Company News Piranha Bytes acquired by THQ Nordic

[toro]

PB cycle is around 3 years and we've know for some time that they're working on Elex 2, what happens after that is anyone's guess. I suppose a Gothic 1 remaster would be a good idea to get more people to play it, even though I can play it today and still love it...

Imagine Gothic remaster with Dark Souls combat ... the possibilities.

Spoiler

/s

 

[Murk]

I hope they retain creative autonomy.

 

[vonAchdorf]

Not a big surprise.

What about Spacetime?

 

[luj1]

cult favorite ELEX

It's a dramatic moment

 

[Forest Dweller]

Although ELEX was considered an at least partial return to form, Piranha Bytes have been treading water for years

Ban Infinitron for bad puns.

 

[RickOmbo]

THQ is doing well since the reboot, hope the same will happen to Bethesda.

 

[Invictus]

This is great news... I can actually dream of a new Gothic using the Elex engine as a return to form for the franchise
Maybe even some new patches for the older games so they run correctly in modern PCs

 

[Metro]

PB cycle is around 3 years and we've know for some time that they're working on Elex 2, what happens after that is anyone's guess. I suppose a Gothic 1 remaster would be a good idea to get more people to play it, even though I can play it today and still love it...

A Gothic 1 remaster is a route I would have expected PB to go if they remained independent and wanted to strike out on their own to fund another project. But that was probably never going to happen. I doubt THQ Nordic J0w00000d 3.0 whoever is interested in reviving Gothic.

 

[SpaceWizardz]

I doubt THQ Nordic J0w00000d 3.0 whoever is interested in reviving Gothic.

Most of THQ Nordic's catalog are remasters and rereleases.

 

[Metro]

True but those remasters were generally of more popular series (Darksiders, Red Faction ) and Gothic has always been fairly niche. But don't get me wrong I would AAA derp-face preorder a Gothic 1 remaster/revamp.

 

[Invictus]

True but those remasters were generally of more popular series (Darksiders, Red Faction ) and Gothic has always been fairly niche. But don't get me wrong I would AAA derp-face preorder a Gothic 1 remaster/revamp.

For sure they must have the code for both Gothic games around so even a simple patch like the ones from System Shock 2 or Arx Libertatis for both games to run without issues on modern systems would be fantastic

 

[Metro]

Well... if they're going to sell it I'd expect more than just an Arx Libertatis patch.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Hope they'll get a money to hire someone who can design a decent combat system, for a change.
Or at very least copy what other games are doing better.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Imagine actually getting butthurt defending the combat in ELEX!

 

[Ismaul]

While combat in ELEX is a bit clunky and could be improved, it is still way more fun than a huge bunch of RPGs.

 

[RK47]

ELEX battle royale when

 

[Harry Easter]

While combat in ELEX is a bit clunky and could be improved, it is still way more fun than a huge bunch of RPGs.

Personally I think it worked really good in Risen 1. Can't tell you why, though ...

 

[Morkar Left]

Please no Gothic anymore. The story is finished. And Gothic 1 and 2 definitely don't need remakes. They are still fine as they are. Just use some texture mods and you are good to go. They can only lose doing a remake of those. Better focus on ELEX 2!

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

While combat in ELEX is a bit clunky and could be improved, it is still way more fun than a huge bunch of RPGs.

While there are plenty of action RPGs with mediocre-to-terrible combat, I literally struggle to think of anyone who was actually worse than ELEX. And I even liked ELEX overall.

When even your old games (Gothic 2 and Risen 1) are leagues ahead of your recent releases (Risen 2 and 3, ELEX) when it comes to combat, you are doing something wrong.
What's worse, there's now a model pretty much ready to be copied that would fit into Piranha Bytes design to a T. Yes, I'm talking about the Dark Souls shit.
Overdone? "WAAAAH! Not everything need to be Dark Souls"? I literally don't give a shit. It WOULD be a net improvement.

 

[zurek]

Personally I think it worked really good in Risen 1. Can't tell you why, though ...

The combat in Risen 1 is fast and responsive. When you attack, parry or dodge it happens almost immediately.

All games post Risen 1 have slower melee attack animations, enemies interrupt your attack mid swing more often and Elex makes it worse with adding stamina and having too many enemies with ranged weapons. Muskets and rifles are exempt from that and that's why they're less annoying to fight with.

 

[Harry Easter]

The combat in Risen 1 is fast and responsive. When you attack, parry or dodge it happens almost immediately.

That could be it. I remember it being very fast. Hmm, maybe there's hope that they will get back to it in ELEX 2? Oh well.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Personally I think it worked really good in Risen 1. Can't tell you why, though ...

The combat in Risen 1 is fast and responsive. When you attack, parry or dodge it happens almost immediately.

All games post Risen 1 have slower melee attack animations, enemies interrupt your attack mid swing more often and Elex makes it worse with adding stamina and having too many enemies with ranged weapons. Muskets and rifles are exempt from that and that's why they're less annoying to fight with.

That's just part of the problem. You can use deliberate slowness in a controlled way and have a good combat system regardless of the overall speed. Which ELEX doesn't.
There's also the issue with animations being garbage, collisions being even worse, no visual feedback on impact whatsoever, contextual animations being erratic and hard to predict, etc. It's an overall a genuinely bad system with no redeeming qualities (except being tied to a game that deserved better).

 

[Ismaul]

While there are plenty of action RPGs with mediocre-to-terrible combat, I literally struggle to think of anyone who was actually worse than ELEX.

Bethesda games, for one.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

While there are plenty of action RPGs with mediocre-to-terrible combat, I literally struggle to think of anyone who was actually worse than ELEX.

Bethesda games, for one.

Aside for setting the bar low, I'm not even sure that's true.
And I strongly dislike most of the Bethesda games I tried to play.

 

[Black Angel]

While there are plenty of action RPGs with mediocre-to-terrible combat, I literally struggle to think of anyone who was actually worse than ELEX.

Bethesda games, for one.

Aside for setting the bar low, I'm not even sure that's true.
And I strongly dislike most of the Bethesda games I tried to play.

Have you even tried playing both games side-to-side? Try playing Skyrim or Fallout 4 melee build, and compare to it ELEX. Now, a disclaimer, I haven't tried ELEX even though I finally got it on PS4 during sale, but if ELEX's combat happened to be worse than fucking Skyrim or Fallout 4, I guess I'll kill myself.