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[Bullet Club]

ELEX II to Launch on March 1st, 2022 for PC and Consoles​

THQ Nordic unveiled the official release date for ELEX II, the sci-fantasy action RPG in development at Piranha Bytes. The game will be released on March 1st, 2022 for PC (Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and the Xbox Series S/X.

The publisher also showcased the Collector's Edition. Priced at $149.99 / €149.99 / £139.99, it'll include the following items:

• A 9.2-inch Alb Figurine
• The original soundtrack
• The official artbook
• A 2-inch "Cleric Amulett" key chain
• A Steelbook
• A concept album by Björn Pankratz, "Cassandra"
• and, of course, the game itself

ELEX II is the sequel to ELEX, the vintage open-world role-playing experience from the award-winning creators of the Gothic and Risen series, Piranha Bytes. ELEX II returns to the post-apocalyptic Science Fantasy world of Magalan, with massive environments that can be explored with unrivaled freedom via jetpack – you will be able to move through the epic story any way you want!

Several years after Jax defeated the Hybrid, a new threat arrives from the sky, unleashing the dangerous powers of dark Elex and endangering all life on the planet. In order to defend the peace on Magalan and the safety of his own family, Jax embarks on a mission to convince the factions to unite against the invaders, as well as a personal quest to find his son, Dex, who got separated from him …

Dive into a huge, hand-crafted, completely unique world with multiple factions and diverse environments set in a post-apocalyptic science fantasy universe.

The game allows you to:

• explore the planet of Magalan with unprecedented freedom, using your trusted jetpack to traverse the map and even fly!
• interact with a lived-in world, full of unique NPCs, who...
• ...will remember what you’ve done and react accordingly
• ...will join or leave your group depending on how you behave
• ...are able to be killed, which will have an effect on the story
• engage in fluid close and ranged combat with a massively improved control system
• experience a story where your actions have consequences, immersing you in a world of moral decisions

Source: WCCFTech

 

[amigastar]

Ah crap, i was hoping for 2021.
But still, i look forward to Elex 2.

 

[Labadal]

Yes, please.

 

[thief183]

This is the one game I'm waiting for, the only one actually... Can't wait ))

 

[Bullet Club]

Invaders arrived. Started taking over the world, transforming it. Pre-order now and stop them before it's too late!

 

[Hendrick's]

My favorite Eurojank dev.

 

[amigastar]

With every new Piranha Bytes game there is hope they will make again a great game like Gothic 1 and 2. This one is no exception.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Holy shit Piranha, could you make a different game for once.

I haven't played the first one, but for sure enjoyed my time with Gothic II and even Risen, so I'll keep an eye on it.

 

[BacklashWave534]

Holy shit Piranha, could you make a different game for once.

I haven't played the first one, but for sure enjoyed my time with Gothic II and even Risen, so I'll keep an eye on it.

The first one was amazing. The jet pack sets it apart from their other games.

 

[amigastar]

The first one was amazing. The jet pack sets it apart from their other games.

Yes, the jet pack was one of the best aspects of the game.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Piranha Bytes’ ELEX isn’t the first game to come to mind when you think of open world RPGs but it garnered a pretty decent following after its release. ELEX 2 is now on the horizon, releasing on March 1st for Xbox One, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.

What can fans and newcomers expect? Let’s take a look at 15 things you should know before jumping in.

 

[Labadal]

All I know is that I have the game pre-ordered.

 

[ClanOfNone]

Did they fix the abysmal combat model? It was pretty terrible, which was a shame because the world and exploration were pretty cool.

 

[Dorago]

I was very pleasantly surprised by the first one after picking it up on sale last year. The combat did take a little while to get used to but ince you realized it's pseudo turn based you start getting the hang of it.

Elex' strongest point was the logical consistency of the branching plot, the obvious outcomes of the other choices you could have made, and the direct and immediate impact your choices had on the plot and gameplay.

Other high points are how well designed the jetpack traversal is, the immediately available and no frills fast travel, and the quite powerful melee weapons you start getting early mid game as a reward for revealing the map.

All this said, I've pre ordered Elex 2 to reward Piranha for making Elex 1. I'll give you guys a review once I've completed it.

 

[Bradamante3D]

With every new Piranha Bytes game there is hope they will make again a great game like Gothic 1 and 2. This one is no exception.

A hope that is very much misplaced with Piranha Bytes. The first ELEX was an uninspired, generic sci-fi RPG from a German studio where an arrogant CEO just can't accept the fact that the studio is not dominating the German scene anymore like they did 20 years ago. Piranha Bytes is a studio that is burning through over-worked employees because they just won't scale their ambitions down to something they can actually deliver.

 

[TVexperto]

A hope that is very much misplaced with Piranha Bytes. The first ELEX was an uninspired, generic sci-fi RPG from a German studio where an arrogant CEO just can't accept the fact that the studio is not dominating the German scene anymore like they did 20 years ago. Piranha Bytes is a studio that is burning through over-worked employees because they just won't scale their ambitions down to something they can actually deliver.

why arrogant? any more intel on whats going on there?

 

[amigastar]

A hope that is very much misplaced with Piranha Bytes. The first ELEX was an uninspired, generic sci-fi RPG from a German studio where an arrogant CEO just can't accept the fact that the studio is not dominating the German scene anymore like they did 20 years ago. Piranha Bytes is a studio that is burning through over-worked employees because they just won't scale their ambitions down to something they can actually deliver.

Still the hope is there, at least for me.
But judging from what we've seen so far it will be in the 70-80 score range.

 

[amigastar]

New Elex 2 trailer. Just one more week to go.

 

[lh032]

looks like it was made in 2010.

 

[Bonsaibäumchen]

New Elex 2 trailer. Just one more week to go.

The release date is unfortunate.

I'm balls deep into HFW and on Friday its gonna be Elden Ring on top of that.
Guess Elex 2 will have to wait for a while.

 

[GymWolf]

Already bought it but i have to finish horizon and then elden ring before getting balls deep on this one.

It looks so euro-jankily good.

 

[Labadal]

Pre-ordered, will play more than I should in the first week.

 

[synchronicity]

I really enjoyed the first. It was my first Piranha Bytes game, despite having Gothic and Risen games in my backlog. I'll get it eventually. I'm curious where the narrative goes after the conclusion in the first. And I mostly didn't have a problem with the combat. I was melee the whole way through (Berzerkers), and I had no issues, minus some hit-box jank. Sure there was a grind, but the reward for gritting it out really made things feel well-earned and satisfying.

 

[intbal]

I'm glad they're allowing the option (apparently) of NOT joining any factions. A lone wolf option would have made the first game that much better.

 

[amigastar]

Elex 2 sits on 80 on MC currently, very nice.

ELEX II Reviews

ELEX II is the sequel to ELEX, the vintage open-world role-playing experience from the award-winning creators of the Gothic and Risen series, Piranha Bytes. ELEX II returns to the post-apocalyptic Science Fantasy world of Magalan with massive environments that can be explored with unrivaled...

www.metacritic.com

 

[TheMan]

Elex 2 sits on 80 on MC currently, very nice.

ELEX II Reviews

ELEX II is the sequel to ELEX, the vintage open-world role-playing experience from the award-winning creators of the Gothic and Risen series, Piranha Bytes. ELEX II returns to the post-apocalyptic Science Fantasy world of Magalan with massive environments that can be explored with unrivaled...

www.metacritic.com

That's...much better than I anticipated. I have Elex 1 in my back catalogue but I haven't tried making time for it. There are simply too many games and too little time, and Elex was just kinda decent.

Is Elex II a direct sequel or can I just jump in without having to spoil the first game too much? Probably wouldn't buy it right now anyway but I'm curious.

 

[amigastar]

That's...much better than I anticipated. I have Elex 1 in my back catalogue but I haven't tried making time for it. There are simply too many games and too little time, and Elex was just kinda decent.

Is Elex II a direct sequel or can I just jump in without having to spoil the first game too much? Probably wouldn't buy it right now anyway but I'm curious.

I would say jump right in into Elex 2, from what it looks it's a better game than Elex 1.

 

[intbal]

That's...much better than I anticipated. I have Elex 1 in my back catalogue but I haven't tried making time for it. There are simply too many games and too little time, and Elex was just kinda decent.

Is Elex II a direct sequel or can I just jump in without having to spoil the first game too much? Probably wouldn't buy it right now anyway but I'm curious.

Have you played a Piranha Bytes game before?
Assuming they stick with the same pattern for Elex 2, it's going to be a steep learning curve for new players. That's why so many people quit Elex after ~10 hours.
It does look like they've tried to make the story easy to understand for new players in Elex 2, but you might find the first act a bit frustrating.

If spoilers are all you're concerned about, then it's no big deal. The story of the first game is mostly contained in the Elex 2 trailers they've released. Come to think of it, they pretty much spoiled the surprise revelation in Elex (aliens) with their Elex 2 trailers.

 

[adamsapple]

I enjoyed the first games euro-jank

Will check this out but not at full price.

 

[Karak]

My thoughts so far

It does seem like they are trying but it also doesn't feel like they have stepped forward much at all. Lots of good ideas but some of it falls by the wayside in quest design and combat.

 

[amigastar]

For their next game they should really change the engine, maybe UE5 or something, from what I know they still use parts of the Gothic 3 engine.

 

[JayK47]

I used to love games made by the developer and enjoyed pretty much every game they made. Then I played Risen 3 and hated it. It was so frustrating to play and there was not a single thing I enjoyed about it. And this was after enjoying Risen 1 and 2. I skipped Elex. It looked like the game was just too large with way too many game mechanics. I could not imagine them doing a decent job of it. The game routinely is on sale for pretty cheap and I almost buy it, but then remember Risen 3 and skip it.

I'd love to support them again, but I would prefer to play the game for free to try it out. I am surprised Elex has not been free on Epic.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Elex 2 is not a game that gives you a very good sense of purpose or even immediate goals at times, nor does it have a very interesting cast of characters or a particularly good story. Nor does it run very well or reward the player for trudging all of those issues in a way that feels proportional. Yet I can see why the uphill battle of getting much of anywhere and the perpetual mystery of what exactly you’re getting yourself into at any given time can add up to a genuine delight for the right players.

There are undeniably some addicting loops to be found beneath the rubble, but not enough to make this a particularly recommendable game in a day and age where so many better iterations of this genre already exist. If this was simply a case of the game catering to a niche crowd and being “more about the journey than the destination” I could roll with that. But with mediocre-at-best combat, vanilla-at-best graphics and some staggeringly bad performance issues eating away at Elex 2’s already limited appeal, I can’t help but advise those entering this version of Magalan to proceed with caution.

 

[Nydus]

Oh boy. Not a good outlook. And releasing around Elden ring without marketing is a death sentence

 

[Rest]

looks like it was made in 2010.

The last one looked like a PS2 game, so it fits the paradigm.

 

[moniker]

As long as it still has that Piranha Bytes magic, I'm in.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

looks like it was made in 2010.

What do you expect from a studio which official website look like it's from 1999:

Piranha Bytes

www.piranha-bytes.com

 

[Barakov]

What do you expect from a studio which official website look like it's from 1999:

Piranha Bytes

www.piranha-bytes.com

Definitely has that Netscape Navigator-Geocities vibe.

 

[KungFucius]

The first game was entertaining. I like not knowing what the fuck to expect and just going with it. I only stopped playing because SDD failure took my save with it.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Reassuring to hear Karak say it runs well on PC.

 

[Labadal]

Just a few hours more.

 

[Mr Wonderstuff]

I love me some Euro-Jank© - I delayed getting Elex 1 as I heard the game was unbalanced. Once I did get it I found an enjoyable open-world especially with the jet-pack. May well get this later today.

 

[intbal]

The last one looked like a PS2 game, so it fits the paradigm.

That's a bit of an exaggeration.

 

[Low Moral Fibre]

The first one looked like shit, had some of the worst animations I've ever seen and absolutely dire voice acting but once I started playing it I couldn't stop until I completed it.

Eurojank for sure but at its absolute finest.

 

[GymWolf]

Some locations in the first one looked ok to me, characters and animations were the really weak points.

Exploration was sublime in the first one.

 

[Petopia]

Only for gothic fans not gonna lie.

 

[amigastar]

Downloading on Steam right now. Excited.

 

[Sygma]

Elex was a gem, can't be more excited

 

[Patrick S.]

A hope that is very much misplaced with Piranha Bytes. The first ELEX was an uninspired, generic sci-fi RPG from a German studio where an arrogant CEO just can't accept the fact that the studio is not dominating the German scene anymore like they did 20 years ago. Piranha Bytes is a studio that is burning through over-worked employees because they just won't scale their ambitions down to something they can actually deliver.

You're talking out of your butt here. There is almost no personnel rotation at Piranha Bytes. Most people have been there for a decade or more. And if by CEO you mean Björn, he isn't the CEO. He's an employe. And his dry personality is... well, he's German you know

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Elex 2 reviewed by Leana Hafer on PC, also available on PlayStation and Xbox.

A sequel to 2017's Elex, inconsistent writing and terrible combat dim the bright spots of this epic-sized RPG that seems firmly stuck in the genre's past.