If you've enjoyed this review and want to see me continue making more videos, it would help me a lot for you to like, comment, subscribe, ring the bell, drop a Super Thanks, share it on external platforms, and all that usual stuff. All of that helps with promoting the video for the Almighty TH-cam Algorithm and also just provides me a sense of encouragement, not to mention financial support in the form of Super Thanks (for those of you who want to leave a one-time tip as a show of support without being a monthly Patreon subscriber). This video took me an insane amount of time and effort to put together, so I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer with promoting its success, which can be as simple as just engaging with the video in some way. Thanks for all of your patience and continued interest during this extended production time; I'm sorry it took so long, but now that this behemoth is out of the way I hope to get back to more regular production on other projects which includes possibilities like: - My most/least favorite quests from The Witcher 3 - Why I think Gothic 1's controls are better than their reputation - A Gothic 1 Beginner's Guide - Review of Stardew Valley - Review of Elden Ring - How Dragon's Dogma 1 does open-world game design right (and wrong) - A review/comparison of two touchpad gaming controllers (Steam Controller and Darkwalker Shotpad) - Impressions of the Steam Deck OLED - Eventually getting back to finish Chronicles of Myrtana - Review of Risen 3 - My personal rankings of all Piranha Bytes games Which of these would you be most interested in seeing a video on, or are there any other games out there that should be on my radar to cover sometime in the future?
Why I think Gothic 1's controls are better than their reputation. This one would be interesting to watch you breakdown. I noticed some people disliked it, but to me it never felt bad. Once a person gets used to it, it can be pretty intuitive.
His vids are long for the now average viewer and he only uploads every few months. Being surprised by lack of subs is like being surprised water is wet.
Stop parroting bollocks, if this toxic gatekeeper sang it's praises you would too. People like you and this channel are the problem, constantly trying to pigeon hole developers into being one note, without letting them experiment with design. You're boring, constantly feeling the need to tell people what's what, furthermore this channel and people like you played gothic retroactively trying to claim you were a day one player and fan. 😂😂😂
Agreed, Elex 2 generally looks bland and the facial expressions are wooden, they look like dolls. The game looks and feels technologically dated to say the least. I think PB might be finding themselves at an impasse, I don't know where they go from here.
In a parallel universe, in Elex 2, Jax finds out that the albs were controled by the soul of a creature named The Sleeper, the dead avatar of a godlike being named Beliar, who was banished by Innos from Magalan (proto Myrthana) on another planet ,through a portal. He sent the albs on Magalan to reactivate the portal and bring him back. After milions of years, some primitive convicts are forced to dig in mines for a rare blue mineral with unimaginable powers named magic ore. The substance once known by the ancestors as "elex", condensed into rock by the passage of time.
I really appreciate your perspective as a Gothic and Rpg fan. A lot of the reviews wouldn't notice many of the downsides as well as the few improvements this game has in comparison to Elex 1. Love ur videos!
Thank you for the kind words, and especially thanks for the Super Thanks. I certainly try to be more perceptive about things in all games I review, which is part of why they end up being a little longer than average and taking longer to write than usual, so I'm always glad to hear it's appreciated.
Seriously. I remember other reviews at the time explicitly saying there WASN'T level-scaling in Elex 2, when you can see clear as day from this footage that they were doing SOMETHING to scale enemy levels to the player. Really makes you appreciate the attention to detail that others often miss.
You nailed the explanation of the world design, Elex 2 did feel like a cheap imitation of the original instead of the same location just evolved. They went overboard with the changes, it could have been done more subtly. I honestly played out elex 2 and in my mind didn't even think about the old elex 1 map, I just played it like they were different maps entirely.
Level-scaling in a PB game is like an oxymoron. Can't believe they actually put that in Elex 2. That alone may be proof enough that the PB of old is dead if they're so out of touch to think that was acceptable in one of their games.
That last sentence aged like a fine milk. They'll be missed, but honestly they've been the cause of their own undoing - releasing new games with pretty much the same formulas while even cutting away things that made their old games enjoyable, was truly a path to their downfall.
The problem is that they're trying to make big AAA like Games with a small team and very little budget. Back in 2006 they could compete with other developers but today....
"You know that one single thing we used to handle better than almost anyone else, "progression" in a RPG? Why not throw it in the garbage bin and start doing the worst possible alternative, instead?" - Modern Piranha Bytes, probably
I liked Elex 2 at first, even though a few things felt subtly off, but those later quests absolutely killed the enjoyment and the story left me completely uninterested in Elex 3. Hopefully if Piranha Bytes survives they'll course-correct for Elex 3, or else do something actually new and interesting this time around.
If they survive, I'm pretty sure they won't continue work on Elex 3. There were creative differences between Björn and the rest of the team, and he and his wife left the company in November. The others want to make a game that's more like Gothic.
Couldn't agree more. I *did* have fun in the first third or even half of the game. But out of all the Piranha Bytes games, this is the one that I simply *fvcking hated* by the time the end credits rolled. And I really am a weirdo, when it comes to their games. I even like Risen 2 a lot and played through it four times... hell, maybe even five or six times, I'm not really sure 😅
@@Vegeta-k9o Yes, thank you :) There are sooo few pirate games. Risen 2 might be a questionable Piranha Bytes game and an outright *bad* sequel to Risen 1, but in my book it's a damn fine fantasy pirate game :)
I looked forward to this video. The dedication to spend this amount of time on basically unknown game needs to be appreciated. I know how thankless this is, so thank you.
Great to have you back Nick! Been following with you for years now. Can't tell you how many times I rewatched your suffering with Gothic 3. You're the only youtuber who's work I can thumb up before even starting the video. Much love and support from a fellow G1&2 lifetime fan. Regards, Bran
Great review. We're feeling similarly about the game; while it did improve a lot of the mechanics, there also were a lot of regressions, especially in the story and quest department. What could have been a great sequel was pretty disappointing at the end and killed any excitement we had for a potential Elex 3. That's why we're hoping PB manage to survive the current situation and tackle a new project with some fresh talent. That could actually prove to be a good thing for them.
Frankly I think they should start working on games that aren't repackaged gothics. They've been doing this since the past 2 decades trying to recapture the acclaim they received for the first two Gothic games. Now that Alkimia Interactive is already making remakes for the signature Gothic franchise, it's better that PB shift their focus to other genres (provided if they survive the present crisis). Also the way Elex 2 ended anticlimactically, which to be honest was a rehash of the Elex 1 ending, they should surely drop the Elex franchise
I don't know if this is sacrilegious or not, but I'd kind of like to see them abandon the huge open-world formula and go back to something like Risen 2/3, with smaller worlds based on hub areas where you can do the main quest in a more non-linear order. Or maybe like The Witcher 1 where the main quest itself is more linear but opens up new hub areas as it advances through the chapters. PB are great at making interesting worlds, and their exploration is usually top-notch, but these massive open-worlds they've been doing with Elex just seem like it's taken too much away from other areas of development that should've been fleshed out more. Would be interesting to see them do a smaller game with more focus on the main quest and developing more meaningful side content in later chapters, while still keeping up their usually compelling world design.
They were introduced in Risen 3. I wonder if it was Michael Hoge who did the story for Risen 2 which was in my opinion good compared to Risen 3 and to both Elex games.
As someone who loved the first Elex, I was gravely disappointed with the sequel. Some of the gameplay elements were improved, the enemy variety was expanded and the jetpack was great, but everything else felt so much worse to me. The cities, quest design (aside form a small handful of standout ones), the world building, NPC interactions, factions... just a massive step backwards from the first game. What I would love to see, and likely will never happen, is some dedicated team of modders to spring up and somehow put the improved gameplay changes/combat and enemy variety from Elex 2 into Elex 1. Now that would be a truly awesome game that polishes the biggest flaws the first game had.
Great in-depth review. I played through the game 4 times. After the first playthrough I played the second with infinite jetpack and no fall damage mods from the start. It actually made the experience so much more fun. Explored way more, found way more things I missed in the first playthrough, allowed me to approach the questline in different ways. Loved the jetpack in this game and felt like it was the best innovation aside from the fluid combat. I chuckled at the combat section as it was almost identical to my experience. For me Morkon 1H with full Destruction was by far the most fun I had with the game, playing a kind of vampiric warlord destroying hordes of enemies felt really satisfying and fit the theme of their faction. Rifles Alb was beyond miserable and Rain of Fire Berserker was hilariously OP.
Omg! The man of the hour! Want to start watching this video! Recently tried Elex 2, gave up in Act 2. Started Elex 1 on Ultra, taking it slow etc: MASTERPIECE!
Getting bit and weak is not as plausible and beautiful as getting sober. That would’ve been such a beautiful story if they made Jax having to train again because his years of abusing elex, a story about rebuilding yourself after fighting addiction
Overall, Elex 2 is a big disappointment for me - and I won't be surprised if this game will bury Piranha Bytes. There were some things I liked, e.g. the improved jetpack, or the cool new faction of the Morkons. The quests at the beginning of the game to join a faction weren't bad, the combat I think was also better overall than in the previous part. Everything else, however, was worse. Repetitive, idiotic quests in the main storyline along the lines of "teleport to a location, kill 50 enemies and come back" bored me. It's a very sad reflection on how lazy game developers have become these days. I dread to think what Elex 3, which is unlikely to be made again, would look like....
I really like your in depth reviews and your style of presenting it: calm and rational. I don't know why but every time once in a month, i especially listen to your gothic 3 review and start a losten through all your bigger reviews as a quasi podcast. I just started a new runthrough as I realized there is this video. Thank you for your hard work!
I preferred Nasty because of her…unique personality in E1. In E2 i was first disappointed that Caja relationship was canon, then I was disappointed that everyone in E2 have Nasty’s personality and swear every minute. So naturally Nasty in E2 wasn’t so impressive anymore, and I didn’t care about any others to make a choice.
If only this game had proper modding tools like for example Total War games(well the older ones at least) or Paradox titles than modders could and probably would have created the perfect Elex game, which would be Elex 1 in the Elex 2 engine with all of its quality of life improvements while keeping the soul of the original title. As it stands, and will forever stand unfortunately as the developer went under, Elex 2 is a classic 1 step forward 2 steps back situation. Rather than maintaining everything that was good with Elex 1 and just fixing its flaws and advancing the story they did a hard reset, removing most of the mechanics and redoing them and retconning the entire story and making it make 0 sense now. Elex 1's combat system, just with proper hit boxes and responsiveness is all that Elex 2 needed, not a brand new combat system that lost the soul of the original title in favor of being generic. The environment, mini map, etc, didn't need to change at all, just change in accordance with the developments of the story. Instead we got a drastic change in environmental design, from the color palette to vastly reducing hazards, etc. A shame really as Elex had such great potential and I truly loved, still do, the first game, despite all its jank. Don't get me wrong, I got very frustrated on multiple occasions with Elex 1's jank on multiple occasions, but the end justifies the means so to speak and the overall experience was so amazing that it was absolutely worth all the bumps in the road. Elex 2 removed many(but not all) of those bumps but lost the plot along the way, to the point where the end absolutely does not justify the means(removing Elex 1's soul to achieve it).
Thank you! Im just sad what happened to Elex and piranha bytes... In germany we laugh about something Björn once said during development of Elex 2: "Its a matter for the boss". Yeah, thanks Björn xD I loved Elex 1 and just by looking at Elex2 i dont want to play this mess. But one day i will, i guess. I appreciate your hard work and dedication to this video and game!
I have the same problems with Fallout 4 and Skyrim, I have to put up with a lot to start playing, but every time I internally burn out from the absurdity, bugs and frankly bad work of Bethesda. I'm trying to get into the mood for Elex 2 and that's why I'm watching videos, but I just can't get excited about this game. Maybe I could play it if kind people gave me a lobotomy.
IMO Elex 1 looks better than Elex 2 Graphics wise. In most ways i thougth Part 2 was a huge step backwards, especially technical. Elex 2 was incredebly unstable on my system with tons of Glitches. I played in 2023. I really liked Elex I. Elex 2 feels like a Brankrupcy Decleration and oh shit, it seems like they are. Truly sad. Great review, even though i disagree with some parts of it, very in depth and i enjoy how much you talked about certain design decicions and probable alternative solutions.
One big issue I faced was enemy respawn rate, it makes you OP too quickly from all the XP and you know you are in trouble when a troll becomes a minor inconvenience than a real challenge even on the hardest difficulty and even before joining any faction. Elex 1 was unfair in hardest difficulty. Elex 2 is the opposite. Also lots of little issues like why are there recipes for purple elex to improve your stats when it just landed? That could have been a quest all along, where Jax works with some alchemist or a scientist to figure it out. They did a similar thing in Gothic 2 with dragon eggs.
Damn it, im done with the video! What a chunk of content :) Really enjoyed it. Yea overall..its absolutely mindblowing how much more of a sequel we SHOULD have gotten.. i also like some parts about this game but all in all its really just an offense to any fan or any player in general. Even more mindblowing is that there has never been a single statement nor excuse for all the problems and issues in the game..As PB got bankrupt now, i wonder which form of Elex 3 we would have got..
Although we had some different opinions on your past reviews and I understand that writing such a review is quite a time sink I have to say that your analyses, the structure and the content are top notch. I am glad for this new one. I believe that only Risen 3 is missing from Piranha Bytes now ;). Maybe also shorter 30 min videos might be something like short top rankings etc. for more frequent connection to the viewers.
Graphically it is only slightly better while performing much worse and the environments are a lot worse. Those god dammed hippies turned my beautiful beautiful desert into a green hell!
Thanks for the video. I played Elex 1&2 and the ending to 2 just seemed pathetic (I don't say that as an insult, it genuinely felt pitiful how poorly the ending of the story was told, with the lack of reactions to the big sacrifice among many other issues). Those moments where Dax would fall asleep and then wake up in front of a former were also pathetic, in that they suggest that something big is happening. But if you follow through with what the game seems to be suggesting, by entering the former, you clear out all the difficult enemies inside and there is nothing to find, just a dead end. No story point at all, no treasure. Just a huge waste of time. I couldn't believe it. The one mission in the game I loved was the one where you accompany an Alb in investigating the crater. During the mission, you start out as enemies but gradually grow closer in a way that felt good.
Piranha Bytes are like the German Bethesda. Both have very loyal fanbase. Both are making the same antiquated rpg game over and over again. And every new release gets worse than the one before.
That is not true either. PB had passion. They lost it after Risen 1. They also stated that they don't care that much of the games quality/direction because their fan base will buy the products anyway so they can lay back and dont have to deliver. Honestly am glad PB is done for
Keep those videos coming man. There are a few folks out here who, just like me, really appreciate your work and always keep coming back to you, no matter how long a project might take - so thank you, I guess :D I've been waiting for this one but maybe don't go right into the next behemoth with Risen 3. I would love to see a video on Stardew Valley though :)
Very nice review. I've never played any of these games but maybe I'll get around to the first two gothic games one day. I just really like these kind of in-depth reviews.
this game has 2 highlights for me: the time where Jax and Dawkins had a laserbeam-fight near the end of the game and the time the Morkons randomly decided to attack the Berserkers so Jax had to fight all 30 of them, but then couldnt Kill the Morkon Leader because he was an essential character just to never be relevant ever again. I love Elex 1 despite its flaws, but Elex 2 has no redeeming qualitys for me whatsoever
You made a really great review, it's very detailed. Elex 1 and especially 2 are so underappreciated. It did assume a canon relationship and didn't have the best story but it felt really fun to play although it was a bit janky. I really enjoyed the sidequests, a lot of the NPCs try to purposely trick you and often you have to give a non-obvious answer to do well. I'm happy Baldur's Gate 3 did well, but I wish that Elex 2 would've gotten a similar appreciation. I was a bit harsh on the game, I really criticized the blackout mechanic because it would randomly warp me around, it was frustrating, but if I progressed the main story just a few more hours I would've gotten past it and be free to explore. I heard Piranha Bytes wasn't doing well, I hope they don't go bankrupt.
Last i heard they were on the verge of bankruptcy already. That is it if no other publisher want to buy them over. Elex2 probably the last game we ever see from PB
Been waiting for your review since the game came out XD Your reviews are the best! Great editing and super thorough. Glad to have another one to watch & rewatch XD
Great review overall. Personally I enjoyed both games in their own way. I beat Elex three times while only beating Elex 2 once then gave up on the second playthrough. I think a lot of your criticisms of 2 are pretty legit points that probably hindered my ability to enjoy multiple playthroughs of 2. Hopefully Piranha Bytes doesn’t bite the dust so we get a third game despite some of the narrative problems with 2.
To be honest my biggest issue with this game was the pacing. Everything happens so slowly and it takes forever to do anything so i spent around 100 hours doing the majority of the staff and honestly I also really believe that the first game was better. I was quite invested with the original game, I was critical of my decisions about the factions and the characters or the overall build-up of the game. In Elex 2 I was an auto pilot for the majority of the game and my most striking impression is that this game even though it was far from being completely terrible I just don't believe it was necessary to be made in the first place.
How can you have only 13k subscribers but produce reviews with such quality that they put channels with millions of subs to shame. You‘re by far my favorite RPG review channel on YT. Keep up the good work!
What I don't understand about weapons having only one animation, is that there already is a bit different animation for atleast onehanded weapons, if you go to Cleric training you can see recruits doing it, it's not much different, but still different from animation used in actual combat, little faster and has lesser inersion to it, so why not use it for some weapons? atleast two weapon animations is better then one i guess.
Regarding the "raw material". I think this is a localization issue. If I remember correctly (Could be a mixup with Elex 1) in german these items are correctly labeled as "junk" and it seems they forgot to change that maybe because at some point there was a plan to implement a system like in Fallout 4 like you mentioned.
I had quite a lot of fun with elex2 but its funny to find out the game had scaling which i never noticed because of the brokeness of shotguns and grenadelaunchers
In case those news are unknown: Björn left Piranha Bytes in November 2023. It seems like Elex was mostly his baby (hear-say!), and that many of the Piranhas actually wanted to work on "something like Gothic" (hear-say too!). More important though: THQ Nordic is part of Embracer, who are trying to get rid of studios with flops (financially Elex 2 is one) and one of those companies is Piranha Bytes - which was no news in November 2022. The rest of the team did not give up yet, as it seems, trying to find a new publisher. And that might be Instinct 3 - which will be interesting because they are a totally new player in the publishing business.
Elex 1 suprised me, introduced me to a different way of an rpg and most importantly challenged me. I thoroughly enjoyed getting stronger and finally making my trek through the desert to join up with the Outlaws. Elex 2 doesnt feel lkke anywhere near like the original
to the sound design and music, they dont have a specialist for that anymore (like in gothic). pankraz thought its so easy or unimporant that he can do it himself, saving money in the process.
Realy is deep Review. Thanks! I finished playing Elex 2 yesterday and I had a mixed feelings . I was pleased to be back on Magalan. But the game feels like an addon to Elex 1. Something like Gothic 3 Forgotten Gods (but this is an exaggeration). There are good moments here in all aspect, but they are rare. And in anticipation of more good, you absorb a lot of bad (like quest companions). In the process of passing ELEKS 2, I had a strong desire to replay ELEKS 1.
I'm the former. "Someone who liked the concepts of Elex I but found the actual gameplay too clunky and frustrating to enjoy. One of those who really appreciated Elex II because of how much smoother the core gameplay mechanics are in practice."
Not much of a loss. Don't get me wrong, I love G1 and G2 to bits but PB hasn't made anything remotely good in a very long time. Last game from PB I actually enjoyed was Risen 1, and that was nearly 15 years ago.
i truly enjoy this video, no matter the time of day when i lay down to rest to your voice. Thank you for taking your own time to create a video worth watching over and over again, it seems like when i turn the video on each time when i lay down to rest that i find something new that you are saying about this game. Thank you for your work! your voice is extremely soothing
Elex 3 spoilers, my dad is Bjorn Jax and Adam team up and go super sonic after collect the 7 Elex gems, they fly into space and fight the singularity while crush40 plays. (tbh i thought the fight scene in Elex 2 was Jax using Berserker fire magic and Adam using Alb lighting instead of Elex beams, goes in line for the game to assume I went Berserker like how it assumed all the choices from Elex 1)
I had considered that possibility, that it was SUPPOSED to be berserker fire magic, but it made more narrative sense for me to assume that was supposed to be Jax harnessing some kind of elex power given the preceding commentary from the Skyands about elex elementals and prototypes and Jax's "learning to control the elex" comment. I'm not sure which is worse, though: having Jax suddenly bust out elex-superpowers without any prior establishment, or the developer making a cutscene that completely disregards the player's faction choice by forcing their own canonical selection.
Your Video on Elex 2 was great! Over in the Teaser you mention you're gonna tackle Elden Ring soon; my personal Experience as just another Player and Viewer might not be particularly relevant... but you know what? As much as I think that Elex 2 is somewhat of a Disappointment when compared to Elex 1, I actually enjoyed my time playing Elex 2 much, much more than my Time playing Elden Ring. In Fact, I'd go so far as to say that even though Elden Ring might be the better, let's say, "Open World Hack-n-Slash" or whatever, I genuinely think that Elex 2 is the better Open World Roleplaying Game (as janky and unpolished as it may be). I sometimes think to myself, I wanna play Elex 1 again (it just takes so muhc Time...), and Elex 2 perhaps not so much, but I'd rather replay Elex 2 than Elden Ring, honestly (... which took more Time but also felt like more Time that I wasted).
I may come to agree with you, but time will tell. I've been playing through Elden Ring on-and-off on my Steam Deck, and thus far I'm not convinced it's as good as the hype led me to expect.
@@TheNocturnalRambler the story in elden ring is only passable once you beat the game and watch all the lore videos. However I would say that the gameplay in elden ring might be my favorite ever. My dream game would be an elden ring style game with Elex 1 story telling and choice
I don't know why I may be alone about this, but to me Elex 2 is the best RPG ever. It wouldn't work without the foundation of Elex 1, and even to me the Morkons was too weird. But it is a hugely solid game with a solid storyline, and it is very playable. Some huge story twist along the way, and you could romance an alb! RIP Piranha Bytes. Sadly I will never get to play the conclusion.
I really enjoyed Elex. I chose to not romance either Caja or Nasty as....well, I did not like either of them. I joined the Clerics due to the weapons and the amazing armor and Falk was my absolute bro who I managed to get to spawn in with a lightning heavy hammer and a flame thrower. He flattened everything! Elex 2 threw me so much, all of a sudden my boy Jax has a kid, some kind of romance with Caja.....I refused to do the romance with her, pushing her away all the time, I also refused Nasty again and I refused Nyra. I got very fed up of all the cat fights between the ladies during the game as well, I was not with any of them. Once again, Falk was my boy, destroying everything in the map. Sadly I never completed the game due to a few game breaking bugs and many of my companions refusing to spawn into Jax's home base. I was also sad that the Cleric's were reduced to a dead faction where joining them (which I did) meant absolutely nothing
I really enjoyed the Jet pack tho, I thought they will mess it up when I first saw the trailer but it is so cool flying around through houses and just anywhere you previously couldn't go. Also orbit radio is awesome. I installed and deleted this game like 3 times without completing it but I missed it like missing an old friend each time.
People who don't want spoilers, don't read this comment. A friend of mine had an issue after Dex died where both Jax and Caja talked about him as if he was still alive. In general, the characters in the game seemed to either never bring his death up or pretend it didn't happen. I think some flags messed up somewhere.
Elex II has the same issue Risen and Gothic had in their sequels. It's mechanically superior, more polished and improving on key issues the fist part had, but it loses the charm. In Elex I, I used to explore the world and just enjoy the atmosphere and worldbuilding behind locations, while here I'd just go to them to grind exp and loot. Aside from a few examples like the bandit infested domes in the center of the map, there was no feeling of isolation and uncertainty. Aside from just less exciting loot, not that engaging environments, the biggest thing seems to be lack of enemies in interiors. Mutants in Elex I that would hide in old homes gave me the creeps, especially in the beginning of the game when they were extra imposing and dangerous. Nothing like this happens in the 2nd part aside form the alien structures, which meant I felt a lot safer. Also, seriously, who in their right mind thought level scaling in a PB game is a good idea? No. Just... no
Elex 2 has some really good missions with lots of diversion of expectations and I remember a couple of highlights. But what put me off were the MMORPG like companion quests where you basically do the same shit again and again for no reason but to give an excuse to move their story forward.
I played Elex 2 for 70 hours and have never experienced any glitches, yet I had to restart Elex 1 at least 10 times because the map didn't load and I clipped through the floor or the game would just stop after certain actions (cutscenes, sleeping) so it's not fair to hold this against elex 2 as it was patched, unlike elex 1... Great Video btw, never watched a Video on TH-cam for more than 1 hour yet I watched all 3 hours of this Video. Nice Work!
My main issue with ELEX 2 is that they locked the camera too close behind the character. I prefer playing ELEX 1 because you can achieve a better view with the camera. That's it, literally. If they changed the camera system to how it was in the first game I'd like the game. Also, I think the animations in Elex 1 looked better, especially for running around. EDIT: Wellll and also the fact that ELEX 2 sucks overall, sure.
Man, I'm glad your review is finally here. It feels like I've been waiting for it forever. I bought the game myself on the first day and haven't played it for even 2 hours because it doesn't run properly on my potato computer. I've heard it doesn't run any better on better machines either. And now Piranha Bytes will probably be shut down. It's a shame, in a way, an era is coming to an end. Anyway, I'm going to watch your video now and have a nice Saturday evening. Wish you all the best. Many greetings ( ´◔ ω◔`) ノシ _Edit:_ Nasty was my favorite too, nothing you can do about it. 😒
Take the gameplay of the sequel and some of the other minor improvements, mix with everything else from the first game, and I think you'd have an actual good game on your hands.
The downgraded visuals and horrible optimization was what blew my mind the most about Elex 2. I played Elex on a moderate PC at the time with no real performance issues, especially with the mod that completely removes the fog. I tried Elex 2 on a brand new computer which was about 4 times as strong as the previous one and it's borderline unplayable. Horrid fps and stuttering everywhere, regardless of the graphical settings.
I had considered that possibility, that it was SUPPOSED to be berserker fire magic, but it made more narrative sense for me to assume that was supposed to be Jax harnessing some kind of elex power given the preceding commentary from the Skyands about elex elementals and prototypes and Jax's "learning to control the elex" comment. I'm not sure which is worse, though: having Jax suddenly bust out elex-superpowers without any prior establishment, or the developer making a cutscene that completely disregards the player's faction choice by forcing their own canonical selection.
Nice video and I mostly agree. Still, as You stated, it wasn't Gothic 3. It had its moments. I wonder if rumors about Piranha Bites quitting are true. If so, it will be big loss for indie RPG gaming scene.
@@hamzaudai3390 the story had a lot of potential although notwithstanding the retcons with respect to Dawkins explanation about how the comet got to earth. The game mostly fell flat with it's poor quest design, bland visuals and excessively streamlined combat
Couldn't care less if not Gothic. I did enjoy greatly all Elex games. They were fun. I am grateful that they exist. Jet pack greatly improved exploration for me, loved every second of using it.
My point about nothing being like Gothic 2 isn't about Gothic 2 itself; it's about the approach that Gothic 2 took as a sequel, in terms of retaining virtually everything that made its predecessor good while improving on many of its mechanics while expanding on the scope of the gameplay in a positive way. By saying that "Elex 2 is no Gothic 2," I'm implying that Elex 2 is a poor followup to its predecessor that comes short of living up to the developer's prior achievements.
If you've enjoyed this review and want to see me continue making more videos, it would help me a lot for you to like, comment, subscribe, ring the bell, drop a Super Thanks, share it on external platforms, and all that usual stuff. All of that helps with promoting the video for the Almighty TH-cam Algorithm and also just provides me a sense of encouragement, not to mention financial support in the form of Super Thanks (for those of you who want to leave a one-time tip as a show of support without being a monthly Patreon subscriber). This video took me an insane amount of time and effort to put together, so I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer with promoting its success, which can be as simple as just engaging with the video in some way. Thanks for all of your patience and continued interest during this extended production time; I'm sorry it took so long, but now that this behemoth is out of the way I hope to get back to more regular production on other projects which includes possibilities like:
- My most/least favorite quests from The Witcher 3
- Why I think Gothic 1's controls are better than their reputation
- A Gothic 1 Beginner's Guide
- Review of Stardew Valley
- Review of Elden Ring
- How Dragon's Dogma 1 does open-world game design right (and wrong)
- A review/comparison of two touchpad gaming controllers (Steam Controller and Darkwalker Shotpad)
- Impressions of the Steam Deck OLED
- Eventually getting back to finish Chronicles of Myrtana
- Review of Risen 3
- My personal rankings of all Piranha Bytes games
Which of these would you be most interested in seeing a video on, or are there any other games out there that should be on my radar to cover sometime in the future?
elden ring
Chronicles of Myrtana
The Ranking :)
Dragon's Dogma vid? LETS GO
Why I think Gothic 1's controls are better than their reputation.
This one would be interesting to watch you breakdown. I noticed some people disliked it, but to me it never felt bad. Once a person gets used to it, it can be pretty intuitive.
Still the most criminally underrated RPG review channel on YT.
I agree
To be fair he only uploads once every blue moon 🤷♂️
He uploads once every millenia and doesnt really review much...
lol yes a review on a years old game , we all need it XD
His vids are long for the now average viewer and he only uploads every few months. Being surprised by lack of subs is like being surprised water is wet.
Not being gothic 2 is fine, not even being elex is the problem.
Stop parroting bollocks, if this toxic gatekeeper sang it's praises you would too. People like you and this channel are the problem, constantly trying to pigeon hole developers into being one note, without letting them experiment with design. You're boring, constantly feeling the need to tell people what's what, furthermore this channel and people like you played gothic retroactively trying to claim you were a day one player and fan. 😂😂😂
How is it worse?
I didn’t like the whole multiple endings but no matter what the doc lives into the next game
@@gamgeenee2 It's just a dumbed down game. Majority of variation has been cut.
elex is 7/10 game with fine story and cool world. elex 2 is 3/10 with worse story, worse characters, worse graphics@@gamgeenee2
2:40 Is it only me, G2 is more pleasant to look at than Elex 2 imo. Even with fewer polygons.
Because elex2 has no colors
Agreed, Elex 2 generally looks bland and the facial expressions are wooden, they look like dolls. The game looks and feels technologically dated to say the least. I think PB might be finding themselves at an impasse, I don't know where they go from here.
gothic 2 has that old good looking pc graphics
Gothic 2 is still an amazing looking game. It's timeless design makes it look good even in 2024. Unlike Oblivion, which looks horrible in 2024.
Somehow they managed to make Elex 2 look worse than Elex 1. I have no idea why.
In a parallel universe, in Elex 2, Jax finds out that the albs were controled by the soul of a creature named The Sleeper, the dead avatar of a godlike being named Beliar, who was banished by Innos from Magalan (proto Myrthana) on another planet ,through a portal. He sent the albs on Magalan to reactivate the portal and bring him back.
After milions of years, some primitive convicts are forced to dig in mines for a rare blue mineral with unimaginable powers named magic ore. The substance once known by the ancestors as "elex", condensed into rock by the passage of time.
Dude!😮😮😮 🫡🫡🫡 💥💥💥👏👏👏
Bruh…
I really appreciate your perspective as a Gothic and Rpg fan. A lot of the reviews wouldn't notice many of the downsides as well as the few improvements this game has in comparison to Elex 1. Love ur videos!
Thank you for the kind words, and especially thanks for the Super Thanks. I certainly try to be more perceptive about things in all games I review, which is part of why they end up being a little longer than average and taking longer to write than usual, so I'm always glad to hear it's appreciated.
@@TheNocturnalRamblercan you please do a game review of Man of Medan??
Seriously. I remember other reviews at the time explicitly saying there WASN'T level-scaling in Elex 2, when you can see clear as day from this footage that they were doing SOMETHING to scale enemy levels to the player. Really makes you appreciate the attention to detail that others often miss.
WOW TH-cam actually recommend me a good channel
Oh yes, I’ve been waiting for it! 3 hours of pure joy are ahead. Thank you so much for your work man.
You nailed the explanation of the world design, Elex 2 did feel like a cheap imitation of the original instead of the same location just evolved. They went overboard with the changes, it could have been done more subtly. I honestly played out elex 2 and in my mind didn't even think about the old elex 1 map, I just played it like they were different maps entirely.
Danke!
My pleasure, and thank YOU for the Super Thanks!
Level-scaling in a PB game is like an oxymoron. Can't believe they actually put that in Elex 2. That alone may be proof enough that the PB of old is dead if they're so out of touch to think that was acceptable in one of their games.
That last sentence aged like a fine milk. They'll be missed, but honestly they've been the cause of their own undoing - releasing new games with pretty much the same formulas while even cutting away things that made their old games enjoyable, was truly a path to their downfall.
The problem is that they're trying to make big AAA like Games with a small team and very little budget. Back in 2006 they could compete with other developers but today....
The problems with the story has nothing to do with that, though.
Kind of because there was only one person writing the main story and main dialogues. @@svenafsvitjod1891
"You know that one single thing we used to handle better than almost anyone else, "progression" in a RPG? Why not throw it in the garbage bin and start doing the worst possible alternative, instead?" - Modern Piranha Bytes, probably
I liked Elex 2 at first, even though a few things felt subtly off, but those later quests absolutely killed the enjoyment and the story left me completely uninterested in Elex 3. Hopefully if Piranha Bytes survives they'll course-correct for Elex 3, or else do something actually new and interesting this time around.
If they survive, I'm pretty sure they won't continue work on Elex 3. There were creative differences between Björn and the rest of the team, and he and his wife left the company in November. The others want to make a game that's more like Gothic.
Couldn't agree more. I *did* have fun in the first third or even half of the game. But out of all the Piranha Bytes games, this is the one that I simply *fvcking hated* by the time the end credits rolled. And I really am a weirdo, when it comes to their games. I even like Risen 2 a lot and played through it four times... hell, maybe even five or six times, I'm not really sure 😅
@@CalamityCain Risen 2 was kind of Elex 1. Yeah 2 has a different vibe; It's a little too easy but it's still kinda fun. plus I just dig setting.
Also what's this crap about em not surviving? I dig those guys.
They better not go under.😢
@@Vegeta-k9o Yes, thank you :) There are sooo few pirate games. Risen 2 might be a questionable Piranha Bytes game and an outright *bad* sequel to Risen 1, but in my book it's a damn fine fantasy pirate game :)
I looked forward to this video. The dedication to spend this amount of time on basically unknown game needs to be appreciated. I know how thankless this is, so thank you.
this took a lot of work and this is reflected in the quality of the analysis. great job !
Great to have you back Nick! Been following with you for years now. Can't tell you how many times I rewatched your suffering with Gothic 3. You're the only youtuber who's work I can thumb up before even starting the video. Much love and support from a fellow G1&2 lifetime fan. Regards, Bran
Great review. We're feeling similarly about the game; while it did improve a lot of the mechanics, there also were a lot of regressions, especially in the story and quest department. What could have been a great sequel was pretty disappointing at the end and killed any excitement we had for a potential Elex 3. That's why we're hoping PB manage to survive the current situation and tackle a new project with some fresh talent. That could actually prove to be a good thing for them.
Frankly I think they should start working on games that aren't repackaged gothics. They've been doing this since the past 2 decades trying to recapture the acclaim they received for the first two Gothic games. Now that Alkimia Interactive is already making remakes for the signature Gothic franchise, it's better that PB shift their focus to other genres (provided if they survive the present crisis). Also the way Elex 2 ended anticlimactically, which to be honest was a rehash of the Elex 1 ending, they should surely drop the Elex franchise
I don't know if this is sacrilegious or not, but I'd kind of like to see them abandon the huge open-world formula and go back to something like Risen 2/3, with smaller worlds based on hub areas where you can do the main quest in a more non-linear order. Or maybe like The Witcher 1 where the main quest itself is more linear but opens up new hub areas as it advances through the chapters. PB are great at making interesting worlds, and their exploration is usually top-notch, but these massive open-worlds they've been doing with Elex just seem like it's taken too much away from other areas of development that should've been fleshed out more. Would be interesting to see them do a smaller game with more focus on the main quest and developing more meaningful side content in later chapters, while still keeping up their usually compelling world design.
Been looking forward to this for what feels like years!
To my shame it's almost literally two years at this point, from the time Elex 2 first released.
@@TheNocturnalRamblersays only good things about your integrity and writing quality
18:00 god, I forgot about those god forsaken monologues
Damn
They were introduced in Risen 3. I wonder if it was Michael Hoge who did the story for Risen 2 which was in my opinion good compared to Risen 3 and to both Elex games.
@@PaYaB_005 if memory serves me right , hoge left after g 2 .
Bloody hell this has been a long time coming. Looking forward to watching.
As someone who loved the first Elex, I was gravely disappointed with the sequel. Some of the gameplay elements were improved, the enemy variety was expanded and the jetpack was great, but everything else felt so much worse to me. The cities, quest design (aside form a small handful of standout ones), the world building, NPC interactions, factions... just a massive step backwards from the first game. What I would love to see, and likely will never happen, is some dedicated team of modders to spring up and somehow put the improved gameplay changes/combat and enemy variety from Elex 2 into Elex 1. Now that would be a truly awesome game that polishes the biggest flaws the first game had.
Always a joy seeing a new video from you in my inbox. Thanks for the great content.
Thank you for another comprehensive review.
Great in-depth review. I played through the game 4 times. After the first playthrough I played the second with infinite jetpack and no fall damage mods from the start. It actually made the experience so much more fun. Explored way more, found way more things I missed in the first playthrough, allowed me to approach the questline in different ways. Loved the jetpack in this game and felt like it was the best innovation aside from the fluid combat.
I chuckled at the combat section as it was almost identical to my experience. For me Morkon 1H with full Destruction was by far the most fun I had with the game, playing a kind of vampiric warlord destroying hordes of enemies felt really satisfying and fit the theme of their faction. Rifles Alb was beyond miserable and Rain of Fire Berserker was hilariously OP.
Omg! The man of the hour! Want to start watching this video! Recently tried Elex 2, gave up in Act 2. Started Elex 1 on Ultra, taking it slow etc: MASTERPIECE!
what stage are you at In elex1?
@@prokyon9175 13 hours in. Still chapter 1. Level 14. Berserker. Focusing on Melee(Axe+Shield) and Magic. Working great so far.
@@Paul.Nastasia Ultra is overtunned, things get way too much hp
Truly one of the kind content, thanks for creating it. I shared with people that might be interested. Hopefully you get the views you deserve.
Getting bit and weak is not as plausible and beautiful as getting sober. That would’ve been such a beautiful story if they made Jax having to train again because his years of abusing elex, a story about rebuilding yourself after fighting addiction
He's not a bit weak he's terminally poisend.
@@Vegeta-k9o but can still train to be stronger, even before getting cured?
It's a shame you don't have more views on your reviews
Well structured and analyzed
I appreciate it
Overall, Elex 2 is a big disappointment for me - and I won't be surprised if this game will bury Piranha Bytes. There were some things I liked, e.g. the improved jetpack, or the cool new faction of the Morkons. The quests at the beginning of the game to join a faction weren't bad, the combat I think was also better overall than in the previous part. Everything else, however, was worse. Repetitive, idiotic quests in the main storyline along the lines of "teleport to a location, kill 50 enemies and come back" bored me. It's a very sad reflection on how lazy game developers have become these days. I dread to think what Elex 3, which is unlikely to be made again, would look like....
I really like your in depth reviews and your style of presenting it: calm and rational.
I don't know why but every time once in a month, i especially listen to your gothic 3 review and start a losten through all your bigger reviews as a quasi podcast.
I just started a new runthrough as I realized there is this video.
Thank you for your hard work!
I preferred Nasty because of her…unique personality in E1. In E2 i was first disappointed that Caja relationship was canon, then I was disappointed that everyone in E2 have Nasty’s personality and swear every minute. So naturally Nasty in E2 wasn’t so impressive anymore, and I didn’t care about any others to make a choice.
If only this game had proper modding tools like for example Total War games(well the older ones at least) or Paradox titles than modders could and probably would have created the perfect Elex game, which would be Elex 1 in the Elex 2 engine with all of its quality of life improvements while keeping the soul of the original title. As it stands, and will forever stand unfortunately as the developer went under, Elex 2 is a classic 1 step forward 2 steps back situation. Rather than maintaining everything that was good with Elex 1 and just fixing its flaws and advancing the story they did a hard reset, removing most of the mechanics and redoing them and retconning the entire story and making it make 0 sense now.
Elex 1's combat system, just with proper hit boxes and responsiveness is all that Elex 2 needed, not a brand new combat system that lost the soul of the original title in favor of being generic. The environment, mini map, etc, didn't need to change at all, just change in accordance with the developments of the story. Instead we got a drastic change in environmental design, from the color palette to vastly reducing hazards, etc. A shame really as Elex had such great potential and I truly loved, still do, the first game, despite all its jank. Don't get me wrong, I got very frustrated on multiple occasions with Elex 1's jank on multiple occasions, but the end justifies the means so to speak and the overall experience was so amazing that it was absolutely worth all the bumps in the road. Elex 2 removed many(but not all) of those bumps but lost the plot along the way, to the point where the end absolutely does not justify the means(removing Elex 1's soul to achieve it).
Thank you! Im just sad what happened to Elex and piranha bytes... In germany we laugh about something Björn once said during development of Elex 2: "Its a matter for the boss". Yeah, thanks Björn xD
I loved Elex 1 and just by looking at Elex2 i dont want to play this mess. But one day i will, i guess. I appreciate your hard work and dedication to this video and game!
I have the same problems with Fallout 4 and Skyrim, I have to put up with a lot to start playing, but every time I internally burn out from the absurdity, bugs and frankly bad work of Bethesda.
I'm trying to get into the mood for Elex 2 and that's why I'm watching videos, but I just can't get excited about this game. Maybe I could play it if kind people gave me a lobotomy.
Thanks!
You bet! And thanks for the Super Thanks!
IMO Elex 1 looks better than Elex 2 Graphics wise.
In most ways i thougth Part 2 was a huge step backwards, especially technical. Elex 2 was incredebly unstable on my system with tons of Glitches. I played in 2023.
I really liked Elex I. Elex 2 feels like a Brankrupcy Decleration and oh shit, it seems like they are.
Truly sad.
Great review, even though i disagree with some parts of it, very in depth and i enjoy how much you talked about certain design decicions and probable alternative solutions.
One big issue I faced was enemy respawn rate, it makes you OP too quickly from all the XP and you know you are in trouble when a troll becomes a minor inconvenience than a real challenge even on the hardest difficulty and even before joining any faction. Elex 1 was unfair in hardest difficulty. Elex 2 is the opposite. Also lots of little issues like why are there recipes for purple elex to improve your stats when it just landed? That could have been a quest all along, where Jax works with some alchemist or a scientist to figure it out. They did a similar thing in Gothic 2 with dragon eggs.
Damn it, im done with the video! What a chunk of content :)
Really enjoyed it. Yea overall..its absolutely mindblowing how much more of a sequel we SHOULD have gotten.. i also like some parts about this game but all in all its really just an offense to any fan or any player in general. Even more mindblowing is that there has never been a single statement nor excuse for all the problems and issues in the game..As PB got bankrupt now, i wonder which form of Elex 3 we would have got..
Or none at all
Although we had some different opinions on your past reviews and I understand that writing such a review is quite a time sink I have to say that your analyses, the structure and the content are top notch.
I am glad for this new one. I believe that only Risen 3 is missing from Piranha Bytes now ;).
Maybe also shorter 30 min videos might be something like short top rankings etc. for more frequent connection to the viewers.
Graphically it is only slightly better while performing much worse and the environments are a lot worse. Those god dammed hippies turned my beautiful beautiful desert into a green hell!
Thanks for the video. I played Elex 1&2 and the ending to 2 just seemed pathetic (I don't say that as an insult, it genuinely felt pitiful how poorly the ending of the story was told, with the lack of reactions to the big sacrifice among many other issues). Those moments where Dax would fall asleep and then wake up in front of a former were also pathetic, in that they suggest that something big is happening. But if you follow through with what the game seems to be suggesting, by entering the former, you clear out all the difficult enemies inside and there is nothing to find, just a dead end. No story point at all, no treasure. Just a huge waste of time. I couldn't believe it. The one mission in the game I loved was the one where you accompany an Alb in investigating the crater. During the mission, you start out as enemies but gradually grow closer in a way that felt good.
Piranha Bytes are like the German Bethesda. Both have very loyal fanbase. Both are making the same antiquated rpg game over and over again. And every new release gets worse than the one before.
No thats not true pirana has passion
That is not true either. PB had passion. They lost it after Risen 1. They also stated that they don't care that much of the games quality/direction because their fan base will buy the products anyway so they can lay back and dont have to deliver. Honestly am glad PB is done for
Keep those videos coming man. There are a few folks out here who, just like me, really appreciate your work and always keep coming back to you, no matter how long a project might take - so thank you, I guess :D
I've been waiting for this one but maybe don't go right into the next behemoth with Risen 3. I would love to see a video on Stardew Valley though :)
Very nice review. I've never played any of these games but maybe I'll get around to the first two gothic games one day. I just really like these kind of in-depth reviews.
this game has 2 highlights for me: the time where Jax and Dawkins had a laserbeam-fight near the end of the game and the time the Morkons randomly decided to attack the Berserkers so Jax had to fight all 30 of them, but then couldnt Kill the Morkon Leader because he was an essential character just to never be relevant ever again. I love Elex 1 despite its flaws, but Elex 2 has no redeeming qualitys for me whatsoever
You made a really great review, it's very detailed. Elex 1 and especially 2 are so underappreciated. It did assume a canon relationship and didn't have the best story but it felt really fun to play although it was a bit janky. I really enjoyed the sidequests, a lot of the NPCs try to purposely trick you and often you have to give a non-obvious answer to do well. I'm happy Baldur's Gate 3 did well, but I wish that Elex 2 would've gotten a similar appreciation. I was a bit harsh on the game, I really criticized the blackout mechanic because it would randomly warp me around, it was frustrating, but if I progressed the main story just a few more hours I would've gotten past it and be free to explore. I heard Piranha Bytes wasn't doing well, I hope they don't go bankrupt.
Last i heard they were on the verge of bankruptcy already. That is it if no other publisher want to buy them over. Elex2 probably the last game we ever see from PB
Gothic 1 Remake ;) @@starstriker1881
Been waiting for your review since the game came out XD Your reviews are the best! Great editing and super thorough. Glad to have another one to watch & rewatch XD
Fuck yeah, let's go
where?
Majestic 12
Great review overall. Personally I enjoyed both games in their own way. I beat Elex three times while only beating Elex 2 once then gave up on the second playthrough.
I think a lot of your criticisms of 2 are pretty legit points that probably hindered my ability to enjoy multiple playthroughs of 2. Hopefully Piranha Bytes doesn’t bite the dust so we get a third game despite some of the narrative problems with 2.
To be honest my biggest issue with this game was the pacing. Everything happens so slowly and it takes forever to do anything so i spent around 100 hours doing the majority of the staff and honestly I also really believe that the first game was better. I was quite invested with the original game, I was critical of my decisions about the factions and the characters or the overall build-up of the game. In Elex 2 I was an auto pilot for the majority of the game and my most striking impression is that this game even though it was far from being completely terrible I just don't believe it was necessary to be made in the first place.
Oooo a 3 hour ramble about a sequel to a game I really wanted to like
How can you have only 13k subscribers but produce reviews with such quality that they put channels with millions of subs to shame.
You‘re by far my favorite RPG review channel on YT. Keep up the good work!
What I don't understand about weapons having only one animation, is that there already is a bit different animation for atleast onehanded weapons, if you go to Cleric training you can see recruits doing it, it's not much different, but still different from animation used in actual combat, little faster and has lesser inersion to it, so why not use it for some weapons? atleast two weapon animations is better then one i guess.
I really love this new extended runtime videos.
Regarding the "raw material". I think this is a localization issue. If I remember correctly (Could be a mixup with Elex 1) in german these items are correctly labeled as "junk" and it seems they forgot to change that maybe because at some point there was a plan to implement a system like in Fallout 4 like you mentioned.
I had quite a lot of fun with elex2 but its funny to find out the game had scaling which i never noticed because of the brokeness of shotguns and grenadelaunchers
In case those news are unknown: Björn left Piranha Bytes in November 2023. It seems like Elex was mostly his baby (hear-say!), and that many of the Piranhas actually wanted to work on "something like Gothic" (hear-say too!). More important though: THQ Nordic is part of Embracer, who are trying to get rid of studios with flops (financially Elex 2 is one) and one of those companies is Piranha Bytes - which was no news in November 2022. The rest of the team did not give up yet, as it seems, trying to find a new publisher. And that might be Instinct 3 - which will be interesting because they are a totally new player in the publishing business.
Elex 1 suprised me, introduced me to a different way of an rpg and most importantly challenged me. I thoroughly enjoyed getting stronger and finally making my trek through the desert to join up with the Outlaws.
Elex 2 doesnt feel lkke anywhere near like the original
Great work on the video!
to the sound design and music, they dont have a specialist for that anymore (like in gothic). pankraz thought its so easy or unimporant that he can do it himself, saving money in the process.
Is that the same guy who thought Oblivion's 70-people dev team was a waste of money?
@@ThePreciseClimber 😂
Damn, I was waiting for this!
Was patiently awaiting this and can't believe it's here! Love the content.
Realy is deep Review. Thanks!
I finished playing Elex 2 yesterday and I had a mixed feelings . I was pleased to be back on Magalan. But the game feels like an addon to Elex 1. Something like Gothic 3 Forgotten Gods (but this is an exaggeration). There are good moments here in all aspect, but they are rare. And in anticipation of more good, you absorb a lot of bad (like quest companions).
In the process of passing ELEKS 2, I had a strong desire to replay ELEKS 1.
A 3 hour video game review........whoa friend, that is unheard of in my youtube experience but cool. New subscriber here.
I'm the former. "Someone who liked the concepts of Elex I but found the actual gameplay too clunky and frustrating to enjoy. One of those who really appreciated Elex II because of how much smoother the core gameplay mechanics are in practice."
1:06:27 Holy Christ, that sounds exactly like an Oblivion conversation!
RIP Piranha Bytes
That is sad to hear. :(
Not much of a loss. Don't get me wrong, I love G1 and G2 to bits but PB hasn't made anything remotely good in a very long time. Last game from PB I actually enjoyed was Risen 1, and that was nearly 15 years ago.
they are not dead yet
@@LukeR1MRisen 1 is still newish in my head, 15 years ago it came out wowwww time goes fast
F
mate, you are criminally underrated!! Had I any friends, I would spam them with your vids!!
i truly enjoy this video, no matter the time of day when i lay down to rest to your voice. Thank you for taking your own time to create a video worth watching over and over again, it seems like when i turn the video on each time when i lay down to rest that i find something new that you are saying about this game. Thank you for your work! your voice is extremely soothing
Great review, worth the wait. The eyes in this game are way too creepy. It's like talking to a bunch of Chucky dolls.
Elex 3 spoilers, my dad is Bjorn
Jax and Adam team up and go super sonic after collect the 7 Elex gems, they fly into space and fight the singularity while crush40 plays.
(tbh i thought the fight scene in Elex 2 was Jax using Berserker fire magic and Adam using Alb lighting instead of Elex beams, goes in line for the game to assume I went Berserker like how it assumed all the choices from Elex 1)
I had considered that possibility, that it was SUPPOSED to be berserker fire magic, but it made more narrative sense for me to assume that was supposed to be Jax harnessing some kind of elex power given the preceding commentary from the Skyands about elex elementals and prototypes and Jax's "learning to control the elex" comment. I'm not sure which is worse, though: having Jax suddenly bust out elex-superpowers without any prior establishment, or the developer making a cutscene that completely disregards the player's faction choice by forcing their own canonical selection.
amazing video and a great introduction to your chanel
Your Video on Elex 2 was great! Over in the Teaser you mention you're gonna tackle Elden Ring soon; my personal Experience as just another Player and Viewer might not be particularly relevant... but you know what? As much as I think that Elex 2 is somewhat of a Disappointment when compared to Elex 1, I actually enjoyed my time playing Elex 2 much, much more than my Time playing Elden Ring. In Fact, I'd go so far as to say that even though Elden Ring might be the better, let's say, "Open World Hack-n-Slash" or whatever, I genuinely think that Elex 2 is the better Open World Roleplaying Game (as janky and unpolished as it may be). I sometimes think to myself, I wanna play Elex 1 again (it just takes so muhc Time...), and Elex 2 perhaps not so much, but I'd rather replay Elex 2 than Elden Ring, honestly (... which took more Time but also felt like more Time that I wasted).
I may come to agree with you, but time will tell. I've been playing through Elden Ring on-and-off on my Steam Deck, and thus far I'm not convinced it's as good as the hype led me to expect.
@@TheNocturnalRambler the story in elden ring is only passable once you beat the game and watch all the lore videos. However I would say that the gameplay in elden ring might be my favorite ever. My dream game would be an elden ring style game with Elex 1 story telling and choice
Always love your content, no matter if I played the game or not.
I don't know why I may be alone about this, but to me Elex 2 is the best RPG ever. It wouldn't work without the foundation of Elex 1, and even to me the Morkons was too weird. But it is a hugely solid game with a solid storyline, and it is very playable. Some huge story twist along the way, and you could romance an alb!
RIP Piranha Bytes. Sadly I will never get to play the conclusion.
I really enjoyed Elex. I chose to not romance either Caja or Nasty as....well, I did not like either of them. I joined the Clerics due to the weapons and the amazing armor and Falk was my absolute bro who I managed to get to spawn in with a lightning heavy hammer and a flame thrower. He flattened everything! Elex 2 threw me so much, all of a sudden my boy Jax has a kid, some kind of romance with Caja.....I refused to do the romance with her, pushing her away all the time, I also refused Nasty again and I refused Nyra. I got very fed up of all the cat fights between the ladies during the game as well, I was not with any of them. Once again, Falk was my boy, destroying everything in the map. Sadly I never completed the game due to a few game breaking bugs and many of my companions refusing to spawn into Jax's home base. I was also sad that the Cleric's were reduced to a dead faction where joining them (which I did) meant absolutely nothing
I really enjoyed the Jet pack tho, I thought they will mess it up when I first saw the trailer but it is so cool flying around through houses and just anywhere you previously couldn't go. Also orbit radio is awesome. I installed and deleted this game like 3 times without completing it but I missed it like missing an old friend each time.
People who don't want spoilers, don't read this comment.
A friend of mine had an issue after Dex died where both Jax and Caja talked about him as if he was still alive. In general, the characters in the game seemed to either never bring his death up or pretend it didn't happen. I think some flags messed up somewhere.
Elex II has the same issue Risen and Gothic had in their sequels. It's mechanically superior, more polished and improving on key issues the fist part had, but it loses the charm. In Elex I, I used to explore the world and just enjoy the atmosphere and worldbuilding behind locations, while here I'd just go to them to grind exp and loot. Aside from a few examples like the bandit infested domes in the center of the map, there was no feeling of isolation and uncertainty. Aside from just less exciting loot, not that engaging environments, the biggest thing seems to be lack of enemies in interiors. Mutants in Elex I that would hide in old homes gave me the creeps, especially in the beginning of the game when they were extra imposing and dangerous. Nothing like this happens in the 2nd part aside form the alien structures, which meant I felt a lot safer.
Also, seriously, who in their right mind thought level scaling in a PB game is a good idea? No. Just... no
Many thanks for your in-depth look into Elex 2! This helped me understand why I lacked the motivation to actually finish it.
Elex 2 has some really good missions with lots of diversion of expectations and I remember a couple of highlights. But what put me off were the MMORPG like companion quests where you basically do the same shit again and again for no reason but to give an excuse to move their story forward.
And here I thought I've made long Elex 2 review xD
Amazing review once again, thank you :)
Love your videos dawg. I’d rather have morrowind combat than whatever this studio continuously puts out LOL.
damm you realy remember the lore of elex
I played Elex 2 for 70 hours and have never experienced any glitches, yet I had to restart Elex 1 at least 10 times because the map didn't load and I clipped through the floor or the game would just stop after certain actions (cutscenes, sleeping) so it's not fair to hold this against elex 2 as it was patched, unlike elex 1...
Great Video btw, never watched a Video on TH-cam for more than 1 hour yet I watched all 3 hours of this Video. Nice Work!
Very entertaining. I watched the whole thing.
Thanks ;)
My main issue with ELEX 2 is that they locked the camera too close behind the character. I prefer playing ELEX 1 because you can achieve a better view with the camera.
That's it, literally. If they changed the camera system to how it was in the first game I'd like the game. Also, I think the animations in Elex 1 looked better, especially for running around.
EDIT: Wellll and also the fact that ELEX 2 sucks overall, sure.
Man, I'm glad your review is finally here. It feels like I've been waiting for it forever. I bought the game myself on the first day and haven't played it for even 2 hours because it doesn't run properly on my potato computer. I've heard it doesn't run any better on better machines either. And now Piranha Bytes will probably be shut down. It's a shame, in a way, an era is coming to an end. Anyway, I'm going to watch your video now and have a nice Saturday evening. Wish you all the best. Many greetings ( ´◔ ω◔`) ノシ
_Edit:_ Nasty was my favorite too, nothing you can do about it. 😒
Does anybody know where to find the item ex-ray shades?
Take the gameplay of the sequel and some of the other minor improvements, mix with everything else from the first game, and I think you'd have an actual good game on your hands.
The downgraded visuals and horrible optimization was what blew my mind the most about Elex 2. I played Elex on a moderate PC at the time with no real performance issues, especially with the mod that completely removes the fog. I tried Elex 2 on a brand new computer which was about 4 times as strong as the previous one and it's borderline unplayable. Horrid fps and stuttering everywhere, regardless of the graphical settings.
Great Video, thank you very much!
Dex looks more like Rat's son, and this would be a better reason why Rat took over Bersekers.
35:09 also me realizing wtf I'm playing 5h into the game
I belive that "energy beam" in the cutscene that Jax casted was Berseker magic which is cool if you join Bersekers but not so cool if you didn't.
I had considered that possibility, that it was SUPPOSED to be berserker fire magic, but it made more narrative sense for me to assume that was supposed to be Jax harnessing some kind of elex power given the preceding commentary from the Skyands about elex elementals and prototypes and Jax's "learning to control the elex" comment. I'm not sure which is worse, though: having Jax suddenly bust out elex-superpowers without any prior establishment, or the developer making a cutscene that completely disregards the player's faction choice by forcing their own canonical selection.
I was waiting for this. Let's go!
E2 is a cheap imitation of E1. It’s like they looked at some specific element of E1 and said, “how can we redo this exact same thing, but worse?”
Nice video and I mostly agree. Still, as You stated, it wasn't Gothic 3. It had its moments.
I wonder if rumors about Piranha Bites quitting are true. If so, it will be big loss for indie RPG gaming scene.
Great video again, touched a lot of great subjects but I think the story was good with respect to the whole picture
@@hamzaudai3390 the story had a lot of potential although notwithstanding the retcons with respect to Dawkins explanation about how the comet got to earth. The game mostly fell flat with it's poor quest design, bland visuals and excessively streamlined combat
Couldn't care less if not Gothic. I did enjoy greatly all Elex games. They were fun. I am grateful that they exist. Jet pack greatly improved exploration for me, loved every second of using it.
My point about nothing being like Gothic 2 isn't about Gothic 2 itself; it's about the approach that Gothic 2 took as a sequel, in terms of retaining virtually everything that made its predecessor good while improving on many of its mechanics while expanding on the scope of the gameplay in a positive way. By saying that "Elex 2 is no Gothic 2," I'm implying that Elex 2 is a poor followup to its predecessor that comes short of living up to the developer's prior achievements.