ELEX - Gameplay Impressions

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@Gamepressure they preview Piranha Bytes' Elex and offer their first impressions.


When I was invited for a preview of their upcoming title, Elex, I was really excited; you don't get the chance to speak with the creators of Gothic everyday. There wasn't a lot of time to reminisce the adventures from Khorinis and Mhyrtana though, because Björn and Jennifer Pankratz - a married couple of game developers - had a lot to say, and a lot to show. We've even had a brief opportunity to grab the gamepads ourselves and see how does, among others, the combat system feel in Elex. It gave us a taste of - at least on paper - the most ambitious project by Piranha to date. But what is Elex actually? It's an entirely new universe, with dozens of new ideas, but does it mean that this is a new franchise first, and a Piranha Bytes' game second? Absolutely not. The developers are still sailing on familiar waters, and the heritage of their previous games is very much alive.
[...]

In Elex, the hero is no longer nameless (same as in Risen 3, btw). In the new game, we'll play as a former member of Albs, betrayed by his own people. When he wakes up after the crash of his fighter jet, he finds himself in a camp of Berserkers - Albs' sworn enemies. Because he won't be able to use elex for a long period of time, he will recover much of his human nature. The hero not only has his own story, but his story is also strongly tied to the main plot of the game - the task is to get into the base of the callous organization in order to learn the reason for the betrayal. Before that, the player will encounter a handful of other tribes struggling to survive under the regime of Albs, and will get involved into a tight network of intrigues. The main elements of the game are exploration, combat, decision making and completing quests - all of this should suffice for couple of dozen hours of gameplay. What's more important, though, is that in each of these elements, the players should have a lot of freedom.
[...]

Three factions are too few

Piranha Bytes games are known for their characteristic factions that the player can join; the decision is most often ideological. It will be similar this time, since each of the groups we encounter will obey totally different sets of rules. The devs revealed that although there will be a lot of different sides of the conflict, ultimately, Elex uses the classic division into three factions which we can join. The abovementioned Albs are the villains of this story, and while the players will get to know a lot about them, they will not be able to side with this faction (although we think that one of the endings can be somehow connected to this thread). There is, however, nothing that can stop us from learning the ways and philosophies of the Outcasts, Berserkers or Clerks and joining one of those groups. The devs say they want to make sure the players will get to know the factions well before they decide which side to take. The point at which the decision has to be made comes after completing all the quests for the three groups, about ten hours into the game. With this decision begins another chapter of the story, where the events will quickly gather pace.
More information.
 
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Yeah, I hope they will work much more on this!
 
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Noticed on Amazon UK that the release date is December 2017 - I hope this is an error or just a placeholder date!

That date is placeholder, 31.12.2017. is - sunday.
 
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At least the old forest-graphics-artists remained there and some medieval armor expert(s) too. However the industrial and mech work of what looks like some interns, weak weapons, bad particle effects and weak futuristic armor modeling and design greatly reduce the quality that the Gothic veteran developers managed to add to the game.
 
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Sorry had to answer the call and you replied before I checked and edited.
The date is not tuesday, thursday nor friday. As such, it's placeholder.
 
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Im getting some Shanarra vibe off that.... When they said SF/fantasy I expected something less mundane than simply combining mechas and swords/magic
 
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Eh, Albs...as in Albanians? Once gotten into a fight with a few in the club, they sure know how to throw a punch. ;)
 
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ultimately, Elex uses the classic division into three factions which we can join. The abovementioned Albs are the villains of this story, and while the players will get to know a lot about them, they will not be able to side with this faction

I'm a little disappointed by that. Until now, I thought there were four joinable factions. Still looking forward to seeing more of this game though.
 
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I think that depends on the publisher or better said it's not decided yet.
I mean... if it was Xcom game, we'd know even before the game was announced that the fourth faction would be in season pass.
 
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I'm a little disappointed by that. Until now, I thought there were four joinable factions. Still looking forward to seeing more of this game though.

I think there are 4 factions:
  • Clerics
  • Berserker
  • Bandits
  • Albs

I don't know if you can join them all.
 
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Nah it's been known from day 1 of the reveal that there are only three joinable factions. The player character is an Alb general on a mission, fails the mission, crashes his glider and is expelled from his faction (also, because being cut off from Elex, he begins to develop emotions).
So now he has got to find his way among the other people of Magallan and fight off the Albs who are trying to find and capture or kill him.

Jenny from PB has also confirmed very recently that there are no plans for any DLC yet so it looks like Nordic Games has not ordered anything to be made yet which does not mean that it could still happen until closer to release, of course, but Albs as a joinable faction? Nah. Maybe a prequel style DLC where you are still an Alb general though… (?)

From the official site...
Being raised as an Alb and fed pure Elex to strengthen your body and to be free from emotion, you lived in a world of cold logic and military discipline. Set to rise through the ranks, a scourge to your enemies, your destiny seemed sure. Now, as the smoke rises over the wreckage of your glider in the mountains of Edan, you are trapped far from Xacor. With no access to pure Elex, you are experiencing emotions for the first time in your life. Stranded amongst your enemies, outcast from your people, you must find a new course, you must decide how your life can decide the fate of the world.

*Xacor = Alb capital
 
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Where was it specifically said that there would be three joinable factions?

*Edit* Here's an article from just last month that says four joinable factions. http://www.giantbomb.com/elex/3030-50584/

The article was obviously wrong, but the point is that PB wasn't very clear about it until now.

Phew... I have watched so many Gamescom videos (or generally Elex videos) last year, sorry that I can not possibly remember in which one it was first mentioned that Elex will have three joinable factions :) .

But here's an article written on August 8, 2015 that mentions the three factions (in English even ;) )

As we know it from earlier Piranha Bytes games, we can also decide which fraction to join. As a player you can decide between berserks, who are fighting with e.g. swords and representing the fantasy elements of the game, religious fanatics, who use "ELEX" for improving technology but declare it as heresy and the outlaws, scrap collecting raiders.

... and there is a "Elex facts" post that mentions the three joinable factions (last edited 9/24/2015)...

Es wird 4 Fraktionen geben, davon kann man sich einer von 3 anschließen.

Translation: There will be four factions, of which you can join one of three.

You are correct, however, that my "day 1" was an exaggeration :) . It looks like it took a couple of weeks after the initial reveal before the factions were revealed and also which ones would be joinable.

But as you can see it has been known for a pretty long time by now. Maybe some people got confused because when they heard the word "faction" in conjunction with the Albs, they automatically assumed that it would be a joinable faction(?) ... I don't know.
 
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On the official ELEX website, launched May 27 this year, they list four different factions (about half way down the page) as follows:


The Berserkers in Edan
The Albs in Xacor
The Clerics in Ignadon
The Outlaws in Tavar


Also of interest, the Steam Store ELEX entry says "Available: Early 2017"

Looks good. Am looking forward to this.

__
 
Thanks for clarifying.

I don't think PB has done a very good job on the non-German side of things when it comes to getting info out about ELEX and making sure articles are giving accurate details. GiantBomb.com for instance is a fairly popular gaming news site. They should have been contacted and told to correct their article.

Oops..RPGFool jumped in front of me. :)
 
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Sorry hadn't seen Moriendor's post when I made mine. At any rate three or four factions, it looks good all the same to me. :)

__
 
Hahahaha… while surfing around the official forums a little more, I actually just found a post from myself (!) from August 14, 2015 where I explained to another user at the official forums that it was confirmed at Gamescom that you can not join the Albs and Jenny from PB actually quoted me and replied with a (another) confirmation.

Man, I'm getting old :) .

By the way, there will be even more sub-factions in addition to those three (four) big ones.

If you English speaking guys want to keep up with the latest or ask your own questions, I would recommend this thread at the official English forums or this one at World of Elex.
Jenny from PB is doing a good job and answering lots of questions. Maybe not as often as on the German forums where she does a weekly post but she's posting on a regular basis and probably just waiting between posts until some questions have accumulated so if you want more posts from her and quicker answers… well, maybe simply post and ask more! :)
 
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