ELEX IIis 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 IIreturns 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 has to go on a mission to convince the factions to unite against the invaders and find his own 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
Elex is one of those open-world RPG's that has a lot to offer and I appreciate the variety the world delivers. Some locations are more beautiful than others, but the beauty is in the variation and the types of experiences you will come across in these different lands. (This includes beasts and people.)
You play as a former Alb Commander by the name Jax who overcame his dependence to Elex. You may be wondering what Elex is because the game's titled the same. Elex is an element (in this game) that came by way of a comet impacting the planet; in other words... you're experiencing life in a world influenced by Elex (and you're fresh out of rehab). You pick up soon after Jax was nearly killed by fellow Albs... and you wake up in the shoes of a noob. You still look like a bad ass... but... you can't exactly get the job done just yet. I won't sugarcoat it, Elex is one of those games that literally leaves me feeling like I went through hell just to get from one location to the next. There are beasts everywhere, mutants, and people who don't exactly have a welcome mat on their doorstep.
I didn't start this game thinking I was going to just dominate Magalan, but... I didn't think the character would be such a weakling. There are settings that allow you to change up the difficulty, but it may only leave you asking... "What did it change?". It's more rewarding when it isn't a cakewalk, but playing around with the difficulty settings don't hurt.
Tips:Day one, learn how to evade an attack and counter. It's crucial to your survival.
Learn how to use the items, and... before you proceed further into the story after meeting the first NPC, use this NPC for level ups asap. Don't just rush off to the destination (or go it alone), take on beasts in the land and even if the NPC doesn't follow you to the beasts directly... remember where he's located and let the beast follow you to him. From there, let the beast square off with the NPC while you take cheap shots because you don't have enough oomph to take them down yourself at this point. This is one of the quicker roads to leveling up before you have to actually earn a companion officially.
Trust me... if you do this, you'll thank me later. Grind and get your level up by doing this, only after learning how to evade, attack, counter, running and jumping. Definitely, remember to run because you are not prepared for everything when you start off... and even after you've become a seasoned bad ass, some beasts and other enemies can still take you out. Play it smart out there.
In Elex, you may start off as an ex-Alb... but what you choose to become is up to you. When the adventure began, I had my fingers crossed hoping that I could customize Jax. That opportunity never came up though... which was disappointing, I wish character customization was available (I loved that about Mass Effect... among other things). In this game, you do get a choice between factions though... wielding magic as a Berserker like some sort of Earth Day crusader, taking the religious route with technological enhancements as a Cleric, or go lawless as an Outlaw. Going back to your character starting off as a weakling, if you don't follow my tips (which you don't have to... in order to smooth out the initial experience) you will probably find it harder to get going. I would say that the initial experience may get some gamers bummed out... but if you get the game, I challenge you to get your money's worth. The difficulty increases the challenge, not just to lengthen the gameplay... it forces you to step your strategy up. Yeah... I went through hell to get from one location to the next, but it was awesome to fight, dodge and run like hell. I established a strategy through the challenge of survival.
Tip: What I do when an enemy is too strong, is... go and piss off an even stronger beast so it could chase me to that location. From there I just find a place to hide nearby and the beast usually ends up solving my problem. If it doesn't get rid of the targeted enemy, then I know I have to take a different approach or... find a stronger beast to finish the job. I focused on building my skill points so that I could use them on the attributes that unlock the ability to use a gun. After that... I made a few return trips to areas where enemies sent me packing and I was able to bring the pain; others... not just yet.
I enjoy this game, but I can't lie... there are annoyances. The minimap objective size isn't that great... and if I have to look at the large map to find my way because something isn't getting the job done the way it's supposed to, that's a problem. There should be bigger icons (which should be easy to replace). I want to know where I need to go if I have landed myself in hot water and need to escape. I don't want to run the wrong way and have to cross through the same location to get back on track... because sometimes it was a fight to make it out alive the first time.
Another thing that can be annoying is the crouching... which can occur when you're trying to run (crouch could've been done by pressing down the right analog stick). This is one of those OMG moments... because its no time to crouch when you should really be getting the hell out of dodge! I crouched when this gigantic stalker was after me and... I gasped as I rolled out of the way at the last second. Oh and I can't forget about the time it takes to get back up after taking a hit. If energy was lower, I could understand getting up slower, but when I get hit and I can't get up and dodge the second attack... I'm not the happiest camper.
Audio is good... but at the same time... it's not wow either, it gets the job done. One thing I could do away with is the water sound effect when jumping or flying out of the water. It seems a bit loud.
Price wise... it fits, because there is a lot of quality content to enjoy. Replay value is heavy so you won't be disappointed in that department because this clearly isn't a one and done game.
Overall, Elex is actually one of those games that I didn't foresee liking... (I just went in with an open mind) but it has a charm and the options that keep me coming back for more. The exploration is something I enjoy in games, but the world of Magalan is one I want to continue digging into even after the review because there are things that I wanted to check out but I didn't have time to.
I went back to the starting point and found various things after searching a bit more and I'm getting the hang of preparing for the poisonous & toxic locations (good lore is hidden in these places... but so is the chance of dying). The road to becoming a super bad ass is getting closer and closer, some of the powers available in this game remind me of Star Wars actually (i.e. Force Push). I saved six outlaws from these giant mutant bugs after using a Force Push... and all I could think about from that point is "Where are the lightsabers?!". I almost think I'm ready for the land below the lift (last time did not go so well... I scaled a mountain to escape). Anyway, game on... and Happy New Year!
The game is free until 11/25/2017... so get your Steam code at the link above or click the image. If you want to see what the game is like... check out this trailer and game on!
To anyone playing and surviving in the brutal world of Elex, this area of the map holds a safe with a safecode of "5820" < Drag and highlight this area if you want the code. Leave it if you want to figure it out for yourself.
So... I'm in the Steam store minding my own business, and... next thing I know I see a deal. As many of you know, we present all sorts of game bundles here... which are primarily for the Steam platform. The deal I saw on Steam is a perfect compliment... and it had me at... awesome.
You can get... a game called "ICEY" + a Steam Link for less than $9 (before s&h). The Steam Link is listed as $1, and for what it's worth... you can basically make that move of getting PC games in your living room. I've had a Steam Link for a while now and... I've never had buyers remorse. I get access to my PC in the living room when I wish to merely kick back and game (an office lounge would be nice too now that I think about it). If you already have one, no need to fear, the Holidays are creeping forward and... you probably know someone who doesn't have one. So it could be one of the most useful gifts for a gamer you know. We'll have your back with the bundles to pack their library.
I was playing ELEX today on a Steam Link... with a review coming in due time. A review of The Mummy Demastered is also coming... so stay tuned. Although I could leave this post right here... I just want to give props to THQNordic for recovering that fumble of the original THQ. THQ, not to be confused with today's THQNordic... did something that we warned against way back when. Some of you were around when we wrote about the uDraw tablet being an absolutely horrible idea... and it ultimately burned them. It sucked because THQ had some noteworthy games. THQNordic is the new ship sailing these IPs into the future... and they have some sick looking titles on the way.
