat on draining the enemy's stamina through repeated whacking, and then make a shitton of enemies immune to stamina damage.
- Enemy attack animations are wildly unpredictable and give you a minimal window of opportunity for a riposte, and if you miss it, you typically die.
- Given that the entire main quest revolves around closing identical oblivion gates swarming with angry aliens, the fact that the combat is this bad is a very significant bummer.

2. The exploration is simply unfun and unrewarding, and the entire world feels like set up by AI.
- For starters, it blows my mind that they decided to recycle so much of the old map and then do absolutely nothing with most of the cool old locations. They are either inaccessible or missing any content, or straight up removed from the game. The top examples here are the old overgrown Alb converters, which have NO special content whatsoever. You push to the one in Ignadon through a horde of mutants and think it's gonna be a big deal, there's nothing at the end. The one in Tavar has a bunch of mutants around and nothing else. The Calaan launch bunker has just been retconned out of existence. A meteor fell on the Hort, and you'd expect it to be this cool place of cleric and alien hell tech, but it is also just gone without trace and replaced by an oblivion gate.
- NPCs no longer give you ANY directions, and you HAVE to rely on quest markers to do any shit. Some people will say that was also true in E1, but I had them disabled from start to finish back there.
- Loot placement makes no sense and you will find chili growing in the arctic or alium Dark Elex (tm) that landed on the planet a week ago in pre-apocalypse caches.
- There is simply no point to the exploration. There are no cool places to go to, and no cool things to find in them.

And that's just a part of it. The fact that it's blatantly unfinished and also a complete mess from a technical standpoint is only a cherry on top. Whatever good parts it has (and it does have them) just can't outweigh the problems.