ELEX 2 - Q&A - Responsive Combat, Deeper Romances and Other Improvements

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Wccftech had some questions for the ELEX 2 developers.

Will romances be deeper and more involved in this sequel?

Piranha Bytes: Yes! There are more characters with whom Jax can get into a romantic relationship and the storylines of these characters are also more complex, giving more room for romances.

Will choices matter more in ELEX II? How many different endings can players expect?

Piranha Bytes: The world reacts heavily to the player's choices, even entire battles are happening or not happening because of what the player did. Some consequences will be happening directly, some much much later, spanning over different acts. The choice of the faction you join is an important part of that experience, too. As for the endings: there are many. Depending on what faction you joined, what companions you chose, how you acted within the moral system, and several other choices in the game will lead to a specific ending, telling you what your actions have meant for the fate of the world and its characters.

The official website mentions a 'massively improved control system'. Does that mean combat animations will be smoother, delivering a less clunky experience?

Piranha Bytes: We wanted to improve, and we reacted to the player feedback. So, we have put a lot of effort into the new combat system, to make it feel more dynamic and react directly to the players' input. It is much more responsive now than in ELEX. We have gone through several iterations, have made a lot of tests to bring it to the next level. One of the strengths of the combat system is the flexibility - melee or magic, range or reinforcements. You can lure any enemy into a bunch of guards around the corner or fight them from above or use quick attacks & dodge. There are always many different ways to overcome an enemy. Our goal was to offer the players an entertaining experience and not to punish them for not reacting in exactly the right way.

[...]
Thanks Farflame!

More information.
 
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Read the interview last week and well not surprised romance is a bigger part of the game. For as much as some complain it's a staple of modern RPGs at this point.

Looks like you had a child with one of the women from Elex as well.
 
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They also posted a preview to go with that interview I shared on my thread.

ELEX II Preview - WCCFTech
Eurojank is a term I've long used, and one that myself and Alessio still use, to describe the sort of games you tended to find coming out of Europe and still do. You know the sort of games, where the polish may not be perfect, some systems may follow their own new logic, and other aspects were close, but there was just something standing out from the US and JP counterparts. ELEX was one of those games, as was the Gothic series, The Witcher 1 & 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Mount & Blade, and so many more. ELEX II is now looking like it will continue that strong tradition.
 
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I'm not big on the idea of Jax having a kid. I hope it's not with one of the NPCs from the first game because that will make it a canon romance which I think is kind of lame.

He mentions that one of the endings from the first game is canon, but he doesn't say which one.
 
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Will romances be deeper and more involved in this sequel?

Piranha Bytes: Yes! There are more characters with whom Jax can get into a romantic relationship and the storylines of these characters are also more complex, giving more room for romances.

Are they ill or something ? Gothic 1 was known to be a very manly game, and women were nothing but a trophy !
 
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The PB devs are getting older and some are married and have kids.
 
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Read the interview last week and well not surprised romance is a bigger part of the game. For as much as some complain it's a staple of modern RPGs at this point.

Looks like you had a child with one of the women from Elex as well.

I have a CHILD!!
 
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There were romances in Elex?? How did I miss that?... I just checked and I got the 'Romantic' Achievement but I have no recollection of any such thing.
 
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Did you improve the balance? In ELEX, some of the enemies in the early portion of the game were just too strong, and some of the requirements to wield rarer items felt too high.

Piranha Bytes: Generally speaking, we have a lot of enemies who are a big threat for low-level players, so it's important to be careful until you are strong enough - like it has been the case in Piranha Bytes games all the time. For some quests, however, we are making exemptions from this rule, most notably some companion quests. It's up to the player when to start them - maybe in the first act, maybe even in the last act. And we neither want them to cut through these quests like Moses through the Red Sea nor we want players to be slaughtered by a rat.

Therefore, some quests will have a level range for their enemies to make them an interesting experience whenever the player decides to start them. But the feeling of a player, coming back to an enemy like a giant Mountain Troll that kicked his *** some character levels ago and now finally being able to beat it is a core experience of every Piranha Bytes game and of ELEX II as well.
My, my… level scaling in a PB game. It's only in some quests and within a certain range, but it's still remarkable.
 
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My, my… level scaling in a PB game. It's only in some quests and within a certain range, but it's still remarkable.

ulfbyE.gif


Actually, I've always thought that scaling could be done well, if it's designed in a thoughtful way. It should be possible to give players a well-balanced path, without it being apparent that the world is leveling around them.
 
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I love hard areas at the beginning of games. Slowly increasing in power, scrapping for every gain, is one of the best parts of a good rpg, IMHO.
 
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I think it's possible to have both. You could break the world into zones that are fixed level, with a percentage of the quests unleveled too. A good amount, so that the feeling of a leveled world never sets in. But then I think you can have a bit of leveled stuff on the critical path to provide a balanced challenge and not lose less hardcore players.
 
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I like the way they plan to handle it. Most of the world is going to remain as we like it but for some quest, the difficulty is going to be adjusted to keep them interesting no matter where we are in the game. Sounds good to me. We shouldn't expect the world to get filled with road bandits with adamantite swords and crystal armor juste because I'm now high level :p
 
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In PB I trust. I'll wait until the game is actually out before reaching for my pitch fork, which is always handy and close by. They've proven themselves to me over the years, I've yet to see them stumble.
 
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Sounds nice but Jax with a kid is a major turn-off for me, most likely enough that I won't bother picking the game up except maybe down the road with some big sale or something.

I enjoyed the first game but bad enough to have a set protagonist let alone one with a kid following you around. Make it a dog or wolf and I would be more interested :p
 
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There were romances in Elex?? How did I miss that?… I just checked and I got the 'Romantic' Achievement but I have no recollection of any such thing.

Yeah, you could romance Caja (Berserkers) and Nasty (Outlaws).

My, my… level scaling in a PB game. It's only in some quests and within a certain range, but it's still remarkable.

I think they mean level-scaling in the sense that some enemy types will be replaced by others. That was present in the first game as well.
 
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I think they mean level-scaling in the sense that some enemy types will be replaced by others. That was present in the first game as well.
Hm, yeah... could be both.
Also as @Carnifex; I simply trust PB. I think they're very sensible in this matter.
 
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