ELEX II - Wants to be Mass Effect But Its not Working

[borcanu]

roflwith takes like that, no wonder we get games like elex in 2022. wth
money down the drain

 

[JFarrell71]

Except nobody said that.
This is a bit weak as far as strawmen go, you know.

Do better.

Huh? This article claimed something that PB themselves have acknowledged but it's still full of shit?

That's one heck of a reach to keep the argument going.

 

[Andrew23]

Hmm, I just need to put it in bullet points so my inferior mind could grasp the idea.

- Mass Effect has romances and Elex has romances.
- There are similarities in plot and characters.
- Elex developer said Mass Effect was inspiration.

And this creates reasonable background for serious comparison of heavily
narrated RPG, with streamlined action and RPG with persistent open world,
which is everything but narrated and streamlined? ... mmmkay

 

[JDR13]

Huh? This article claimed something that PB themselves have acknowledged but it's still full of shit?

Except it doesn't. PB said ME was "a source of inspiration" (according to 1 person here anyways) for Elex. That's not even remotely close to what the headline of the article says.

*Edit* Here's an interview with Björn and Jennifer Pankratz from this past Dec where they talk about their influences for Elex. Oddly enough, ME is not mentioned at all.

https://twinfinite.net/2021/12/elex...combat-finding-a-niche-in-the-rpg-genre-more/

Dylan: ELEX has an unusual aesthetic, which is obviously part of its appeal for many players. What was the thought process behind mixing fantasy and sci-fi? Was it simply a case of wanting to stand apart from the crowd, or is there something deeper you wanted to convey?

Piranha Bytes: We had the idea of the ELEX-Universe many years ago. The idea was to create a science fantasy role-playing game that shows the evolution of mankind. Original cavemen versus advanced users of technology and the connection between the two is created through the magic of the Elex.

Of course the story had to be more like a science fiction fairy tale, similar to the force in Star Wars. So we created a world, where every faction is an advancement of the residents of the world before the meteor impact, but with different views about morality, history and the right way in the future. Inspiration of this were, besides Star Wars, of course, Dune the desert planet and Equilibrium, for example. This idea allowed us to implement things, that the players know about our games and create new things and ideas, like hard surfaces or modern weapons, for example.

Of course it's possible that they just didn't mention ME in that particular interview, but why would they leave it out if it's such a huge source of inspiration?

 

[joxer]

Still chatty over this?

ME = alien dating sim.
If someone can't accept that fact, then of course Elex is Mass Effect in their book.
Blind audience.

 

[Nereida]

Garrus best romance option.

Don't even dare to contest, I'll die on this hill.

 

[HiddenX]

In the very next sentence Bjoern says: "I want to have a few single elements from other games in my games, of course I don't want to copy the whole game."

 

[rune_74]

The article is absurd. Let's mention Mass Effect in the title, and point out some superficial similarities, to get more clicks.

No one who's a fan of either game is going to play the other thinking it's more of the same unless they're completely unfamiliar with the developers.

I'm thankful ELEX II isn't another Mass Effect though. If I wanted to play another linear shooter with RPG elements, there are other games out there.

How on earth do you get mass effect as linear....I think you misunderstand the word linear.

 

[connus]

'Linear' in a game can refer to exploration, it can refer to tactical elements of the combat, it can refer to the story/choices, etc., maybe other aspects as well.

 

[JDR13]

Whaaaaah!

You should try to be a little more dramatic about the whole thing.

No one said you were lying, and I fully expected that you would post the link to the German interview. I don't think you're doing yourself any favors by getting overly defensive like that.

It doesn't change the fact that the headline is clickbait.

It's still odd to me that they didn't mention ME in the English interview given the chance since they don't do a whole lot of those. I also think it's pretty obvious that ME is no more of an inspiration than the others sources they mentioned.

 

[bjon045]

All we are saying is we didn't see ME in Elex 1/2 at all. It is a personal opinion shared by quite a few members of the watch. What the designer thinks is completely irrelevant except for the fact that if it was trying to intentionally be like ME then they clearly failed for many people.

Go to the Steam discussion forums for Elex 1/2 and search for "Mass Effect". Guess what? Very few discussions comparing the two games except for general "ranking top rpg" type discussions. I saw one vaguely relevant match where a person compared Saren from ME to the Hybrid.

And it is VERY common for games than inspire other games to be barely reflected in the game they inspired. Harvesting planets is a very common sci-fi concept - maybe Mass Effect was the first to do it in a game but it has been done to death in books. Mass Effect itself was inspired by Star Flight and Firefly. Who playing them actually thought ME was similar to either? I certainly didn't. Now the Story, yes there is similarities but that is not Mass Effect. That is H.G Wells.

The article goes far beyond saying Elex was inspired by Mass Effect. However I really don't see that. Elex 1/2 are open world. Mass Effect is not. Elex 1/2 you control a single character. Mass effect you can control your whole party. Elex 1/2 have a robust character development system with stats/skills/abilities and a full inventory system. Mass Effect 1 has very basic stats and an inventory system which was then streamlined in Mass Effect 2/3. Elex is set on a single planet with mostly remenant tech. Mass Effect 1/2/3 is across an entire galaxy with future tech. The article states the characters don't have any emotional expression - I thought Caja was again quite well done. Reapers are nothing like Skyands. The structures/base design is completely different. The enemies look completely different. You can play a female in Mass Effect. Elex 1/2 you can only play a male. There is no magic system in Mass Effect. I honestly didn't think of ME once the entire time I played them. Maybe if you had literally just played the Trilogy you "might" of had a few deja vu moments? Maybe if you have never played a Sci-fi game apart from Mass Effect you might think they are similar?

 

[Dolby]

Drama.

 

[Andrew23]

The article this thread is about is talking about Mass Effect trilogy and while Elex developers might use it as source of inspiration in some aspects, these are completely different RPGs, each standing on very different gameplay pillars. Like comparing Command and Conquer and Civilization - yes, both are strategy games.

It would make more sense to compare Elex to ME Andromeda, which is mentioned in the Moriendors translation. Both being open-world games, they even have very similar jetpack jumping mechanic. But Andromeda was released bout half a year before first Elex, it could hardly have impact on how Elex is designed.

 

[Nereida]

Also!

Elex is one word, and Mass Effect is two words. That proves that they are not comparable in anything.

 

[Andrew23]

Also!

Some pears are yellow and some cars are yellow. That proves it makes sense to compare pears and cars.

 

[Nereida]

Now I imagine that if you are a pear producer, of let's say a company is called SharkNibbles, and you are trying to make cars with a 20-year-old design, parts and engineering tools, the best you can expect is be laughed at.

Pears are only cool when they are freshly picked. And when they are not trying to be cars.

 

[Andrew23]

Now I imagine that if you are a pear producer, of let's say a company is called SharkNibbles, and you are trying to make cars with a 20-year-old design, parts and engineering tools, the best you can expect is be laughed at.

Pears are only cool when they are freshly picked. And when they are not trying to be cars.

Funny and silly but irrelevant.

 

[Nereida]

I like funny and silly!

But irrelevant, I think is saying that Elex and Mass Effect have nothing to be compared about just to save Elex from the brutal embarrassment in that comparison. You could even see it as a good thing, that someone even put those two names in the same sentence. But PB fans are delusional, so I see why they don't like the raw exposure to hurtful truth. Truth is also that this was made into a news post, so I guess you'll have to deal with it.

Tough.

 

[Mordegar]

Elex 2 looks and plays more like a direct Sci Fi Gothic than a Mass Effect. I've never felt myself playing a Mass Effect while playing any of the Pbytes Games in the past.
To be honest, the Pbytes formula of making RPG's is even older than any Mass Effect in existence and they haven't changed much since Gothic 1 about that.
No matter what inspiration Pankratz and his Team took when making Elex 2, they failed to deliver anything not obviously related to Gothic's base formula in the past.

 

[Andrew23]

I have impression PB, as company, lives under some psychological complex which makes them, repeatedly, undertake projects of such scope that is beyond their resources (being experience, money or whatever). By going overboard and delivering unfinished or unpolished games, they are just loosing existing fans. My opinion.

I like funny and silly!

But PB fans are delusional, so I see why they don't like the raw exposure to hurtful truth. Truth is also that this was made into a news post, so I guess you'll have to deal with it. Tough.

People playing these games are fully aware what these games look like and how are played. You cant tell then anything new. That you dont get why other people like something you dont, thats just your issue Im afraid.