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ELEX is one of the best RPGs of 2017
- Thread starter His Majesty
- Start date
Just realized that Fog is one of the most demanding settings. I set it on ultra all this time. Now with that turned down to high (which free up like 10fps), I can tone the scaling to 120% which eliminates most remaining aliasing. Also, apparently there's a Nexus section for ELEX as well. Most of them are still surrounding graphics tweaks though.
Whaaaaat is this game? A few videos make it seem really unique. I may need to take a peak at it on Steam.
I really liked the little I played of it, it gave me the same feeling as getting lost in a dangerous but very well realised world as Gothic II (I don't remember much of the original haha) and the first Risen game (which only got less good in the late game for me, after you've seen there's just not that much more to it, and the awful final boss encounter). Combat is rough for sure but just keep in mind it's still an RPG where stats and shit matter so either way you can't just dive in and expect to win every (in the beginning, any) fight because you're awesome in action games and this doesn't play like one so no you can't dodge every hit and make the enemy flinch with every strike. I do want them to make combat better (I'm having so much fun with Nioh right now and it too has stats that matter more than in the Souls games in my opinion, although it's still better action than Dragon's Dogma) but I don't think it's as bad as people say. Anyway, I'm still in the beginning because I don't have the time and energy for this experience at the moment but I enjoyed exploring the initial area and feeling good about myself using creative thinking and getting to places I shouldn't and beating or otherwise avoiding enemies I wasn't supposed to yet or whatever else, all with rewarding outcomes and discoveries. Which are of course all things you are in fact supposed to do as you see fit (for example NPC conversations all too often acknowledge when you complete a task before you're requested to do so, rather than accept the already completed quest, get back to gameplay and then immediately initiate another conversation to hand it in - or worse have the place of interest for the quest you have already been to not include the objective or not make it interactive until after you take the quest so you'd have to go back all over again) but the game makes you feel like you figured out things on your own and that's its greatest strength. I also think it looks pretty decent, very sharp rather than a mess of pixelated aliasing as some other highly regarded games and with a lot of unique scenery and creatures while performing absolutely flawlessly regardless of your chosen camera zoom. It's solid all around.
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This game has received pretty bad reviews but it looks fantastic and many of you guys are REALLY liking the game. For those enjoying the game, whats your argument against the top review sites not liking it?
Ive had it on my wishlist on Steam for a while now, however I am deterred by it having a 60 Opencritic, and a 74% on Steam. So im not really sure what to make of this thread saying its one of the best RPG's of 2017.
The worst RPG I played this year. This game is stuck in 40% development and I will not come back until they fix many things. Basically the only thing I like is how the world looks and overall visual. I am not used to play PB games and this game was pure pain to play.
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This game was made by a rather small which which focused on providing engaging and ambitious gameplay systems at the cost of a polished experience. Animations are poor, there is a steep learning curve, cutscenes are not what you will find in AAA games and the GUI can be confusing and unintuitive.
Besides that there is also no level scaling in the game. Right from the beginning you will encounter monsters that will fuck you up. Fleeing is a valid strategy, especially in the early stages of the game. I have noticed that some reviewers were unable to come to terms with that.
The only thing that really needs fixing is the UI, everything else seems fine. There are surprisingly few bugs for a game of this ambition and magnitude.
It's a game that has resonated very well with the RPG community but not so well with mainstream games media, mainly for the reasons I have outlined in this post.
Thanks for the reply! Has the dev team acknowledged the UI issues? wondering if they might patch things up some later on
The trailer for this kind of changed my mind. The artwork looked interesting but the trailer made it seem like the game was a "we are shooting anything that moves kind" with no story game. Not liking the negative comments about combat/UI being a bit of chore. Right now there are many fantastic games out there...maybe if things get slow next year and there is a good steam sale.
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In the first 10 hours of the game it's unlikely there will be any shooting. If anything this is a dialogue and choice heavy game with limited fighting.
Don't blame Piranha Bytes for being incompetent at marketing.
Not that I've read so far. The UI works but I just think it looks pretty bad and doesn't display enough information.
In a way I can. It is THEIR marketing so they decided that it was they wanted to tell customers the game was about. If in fact it's not that way at all then those who thought they were getting a shooterish game are probably going to comment negatively. Their not new at selling games. Saying that...you're point is taken. As I said when time is more open...and Xenoblade 2 is soon to release and they probably will be well over 100 hours (plus the zelda dlc, the Horizon dlc, etc etc) it will be some time before I get back to this but I did put it on my list to look for on a steam sale.
Ugh, I would say that about Assassin´s Creed: Origins but ELEX?
- with jet-pack it's annoying how you can't fly forward. Worst use of jet pack in videogames
- everyone is telling you every secret when they see you for the first time
- if you jump from more than 30cm, your character momentum speed will freeze to 0.
- gear stats are not clearly visible
- character stats, not clearly visible, you have to dig in every menu to find something
- what your character wear, impossible to find, no character sheet
- no inventory sorting
- no inventory categories (picked up reading documents between junk, food and potions? really?)
- no junk sell option, no junk sort option
- no loot at the beggining (in 8 hours, I found 2 weapons, one of then I could not use until 12 hours)
- too punishing combat. I just don't like gameplay, where I have to run away from 99% enemies because everything wants to kill me and is 3000% stronger than me.
- everyhing wants to kill me
- basic quests sent me to the furthest end of the map
- no feeling from character progression
- not possible to pin reciepe on screen
- if you pin quest to screen, after any advance in that or any quest, you have to go to menu and find that quest again to pin it again on screen
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Yeah those are not bugs, they are Piranha Bytes™ features. I agree with your UI annoyances but I'd like to address some points I disagree with.
- You can fly forward with your jetpack by alternating the acceleration.
- You can find weapons by exploring buildings, areas or acquiring enough cash and buy it from a vendor. This is a much more satisfying system than the incremental progression in Assassin's Creed: Origins. Character progression in ELEX, just like in all Piranha Bytes games, is great.
- Fleeing is a valid strategy and it's not even that hard now with the jetpack. This is typical Piranha Bytes progression: you are extremely weak at the beginning and you gradually need to increase your strength. This adds an element of danger to the world which nowadays is absent in nearly every game.
- Those quests which send you all over the map entice you to explore. You can get a quest to make contact with the other camps, which is the perfect incentive to explore the world and see the other factions. It's like setting out on an adventure.
- You can fly forward with your jetpack by alternating the acceleration.
- You can find weapons by exploring buildings, areas or acquiring enough cash and buy it from a vendor. This is a much more satisfying system than the incremental progression in Assassin's Creed: Origins. Character progression in ELEX, just like in all Piranha Bytes games, is great.
- Fleeing is a valid strategy and it's not even that hard now with the jetpack. This is typical Piranha Bytes progression: you are extremely weak at the beginning and you gradually need to increase your strength. This adds an element of danger to the world which nowadays is absent in nearly every game.
- Those quests which send you all over the map entice you to explore. You can get a quest to make contact with the other camps, which is the perfect incentive to explore the world and see the other factions. It's like setting out on an adventure.
I'm enjoying it but it kinda forces you to take a path, or just to avoid all enemies and just run. I've been to literally every direction from the starting city and there's practically only one way (maybe two) to proceed without dying all the time. It just isn't as open as I thought it would be. I played and loved Gothic 3 at the time but I can't remember it 'holding my hand' this much.
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Sneaking and jetpacking across enemies is as good a strategy as killing them.
I just completed a quest in a densely guarded Alb base by infiltrating through the mountainside and taking out my target 1 on 1. Then I jetpacked back out.
I just completed a quest in a densely guarded Alb base by infiltrating through the mountainside and taking out my target 1 on 1. Then I jetpacked back out.
Seeing as enemies spot me while I'm closeby (not even in front of them) for me it doesn't seem like an option. I'll soldier on, though, but I expected more from their open world.
And I haven't explored that much of the world, but the exploration part is also fairly boring. Yes, there are some things hidden away but calling it 'a joy with lots of treasures to be found' is taking it too far (not sure who said it back then).
I'm late to the party. How about the main plot of the game?
Divinity didn't like me because its plot is soo simplistic. Not engaging, too side quested. Is this game more plot focused like ME or is it the type of game where you get lost with sidequests while forgetting the main quest and everything about it?
Divinity didn't like me because its plot is soo simplistic. Not engaging, too side quested. Is this game more plot focused like ME or is it the type of game where you get lost with sidequests while forgetting the main quest and everything about it?
The production value is just not there. Graphics are average, animation is janky, and lots of things need quality of life improvements. But at its core, it's a pretty solid RPG that topped most RPGs released this generation. It's a rough gem, but it's a very valuable one.
I've spent 60+ hours so far but still at the start of chapter 3. The main plot is all about betrayal and who's really our enemy. There are LOTS of flashbacks explaining what happened, the state of the world, and the MC's background.
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The game has a default MSRP of 50, so you're already a bit below that.
Black Friday/Thanksgiving/Cyber Monday Sales only a few weeks away so I'd just wait until then otherwise.
It's not really plot focused though. At least in the first half of the game you'll do lots and lots of sidequests that may be good for the world building aspect, but don't have any direct connection to the main storyline.
That said, even though I normally enjoy focused/linear games like Mass Effect a lot, I also love PB games because of how engaging the gameplay is (not the combat, but the whole package). Elex just keeps me getting drawn in.
No argument needed. Reviews are reviews. Most of them are meaningless, no matter which game they praise or despise (seriously, between the copy/pasted opinions and the fact that so many of those "reviewers" seem to have no idea what they're talking about ...)
The game is great. It features "eurojank", yes. Some areas could be improved, yes (I mean, even without losing the eurojank "charm").
But it's a nice journey through a harsh world with a lot of nice ideas and an obvious crapton of goodwill from the developer.
It's the embodiment of "more than the sum of its parts".
Yeah combat is janky, interface is mediocre to bad, voice acting is so-so, but the open-ended questing, the open (almost) from the start nature of the environment, and a pretty satisfying sense of progression make for a great game.
Also music is nice (if a bit generic) and graphics are more than decent (and the game runs very well on a 1060).
Long story short, it might not be a great "world", but it's a fun one to play with.
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Yes, this entire thread is a desperate attempt from me, and many other Era users, to sell unsuspecting RPG enthusiasts on a game which, in reality, is actually a scam. We are all shills working for Piranha Bytes.
Downloading the game right now. Bought it because of threads like these and seeing some footage here and there. I was a big fan of Gothic back in the day. This looks just like the old RPGs I used to play all the time. Ready for the lovable jank lol. And as a german I have to support the developers. They're one of the few german developers left, making big games like these
I think I'm going to head to try that again...the first time a few levels ago I got wrecked. Finally able to take some bigger stuff on now, though. What level were you for that?
The games graphics is around the lower tier of ps3.. Combat is horrible... Map system is pretty bad... I really can't think of 1 thing i liked about it. If you enjoy niche graphically inferior games, then you may like it.
Pretty much everyone in this thread has acknowledged the issue of graphical fidelity, and also said that they're playing it because of systems.
Yeah, if you're a graphics freak chasing DICE-Frostbyte level graphics, I guess this isn't for you.
thanks for the notes! does the game have any secret areas to discover treasure or collectibles?
I've already written a Steam review for it. It's my favorite game of the year.
Are you saying that this game is graphically and gameplay wise on par with anything released in the last 3 years? If so... Youre lying to yourself. The same group of people here can shit on witcher 3 combat but praise this game? When the combat is abysmal... Or how you can praise exploration because of a jet pack? But what i am saying is this forum being a spawn of the other has picked up right where the other left off by championing games that suck. The same reviewers that say it sucks and you say oh they didn't get into the meat of the game are the same reviewers you've praised for other games. But now we are to believe they just didn't have enough time to properly review it
Absolutely love this game so far. Almost level 10 and just got to the outlaw fort. Did most of the quest in abessa I felt like the separatist there we're more sleeper agents than anything else so I sided with the Berserkers and the clerics. The combat is a little rough but after getting a shield and a decent weapon I'm doing better. I love the fact the world is so dangerous. You really have to pay attention when exploring and wandering or you will get your ass handed to you. A bit rough at times and definitely not for everyone but I'm really enjoying it
LMFAO
Then leave, and don't let the door hit you on the way out!
It's basically a spiritual successor to Gothic games and the first Risen. A lot of people don't like it, but there is a fairly large audience for this kind of rpg. I like this game because of the exploration, factions and quests. I don't mind the difficulty, I actually embrace it. The combat isn't excellent, but it doesn't make me not want to play the game. I played The Witcher 3 a few months ago. It was an amazing experience, and I don't regret any of those 170 hours, but I can't say combat was good there.
I'm sorry you didn't like ELEX, but not everyone will like everything. My only gripe is that you sound a bit derogatory. What does the other forum have to do with anything? Are we bad people for liking this? I spent around 70 hours with ELEX and loved every minute of it, just like I did with TW3.
I believe that combat in both Witcher 3 and Elex is mediocre to servicable and loved both games.
If you reduce gameplay in an RPG to combat then I guess I could see your point of view, but that's not all the gameplay an RPG has to offer and if you liked witcher 3 and you think you liked it because of the combat then you are the one lying to yourself.
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Graphically I love the colour palette. All locations have a very vibrant feel going on and at night the contrast between dark and light is something very few games achieve nowadays. Gameplay-wise it is also a fantastic game with a very satisfying progression curve, a solid choice & consequence system and incentive for exploration.
No, it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of a game like Uncharted or The Witcher 3 but a lot of people here are able to see past that and enjoy the game for what it is: a damn fine RPG.
You are free to criticize a game, but please do not accuse other posters of making disingenuous arguments just because they disagree with you.
I apologize if i sound derogatory... I'd call that frustration..cause I'll buy into the hype and I'll buy the game and then I'm thinking how did anyone like this game...it's like the 3rd time I've been burned.
I had fun from the start. But I knew what kind of game I was getting into. With that said, I know that this kind of game isn't for everyone.
The graphics being "lower tier PS3" is just wrong. Texture quality varies, but on average it is much higher. Draw distance and vegetation density is better. Poly count is higher. Lighting and shadows are better. The volumetric god rays are top. And there's a pretty cool water simulation going on with rivers.
On the other hand the animations really are sub-par, and so are some other parts like character hair. But overall, it is an okay looking game even by more modern standards.
On the other hand the animations really are sub-par, and so are some other parts like character hair. But overall, it is an okay looking game even by more modern standards.
I think it was about lvl 15.
I already joined the clerics when I did the fight and so it was pretty easy.
It generelly became pretty easy after I joined the clerics. Even enemies with a skull next to the hp bar are not much of a challenge using the psi amplifier.
If you try it again, have a look for the weapon and let me know.
Depends on what you call "secrets".
Long story short, there are no question marks to indicate any kind of exploration check list, but the game is stuffed with secrets waiting to be uncovered, including sweet loot (which is not randomly generated and usually makes a ton of sense).
One gripe many people can have though is that there is a distinct lack of "grotto". There are buildings and some underground areas but most of the things you'll find aren't hidden inside a big dungeon or behind a big underground maze.
Edit: There are also some collectibles which I found surprisingly amusing for the most part.
