ELEX - New Screenshots

[Myrthos]

Eye spotted these two screenshots from ELEX, which have been made available via their Twitter account.

More information.

 

[azarhal]

Finally a post-apoc game that isn't full of dust and sand.

Down side, PB latest game series shows some worrisome gameplay aspect creeping in.

 

[joxer]

I thought Pluto13 is above plaguespreading vanity among developers who sold their soul to social networks.

 

[Pessimeister]

I'm not quite yet fully sold on the slight hodge-podge combination of settings, but I have high hopes for PB as a fan to restore their status and mantle somewhat as a top notch RPG developer. Looking forward to hearing more, naturally.

 

[Giovanni1983]

Screeshots always look good. I'll wait to see how the game actually plays to give my judgement on it.

To be honest i kinda lost my faith in PB. Every time i played a new game from them the gameplay just seemed pretty much identical with the previous game. Their combat animations especially were not great. No elaborate defense system (dodging, rolling, parrying etc), slow response times to key/mouse clicks, in general pretty cumbersome and slow combat systems.

I really hope they can nail it with this one and i really hope they are using a new game engine as well. The Risen series engine was not something i liked.

 

[joxer]

Unlike you, I adore the engine and mock_angry_joe with combat only he can't understand, but it's their storytelling that IMO didn't get improved enough within Risen trilogy.

 

[JDR13]

To be honest i kinda lost my faith in PB. Every time i played a new game from them the gameplay just seemed pretty much identical with the previous game. Their combat animations especially were not great. No elaborate defense system (dodging, rolling, parrying etc), slow response times to key/mouse clicks, in general pretty cumbersome and slow combat systems.

What PB games have you played? The reason I ask is because your description of the combat doesn't seem very accurate to me.

Risen 2&3 are generally regarded as having the worst combat system, but even in those titles you could still roll and parry. I never experienced any kind of slowness with keyboard or mouse input either.

If you're comparing the combat to games like Dark Souls or Dragon's Dogma, then yeah.. I can see how the combat would seem clunky. PB's titles are a lot deeper in general though.

 

[Hyperion]

I thought Pluto13 is above plaguespreading vanity among developers who sold their soul to social networks.

It's sad to see them 'tweetering'. There's no hope for humankind. We all thought it would be a nuclear holocaust or another dinosaur killer rock falling from space that would end it all. But, sigh, the end is going to be a slow descent into non-sentience via twitter and facebook.

 

[Hyperion]

I'm not quite yet fully sold on the slight hodge-podge combination of settings, but I have high hopes for PB as a fan to restore their status and mantle somewhat as a top notch RPG developer. Looking forward to hearing more, naturally.

If they really wanted to do that, I think all they would have to do is make Gothic 5. But seems that will never happen.

 

[Hyperion]

Unlike you, I adore the engine and mock_angry_joe with combat only he can't understand, but it's their storytelling that IMO didn't get improved enough within Risen trilogy.

If Angry Joe says he hates a game, that's my cue to buy it immediately.

 

[azarhal]

If they really wanted to do that, I think all they would have to do is make Gothic 5. But seems that will never happen.

Do you really believe that a Gothic 5 would be any different than the path they started to follow with Risen? I personally doubt it.

 

[rjshae]

Decent detail on the texture and the shadows look good. Something about the fir tree branches isn't quite right though. It might be because the branches all use the same texture file, so there's not enough variation. Or maybe they just look too flat?

I wonder how long those power lines would last without periodic maintenance?

 

[JDR13]

Do you really believe that a Gothic 5 would be any different than the path they started to follow with Risen? I personally doubt it.

I would be highly surprised if a Gothic 5 was very similar to their last two games. Risen 3 didn't sell very well, and I think PB are smart enough to know that some changes need to be made now.

If they ever return to Gothic though, I don't think the game will be titled Gothic "5" considering there was never an official Gothic 4.

 

[Avantenor]

At this point, developing G5 wouldn't make any difference imho. Björn Pankratz mentioned in an interview that they felt exhausted by standard fantasy after Risen 3. That's the reason they tried to come up with something different. I can understand that and in the end it's about creativity. You can't force it.

On the other hand, PB for me is a little bit like an anachronism. They develop games that are in the veins of AAA titles, but technically they aren't up to that standards anymore and I don't think this will work forever.

But then there is also Cyanide, and I'm still surprised that they didn't already went bankrupt. So maybe there is a market for these imperfect games.

 

[JDR13]

On the other hand, PB for me is a little bit like an anachronism. They develop games that are in the veins of AAA titles, but technically they aren't up to that standards anymore and I don't think this will work forever.

On the contrary, I think PB's games are more AAA now then they've ever been. AAA doesn't mean better though.

 

[BoboTheMighty]

If you're comparing the combat to games like Dark Souls or Dragon's Dogma, then yeah.. I can see how the combat would seem clunky. PB's titles are a lot deeper in general though.

"Clunky" is the most encompassing word when it comes to game play design...is it animation transition, UI, controls or player movement?
Anyway, this honestly looks quite a bit behind from modern open world titles ( did Gothic III looked better?) , so I'm hoping PB will focus more on good quest design and stronger char progression this time around.
As for combat, it would be better to continue as Risen I ( which played like a VERY oversimplified Dark Souls), than Risen II&III since they lack animation quality to pull a more rhythmic play style.

 

[Avantenor]

On the contrary, I think PB's games are more AAA now then they've ever been. AAA doesn't mean better though.

AAA for me means open world technology, detailed environments, a lively, breathing world, exploration and all that things that are considered technically above average and therefor expensive to develop. I don't think, that story and consistency is part of that, because it's not necessarily that much about money (compare to indies). And I still have the impression, PB is aming for that goal. But I think their ambitions are higher than their budget and I'm unsure it they have a plan to solve that problem.

Said that, your right. The difference is, when PB started, they were technically cutting edge. Gothic released around the time of Ultima IX, it was the beginning of 3D CRPGs. Their control schemes were awkward from the beginning, but the rest was so impressive, that you simply got used to it to enjoy the rest. But they didn't evolve fast enough since that time and couldn't keep up with global players like Bethesda, Ubisoft or even Warner. And, of course, the whole G3 madness didn't help either. Now they are no longer cutting edge and their games still suffer from basic mistakes. Bad combo.

I don't know if there is already a niche for mediocre games. I guess there could be, because Rebellion and Cyanide/Focus Entertainment still exist. But I'm not sure if I'd really like to play that games any longer. And it is a little bit sad to see that company drifting towards a direction I won't follow, because I think they lost track. They had a big influence on my gaming experience and on a personal level.

 

[mercy]

Resembling Gothic 3's amazing forests with maximum tree's tweak, though not as nice as Gothic 3's nature graphics.

 

[forgottenlor]

I don't know if there is already a niche for mediocre games. I guess there could be, because Rebellion and Cyanide/Focus Entertainment still exist. But I'm not sure if I'd really like to play that games any longer. And it is a little bit sad to see that company drifting towards a direction I won't follow, because I think they lost track. They had a big influence on my gaming experience and on a personal level.

I would argue there is a niche for these kinds of games. First the really expensive AAA RPGs are pretty much made by Bethesda, Square Enix, CD RED, and Bioware, and we see maybe 1, maximum 2 a year.

Then there are the real small indie games, these often have fantastic gameplay, but have a limited audience because there are people who won't buy them because of their graphics, difficulty level, et.

Gamers who like AAA rpgs, but who'd never venture into indie rpgs will buy them to pass the time until the next AAA title comes out. Heck, I buy them from time to time and enjoy them, though I usually wait to they are like -75% off.

 

[Giovanni1983]

I did not compare their games to either dragons dogma or dark souls. I do not expect that kinda of a game from PB, it doesn't fit in their games. Also who cares about angryjoe.

All i said is that their combat systems are pretty mediocre and clunky. Risen had a pretty terrible parry or block if you had a shield but no dodge or roll or anything else.
Risen 2 had a roll which i found laughable and Risen 3 implemented roll which again was not all that great as it didn't seem "meaningful".

I think their games are usually pretty interesting and deep but a third-person RPG where you'll spend a lot of the time fighting should at least have a good combat system.