ELEX II

The RPG, science fiction and adventure game Elex returns again with a second part developed by the German studio Piranha Bytes, known for developing medium or low budget games. To be honest, I was surprised when the second part of the series was announced. Especially after the average reviews of the first version in 2017 and despite my admiration for many of the ideas. In the first part, the game did not offer a complete experience to wait for the release of a second part of the game, but let’s see in this review if the game was able to evolve for the better with its second release.

The game’s story is a direct continuation of the first part, in which you play as Jax, who works to protect the planet from a major approaching danger. It is recommended to play the first part or at least follow a summary of the story before trying the second version of the game, as many events and characters come from the first part and the game evolves. In this version there are five different clans spread across the huge game world.

Clans and Missions

Each clan has its own goals, living conditions, problems and lifestyle, as well as special abilities that each clan possesses. For example, there is a clan that is proficient in magic and another clan that is proficient in weapons, technical weapons, etc. Your main task is to protect the country from an impending attack, and this task branches out into dozens of tasks, such as: Such as working on developing your defenses, assembling a team of companions and forming alliances with different clans. Why don’t you join one? Learn the secrets and skills of these clans and receive exclusive equipment for this clan.

The possibilities in this game are diverse and indescribably diverse. Some missions have more than four or five ways to complete them. For example, in one of the missions from the first chapter I had to eliminate some wanted people. Because I was busy on a number of other missions, I came back to this mission in a later chapter, but accepted it afterward. A mission that involves recruiting some fighters for one of the clans. You will automatically realize that you have a choice if you want to arrest the wanted people, if you want to recruit them to this clan or hand over the wanted people as previously requested, or why not kill them and take the money they have, or take their money and let them go. Every decision will have many consequences and others in the future. From the stories and overlapping tasks, when some tasks are completed, other tasks will automatically cancel and vice versa. If you complete some tasks in a certain way, you may get new tasks, areas, or equipment that you wouldn’t have otherwise gotten that way.

Combat System and Technical Issues

Your choices and decisions represent the core of this game. Your alliances will have consequences, and the decisions you make, even in side missions, can affect the events of the story and how characters interact and support you. Unfortunately, the game’s combat system did not match the depth suggested in the story or the options system. It is a superficial combat system that is not new and is characterized by a high level of difficulty. What compounds the problem here is that the Companions suffer from weak artificial intelligence, which makes their presence with you useless on the battlefield. Sometimes you will find that they don’t fight with you, don’t hit the targets, or die quickly.

The game features an open world with varied terrain and environments, with different landmarks for each city belonging to the different clans, without the game offering overwhelming graphics in addition to the superficial facial features of the world’s characters. Vocal performance in the game was inconsistent between characters, with some good, enthusiastic tunes in battles. While playing we encountered some technical problems, such as some missions not ending due to a bug in the game, or the option to progress in one of the side missions being closed without explaining the reasons for this, especially a complex, confusing one and disorganized list of tasks.

The game was reviewed on Xbox Series