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ELEX - Sci-Fi ARPG for PC/PS4/XB1 - by Nordic Games Piranha Bytes, Gamescom reveal

Pyrrhus

Member
I'm absolutely onboard here. But they haven't really knocked one out of the park since Gothic 2, so I will temper my expectations. I recognize their team and budget are both modest but they really do need to improve their animation. Some of it still dates back to the original Gothic from 2001.
 

R1CHO

Member
I expect this to be risen 3 with a different skin, and honestly that's completely fine for me

That seems to be the case:

ELEX - New Screenshots Released

http://www.rpgwatch.com/show/newsbit?rwsiteid=1&newsbit=35465

I... I don't know how I feel about this :|

Vertical-Exploration-2.jpg


Berserker-in-Goliet.jpg
 

Ragona

Member
Lately I have been playing Gothic II again and I still regard it as one of the most enjoyable RPGs ever.
This is mainly due to the world design and progression system. While I still enjoyed Risen, I completely disliked the islands from Risen 2 and 3. Also, Gothic 2 was incredibly difficult, while Risen 2 and 3 felt way too easy.

I hope Elex will go back to old design philosophies. Dont really care how good or bad graphics will be, aslong as the game will focus on its strenghts.
 

loganclaws

Plane Escape Torment
Lately I have been playing Gothic II again and I still regard it as one of the most enjoyable RPGs ever.
This is mainly due to the world design and progression system. While I still enjoyed Risen, I completely disliked the islands from Risen 2 and 3. Also, Gothic 2 was incredibly difficult, while Risen 2 and 3 felt way too easy.

I hope Elex will go back to old design philosophies. Dont really care how good or bad graphics will be, aslong as the game will focus on its strenghts.

Lot's of the developers responsible for Gothic 2 have left the company. The reason Gothic 2's world is so amazing is that it's all hand crafted and unique without any empty spaces. This allows the player to learn the geography incrementally as they explore and without even needing a map, something that all modern open world rpgs fail to achieve. As for elex, I think the only way they can have a cohesive none discontinuous world is if they develop for pc first then port to console, similar to what they did for Risen 1, but that would mean a crappy console port which won't make sense commercially.
 

Moff

Member
what has that to do with pc vs consoles? I don't think that should be a problem. but yeah, I am happy we leave the pirate/islands setting behind us.

I like the screenshots so far, the fantawsy/scifi/wasteland mixup might bring something new to the table. the jetpack is great as well, flying has always been a highlight in PB games because exploration is always rewarding and fun.
I hope there will be magic or an interesting scifi version of it in this game.
 

loganclaws

Plane Escape Torment
what has that to do with pc vs consoles? I don't think that should be a problem. but yeah, I am happy we leave the pirate/islands setting behind us.

I like the screenshots so far, the fantawsy/scifi/wasteland mixup might bring something new to the table. the jetpack is great as well, flying has always been a highlight in PB games because exploration is always rewarding and fun.
I hope there will be magic or an interesting scifi version of it in this game.

The islands were a direct result of the previous consoles limitations. Of course this is being developed for the new consoles so they obviously have more to work with so we'll see.
 

Moff

Member
The islands were a direct result of the previous consoles limitations. Of course this is being developed for the new consoles so they obviously have more to work with so we'll see.

but we've seen huge open worlds on consoles, or do you think PB just couldn't get it done?
 
what has that to do with pc vs consoles? I don't think that should be a problem. but yeah, I am happy we leave the pirate/islands setting behind us.

I like the screenshots so far, the fantawsy/scifi/wasteland mixup might bring something new to the table. the jetpack is great as well, flying has always been a highlight in PB games because exploration is always rewarding and fun.
I hope there will be magic or an interesting scifi version of it in this game.
What PB games had flying?
 

Taruranto

Member
Lately I have been playing Gothic II again and I still regard it as one of the most enjoyable RPGs ever.
This is mainly due to the world design and progression system. While I still enjoyed Risen, I completely disliked the islands from Risen 2 and 3. Also, Gothic 2 was incredibly difficult, while Risen 2 and 3 felt way too easy.

I hope Elex will go back to old design philosophies. Dont really care how good or bad graphics will be, aslong as the game will focus on its strenghts.


I don't think PB is simple capable of going back to their old game design philosophy. RPG Codex Risen 3 review really highlights their issues, me thinks.
That is the state of Piranha Bytes today, in a nutshell. They know that they must return to the old Gothic formula, and hell, they probably even want to do it, but they simply have no idea how. They grasp at the ideas and elements that were present in their most successful games, they announce that they are "going back to the roots", and they even attempt to fix the flaws that they've introduced, but they are not able to put those changes and fixes into proper context, nor design the same systems that once made them great. Thus, the final product is but a warped shadow of its original counterpart, a haphazardly glued-together Frankenstein’s monster that might be made of similar flesh, but can never be even one tenth as functional or “alive”.

Like Bethesda or Bioware, they are a company riding on the success of games people no longer in the company made.
 

Moff

Member
You mean the telekinesis spell that only lasted for a short duration of time, right?
I think that using the jet pack will be very different.

in risen 3 (and 2, not sure) you could turn into a parrot and fly around with tons of stuff to discover in the weiredst of places. telekinesis war not that powerful, yes. but I guess the jetpack will turn that up to 11, I think you can even use it in combat. I hope they manage to make it fun both in and outside of combat.

I don't think PB is simple capable of going back to their old game design philosophy. RPG Codex Risen 3 review really highlights their issues, me thinks.


Like Bethesda or Bioware, they are a company riding on the success of games people no longer in the company made.

I am not so sure if that is true, they definitely wanted to do something different with risen 2, after all they have basically made the same game four times before that, and in risen 3 they made kind of a hybrid. As someone who loves gothic 1 and 2 I obviously would not mind them going full hardcore oldschool, but the new setting of Elex tells me they are still looking for new ideas.
 

Dezzy

Member
I love Piranha Bytes. Didn't care for Gothic 3 or Risen 2, but I enjoyed the rest. I'll definitely keep my eyes on this one.
 

Wulfram

Member
Like Bethesda or Bioware, they are a company riding on the success of games people no longer in the company made.

Eh, the people who are credited with KotOR's "Core Game Design" all worked on at least one of Bioware's current crop - DAI, ME3, SW:tOR.
 

Taruranto

Member
First risen was on par with Gothic 2,heck the combat system was even better.

Gothic 2 still unrivaled imo, Risen 1 is pretty good (honestly, it's almost a remake of Gothic 2 in some parts) but the last part, once the
Lizardmen
are released into the world is kinda bad.
 

Moff

Member
Gothic 2 still unrivaled imo, Risen 1 is pretty good (honestly, it's almost a remake of Gothic 2 in some parts) but the last part, once the
Lizardmen
are released into the world is kinda bad.

it really is, replayed it before risen 3 and the whole last third is very bad
I liked risen 1, but I think it really showed that PB were tired of making the same game over and over again, it felt uninspired and honestly a bit boring so it was no surprise they did something different with the sequel, too bad it failed completely
 

Audioboxer

Member
Wish Risen was BC with the One. Only title I haven't played. Loved the others.

Gothic is still the best thing ever, up to 2. My young mind was blown playing Gothic 1 for the first time.

Euro-jank when done right is great, totally awful when wrong.
 

kevin1025

Banned
I always find myself fascinated by Piranha Bytes games. Not so much loving them as of late, but always fascinated nonetheless.
 

loganclaws

Plane Escape Torment
I always find myself fascinated by Piranha Bytes games. Not so much loving them as of late, but always fascinated nonetheless.

They made one of the best RPGs of all time. Did you guys know that CDPR said they were inspired by Gothic 2 when developing The Witcher 3?
 
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