![]() In the space of four Chapters gated by faction related progress and various main mission tasks of fealty Jax is set up to basically do it all over again in a shrunken, arguably impossibly united version of the Magalan we found in the first Elex game. The impetus for Elex II is actually pretty solid despite the full intrigue of the story taking hours upon hours of tedious task handling to finally begin to shape into an actual narrative. I’m pretty sure a Jonathan Davis ( Korn) song named “ Elex” plays during this cut-scene but that is the sort of trauma my mind naturally erases over time. Darkening skies portend a new, very purple Alb-but-cooler lookin’ monster mutating alien race landing in strategic locations all over Magalan and that includes your house. To start you’ve procreated with Caja, the major faction sidekick from the Berzerkers in the first game and you’ve got an annoying, hideous child in the form of Dex (more on him later) wherein you’ve ultimately isolated from all factions and your family in the years since, becoming a self-sustaining hermit whom likes to chill and eat dinosaur steaks. At the end of Elex a beacon is sent by the defeated leader of the Albs, “The Hybrid” (aka the scientist Adam Dawkins) into space and Elex II picks up some years later, still focusing on a now fully human Jax as the hero of the greater tale but having taken quite a few concerning liberties with how everything turned out. The plot of the first game essentially resolves with you uniting the planet and defeating the tyrannical leader of the Albs as you (canonically) become more human and enact a great deal of change in the power structures between the various warring major factions on Magalan (Outlaws, Berzerkers, Clerics) and this includes sub-set factions Claws and Alb Separatists, whom exist merely to subvert the ‘powers that be’ if you are wily enough. From the comet came the world’s infusion with the titular substance Elex, a desirous ore which soon becomes known to the player as a malleable substance capable of being imbibed and transmuted with great potential for human evolution (XP, ability and learning points) to take place in the form of magic powers. You are Jax a former commander of the Albs, a cold and emotionless separatist sect of Borg-like militarists sharded from the Clerics, whom formed in response to the planet ( Magalan) being hit by a giant meteor in a cataclysmic nigh world-ending event. If you did not play Elex (2017) you can more-or-less catch up on some major story beats in my review of it, not only was I a bit edgier back then but so was that first game. “If you don’t know, I ain’t gonna tell you” She says, cocking them hips like you’re just another bitch in her way. If you are as ingenious as they’ve allowed you to be, it will be a walk, eh, jetpack ride in the park. In fact the major brilliancy of fighting against Elex II the whole way through is that it felt all the more satisfying to, eventually, have reached the point of conqueror strength and obliterate the multitudes of task at hand. As an enormous fan of this series and the developer’s style, I wouldn’t have it any other way. The studio’s eighth game, and second within what is likely to be a trilogy, Elex II once again speaks to a pattern of obtuse combat systems, wobbly animation, satisfyingly over the top voice acting, jarring technical mishaps, and somewhat unforgiving difficulty dogging its opening moments. In keeping their stronghold scant and their ideals clear they’ve managed to sustain their own ever-evolving spiritus of classic (read: early 2000’s) PC open-world action role-playing games, presenting a hill to climb as prime motivation for the player’s persistence in exploiting various cryptic systems from all angles and fighting off “jank” with their own cheesy actions. ![]() Using their heavily modified in-house Genome Engine since 2006 and creating modestly sized yet ambitious open-world fantasy experiences with a team less than a few dozen people strong is an admirable independent feat for a (technically publically traded, well-backed) company. For all of the complaining one could do in venting their pedantic man-child sized “gamer” frustration with German role-playing game developer Piranha Bytes‘ long history of struggleware, and we will get there at some point, most of that ire should sharply diffuse nearby completing any one of their charming, if not slightly busted games.
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