Just finished Elex, absolutely loved it. Good story and I will play it again at some point on a higher difficulty with a more considered & informed approach to my Jax build. Now what to play? wonder if I should take a peak at Risen.
Well one has to remember Risen was in essence a new Gothic but PB lost the rights to Gothic. After ArcaniA and the closure of JoWooD the rights were given back.Risen is great. Underrated a bit. But Risen 2 is also great and even more underrated. Not saying it's as good as Risen but it's not as bad as some have made it out to be. Risen 3 is fun, too, and has good exploration. But Risen is still a great game, recently replayed it for many hours and the level of detail and design of the island you explore is really second to none. Very cozy feeling RPG.
Don't wanna be an asshole as I also work as a dev and went though a similar path but it shows. Risen 2 was completely uninspired, didn't bother about 3 and am only giving ELEX a chance now.
Your loss imo. I think Elex is their best game since Gothic 2.
But he said he was now giving Elex a chance; so why is it his loss ?
Im playing bith witcher 2 and Elex currently. I like both but Elex graphics maybe bit more. Witcher 2 is just too gloomy. Combat is also maybe bit more interesting or challening in Elex. Exploration is maybe more fun in Elex. But overall both are amazing games.
I can understand why the start of Elex can be frustrating. Unlike in witcher2, in elex there is learning curve to the combat. Once you pass that though and get 1st companion, then it becomes quite palatable.
Role-playing wise I avoided taking Elex potions though (aiming for a more emotional character) and will investigate the cold side of role-playing choices more closely in a future replay. I couldn't stomach the dogmatic zealotry of the clerics; but no doubt it'd be fun to play and build a character in that faction..
Overall, for me this is the best PB game since Risen 1. Whilst that game for me had the more compelling exploration (more caves, dungeons, much better soundtrack) I also think in general I prefer its melee combat and UI. Elex's UI is a little gaudy and unintuitive but that's a minor nitpick in what was otherwise a significant improvement from Risen 2&3.