Elex 2

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What is Elex 2 ?

In the tradition of Gothic, Risen and of course its predecessor Elex (1), Elex 2 is a role-playing game in which you control the main character Jax in a rear-view perspective.

 

Developer Piranha Bytes is based in German city Essen and has had experience with this genre for over 25 years. Most gamers from there are familiar with the titles that have been released so far, and here at Schnapsunmetal we have played all eight.

 

What has happened since Elex?

Previous knowledge is never wrong, but you don't need to have played the predecessor. A few years after Jax defeated the evil hybrid, who sent a signal into the sky as his last act, Jax lives as a hermit in a remote hut.

 

Since then, a pink ring has appeared in the sky. What could it be? Anyway, suddenly some landing ships crash onto the surface of the planet Magallan and erect alien fortresses there, one of them right on top of Jax's dwelling!

 

Jax can't do a damn thing

The main character, once infamous as the "Beast of Xarcor", has lost all abilities. This is good old tradition and is explained this time as Jax is bitten on the arm by a strange creature and falls ill. An old acquaintance nurses the swashbuckler back to health: Adam (pictured above).

 

This plague keeps Jax busy during the rest of the game and causes headaches and even total blackouts, although this only gets worse later on.

 

Old pals at it again

The plan is to use a bastion as a base from which to make plans against the unknown invaders from orbit. Powerful support is now in great demand.

 

Players are likely to find all the loyal recruits, picking up C.R.O.N.Y.-U4 the flying drone (pictured above), for example. Each escort comes with its own set of quests that can be completed, but don't have to.

 

There and back with Jetpack

The rugged world of Magallan would be quite unsuitable for vehicles. That's why there is the jetpack again, with which you can take to the skies like Colt Seavers couldn't do better (who still knows him).

 

Range and manoeuvrability can be improved at a workbench if you have the appropriate skills and materials. Weapons and armour can also be improved at such workbenches and set with gems that bring special bonuses.

 

Monster to the point of elexhaustion

The idyllic landscape is inhabited by peaceful animals, but also by lots of hostile critters. Leaving the monsters alone is theoretically possible, but who would want to do that?

 

Elex 2 is not a game that rewards peacefulness. Every experience point counts and only a few adversaries are allowed to continue doing their thing. For example, I didn't have the heart to attack the injured ogre (picture above).

 

Apart from the battles, there are plenty of locks to pick and computers to hack if you learn the skills. The handling is exactly the same as in the previous game, only visually it looks a bit different. The popular ore collecting with the motor chisel is also back.

 

New and familiar regions

Hunting and exploring in the vast open world is as much fun as ever. All in all, the region has been moved a bit to the east compared to Elex 1, so the swamp and the former Berserker camp are gone.

 

The Outlaw fort is still there, but someone else now lives there and has radically changed the plateau and the area around it. Otherwise there is a desert region in the east, coast in the south and the frosty north.

 

“Give me the money“

A unique selling point in the game is the honest language that non-player characters usually choose. That's also where you notice that Elex 2 is a game from the Piranhas, residing the Ruhr area. I celebrate the gangster sayings like: "Hand over the dough, or you'll get a grimace bang!"

 

Many players prefer the English version, because the voice actors are even more professional. For example German Youtubers like Erik Range have been acting, in this case the character Fox, while Adam Grimes does that in English.

 

A new Faction

You can remain independent or strive for the advantages of membership in a faction. In addition to the well-known Berserkers, Clerics, Albs and Outlaws, there are now also the Morkons.

 

You can find out for yourself where these pain-loving Morkon warriors live and what else they do besides self-mortification. They are quite hidden.

Destruction or benefit?

Your actions in the game affect the balance of your reputation. Are you more of a benefactor or a destroyer? Evil decisions, ignorance and the murder of innocent people and animals will make your Destruction value stronger.

 

In terms of content, however, Elex 2 is knitted in such a way that charitable play makes more sense and is more fun. It's almost a bit of a shame that you're no longer enticed to take the evil path. Depending on how your value is ranked here, you get different conversation options.

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Billy Idol gives a concert

Fans of the predecessors complained that no band had appeared in the game since Gothic 1 with In Extremo in the old camp. They took this to heart and put Billy Idol with Steve Stevens in Elex 2.

 

Unfortunately, the two don't quite look like the real rockers and a bit more action around the concert wouldn't have hurt. Besides, the Billy Idol song "Whisky & Pills" is playing on Orbit Radio. Korn also made it into the game this way.

 

Is there romance too?

I give the developers credit for trying to integrate romantic moments into the game. In the end, this is not one of the team's strengths, despite all the recognisable effort.

 

Irissa, Nasty and Caja (photo below) are not uninteresting as companions, but their relationships with Jax are less sparkling.

 

Graphics and sounds

The specially developed genome graphics engine shines in atmospheric evening scenes, such as in the Berserker Swamp (picture below). Lip-synced speech is discernible, but the characters' facial expressions fail to reflect stronger emotions.

 

The nature sounds are best; simply quaint. The ambient soundtrack by development director Björn Pankratz himself sounds okay, but does not come close to compositions by Kai Rosenkranz (Gothic, Risen 1), although it is also a completely different setting.

 

Shortcomings

The main criticism is the hardware hunger with average technology. A game at this level should be less hard on computers. More on this below in the system requirements. Console players, however, notice less or nothing of this.

 

While the small side quests are wonderfully interconnected and come close to Gothic 2 level, the main storyline is once again not entirely transparent. It's not completely off the mark, but the eternal back and forth with Adam Dawkins is inconclusive.

 

The inventory has been graphically redesigned, but remains awkward to use.

 

The eastern region is quite loveless and empty. Time seems to have run out in development for this area.

 

Some players still find the controls difficult, but they are actually allright to use, whether with mouse, keyboard, gamepad or Steam Box.

What succeeded?

Ingenious and intricate side missions

Fabulous ambushes; I love tapping into them

Cult weapons that really pack a punch, for example Captain Zack, the harpoon gun.

Colourful society including children

 

Texts & Sync

As already mentioned, the bearish language stands out pleasantly from the soft-flushed monotony of other role-playing games (e.g. Dragon Age Inquisition).

 

Sync ist done quite professional in English, coming up with Taliesin Jaffe as voice of Jax. The californian is known form Horizon forbidden west (Thurlis), Street Fighter (Blanka) or Pillars of Eternity (Udric).

 

Summary

Elex 2 is fun in its role-playing niche as it has always been, without daring to do much that is new

 

Even I, as a big fan of the series, have to recognise that the Piranhas have lost touch with the greats of the role-playing scene. Twenty years ago they were practically on a par with Bethesda or Bioware. The small Essen-based game studio can't and doesn't want to compete or have its edges sanded off.

 

Up to the middle, Elex 2 is simply enormous fun, at least for all those who succumb to the stimuli of exploration and indulge in monster killing again. The little adventures, such as the one with the detective children in the berserk fort, are the real hit. The main quest, on the other hand, seems detached and long-winded, which unfortunately becomes clear in the second half.

 

The RPG can be fully recommended to all devotees of the games Gothic, Risen and Elex 1. They just know what they like. However, no one should expect this work to be able to keep up with a giant like Cyberpunk 2077; it doesn't have to.

 

System requirements

PC gamers will notice that Elex 2 is very power hungry, so even at 4K resolution, the graphics memory amount is close to 7 gigabytes and the RAM is between 8 and 10 gigabytes.

 

Full HD and with a wide-quad high-definition screen, you can achieve over 60 frames per second with a graphics card like the GeForce RTX 3080, but on a 4K screen, you can only achieve about 42 fps.

 

Minimum: A CPU with AMD Ryzen 3 3100 or Intel Core i5-7400, 12 gigabytes of RAM main memory and either Radeon RX 5600 XT or Geforce GTX 1060. Windows 10 is required.

 

Maximum: CPU with AMD Ryzen 7 2700 or Intel Core i5-9500, 16 gigabytes of RAM main memory and either Radeon RX 5700 XT or Geforce GTX 2060. Windows 10 is required.

Speakers

This is a list of the English speaking voice actors. Elex 2 can also be played in German, Polish and Russian.

 

 

Infos to Elex 2

 

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