Evolution and enrichment of the existing world Lore as presented in the series' first game? Easy check. Well-written and distinct Factions, each of which has its own purposes in the world, its own distinct Quests, and its own path to the Endgame? Check once again. Plenty of quests, with the main ones having more than one path to their completion? Obvious check. Unrelenting difficulty, especially in the early stages of the game, and the possibility of dying even from an oversized mosquito? Check. After acquiring the appropriate skills and collecting upgrades, flying with the Jetpack can drastically shorten distances accross the map, in addition to providing new entry and exit strategies.Įxploring a wide open world, with scattered secrets waiting to be discovered? Check. In the 80+ hours it took me to complete the game (naturally having skipped some of the sidequests, in addition to the interlocking paths depending on my choices in the Main Quest), I felt, as a PB fan, something similar to what I suppose fans of Souls games feel every time FromSoftware releases something new, meaning I had certain expectations that were met 100%. Beyond these, and various tweaks to the menus and the broader look of the UI, players of the first ELEX, and Piranha Bytes games in general I guess, will feel right at home playing ELEX II.Īnd this right-at-home quality is perhaps the area in which ELEX II shines.
#RELEASE DATE FOR ELEX 2 UPGRADE#
In terms of gameplay, the main innovations compared to ELEX are the optimization of Melee combat and the crafting system, the introduction of a Stealth system, and the ability to fly with the Jetpack if we upgrade it with the right components. The Skyands are like something straight out of Firaxis' XCOM. The start of the action coincides with the arrival of this threat, and Jax's mission is to travel around the world, talk to all the old and new "major players" and attempt to mount some sort of resistance against the alien invaders (who are given the name Skyands), even at the last hour. The plot takes place 7 years after the events of the first game, with our protagonist Jax largely retired from public life after failing to unite the warring factions of Magalan against the space threat that is allegedly on the way via the massive wormhole that appeared after the defeat of the Hybrid. But let's briefly repeat some things here as well. The world state of planet Magalan after the events of ELEX, the Factions that emerged or retreated into obscurity, as well as the main new gameplay features of ELEX II, have all been analyzed in our extensive ELEX II preview a few months ago, so if you want more details it's recommended that you also check that out. But is this really the case this time? When you see Billy Idol perform live within the first half hour of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi RPG, you know it's jank. In this light, someone who chooses to play ELEX II, which officially launches tomorrow March 1st, is like knowing in advance the vast majority of the features he can expect from it. The main Eurojank characteristics (games from central/eastern European studios with an overambitious concept, unforgivably increased difficulty compared to more "mainstream" games, mildly mediocre production values and often a plethora of bugs) can be found in pretty much all of the company's game series, and, like Gothic and Risen, ELEX could not be an exception.
What we're mostly interested in now, however, is the fact that Piranha Bytes as a company is probably the God-Emperor of this genre. There should be a more extensive analysis/tribute/article on the games that have come to be grouped under the umbrella of the unofficial but noble genre known as Eurojank.
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