Okay, dear Khorinis connoisseurs, let’s tick off the Piranha Bytes Bingo right in the first paragraph: Ruhrpott humor, rough slogans, different fractions full of rough unsympaths, a dense atmosphere and a hand-built open world around every corner death lurks - Elex 2 doesn’t have any of that!
Piranha Bytes’ new Battle Royale multiplayer throws 100 bandits in … ha, we got you guys. But if you rush straight into the comments with angry gasps and want to degrade your Collector’s Edition cloth card from Risen 3 to a handkerchief in the future, then caress your soul with the following words: Especially long-established fans like you could inspire Elex 2.
Because Elex 2 is more Gothic 2 than Risen 2 . In concrete terms: It primarily continues the strengths of its predecessor instead of breaking with them. It expands instead of revolutionizing. You get a comparable open world, comparable fights, a comparable narrative style and - you guessed it - comparable open-mouth moments.
But before you confuse “conservative” with “boring”: Elex 2 has cool new ideas, an exciting story starting point, new open world areas - and you can now fly with the jetpack! So don’t float, just fly properly. Like Iron Man.
The rough outline: what is Elex 2?
The absolutely most important information first: Yes, there is a chainsaw broadsword again in Elex 2, yeah! Elex 2 plays a few years after its predecessor - and what is bad news for the inhabitants of the game world should please fans again. The world of Magalan still doesn’t get it on the chain to leave its own post-apocalyptic devastation behind. So a mix of dense fantasy forests, weathered skyscrapers and science fiction innovations is waiting for you. Here are the basic facts:
Story and quests
- You play again as Ex-Alb Jax, but there will be no savegame import from Elex 1. As in Gothic 2, you lose your skills and can decide again which path your non-nameless hero should take.
- Anyone who has played Elex 1 will know: A new threat hangs over the world. But nobody wants to believe Jax, which is why he fell out with the old factions and went into exile. In Elex 2, he returns from oblivion to convince people of his cause.
- According to Piranha Bytes, none of their games have had as many dialogues and storylines as Elex 2. By the end of the credits you are busy an average of 60 hours, 100 percent natures naturally need significantly longer - and the factions mean that there is always a high replay value.
- There will be more than three factions, but the parties still represent certain character classes or weapon types.
- It is still unclear how many factions are completely new. But we speculate that at least berserkers and outlaws will return.
- The companion system returns: Jax hires familiar and new companions to accompany him through the rugged wilderness. As part of the quest, there should be significantly more decisions and hard consequences.
Open world
- Elex 2 offers a new open world that consists partly of old and partly of new regions. The old areas have been changed drastically over the years and by the hearts of the world, but you also travel to completely new areas. So overall like in Gothic 2.
- Your jetpack not only allows you to float, but you can also jet through the landscape like Boba Fett. But only after a few upgrades.
- Children are now a part of the play world.
- The nights in Elex 2 are significantly darker than in the predecessor. But hey, now you’ve got a flashlight for that.
Further gameplay adjustments
- Little changes in the classes: You can play as a ranged fighter, magician, thug or a mishmash.
- Because you are now more agile in the air, there is also pure air combat against other flying opponents. So Jax can fight gargoyles at a height of 20 meters.
- The moral system has been revised: Instead of a cold value for Jax’s emotional state, there is now “creation” and “destruction”. Whoever kills defenseless sheep, for example, increases the destruction value. This new moral system is closely interlinked with the parliamentary groups - more on this below in the article.
Technically, you can see Elex 2’s leap forward, even if you still can’t expect the smoothness of a 1,500-person Ubisoft production, for example, with the animations.