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ELEX - Interview @ Gamingbolt

by Hiddenx, 2017-01-26 20:32:59

Farflame spotted this ELEX-interview at Gamingbolt:

ELEX Interview: Of Jetpacks and Magic

The makers of Gothic and Risen discuss their upcoming new IP.

It’s not easy creating a new action RPG IP, especially one in a new universe that combines science fiction with fantasy. The challenge is especially interesting for Piranha Bytes, the developer of ELEX which is better known for its work on the Gothic and Risen series. What separates ELEX from those other franchises and how does it compare to today’s standard for open world action RPG action?

GamingBolt spoke lead game designer and studio head Björn Pankratz along with story writer and game designer Jennifer Pankratz to find out more about ELEX.

With two established properties in Gothic and Risen, what motivated you to go down a different route and create a brand new IP?


We’ve been developing open-world fantasy RPGs for the last 20 years, and so we felt that there’s time for something new. But on the other hand, we love to create fantasy games with a lot of freedom in a simulated, living game world, so we thought we should stick to that, but approach it from a new angle. So, we were looking for something that has more stark contrasts, and gives us more gameplay possibilities, without being stale at the same time, and so we ended up with our science-fantasy setting.

This new setting allows us to add so many more new gameplay features, like hacking or the jetpack.  Especially the jetpack, which also is a symbol for the freedom we want to give the players in our game world – moving through the game world without boundaries. And with THQ Nordic we finally found a publisher that also believed in the concept, and voilà – ELEX was born.

How do the various factions in the game affect the player’s experience? Are there are special abilities to be gained and side missions to unlock by aligning with these factions?

Each faction on Magalan – the world our game is set in – has its own history and a distinct way of life. Of course, they’ve also got their own armors, ranks, weapons, skills and side missions, but what really counts is their view on the future of Magalan, and how they want to shape it.

Picking one of the factions is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in the game, and your choice will change how other NPCs in the world see you and react to you, and that will also alter your storyline. Besides that, we also added a new moral system to the game that includes many moral choices that also change the behavior of crew members and other NPCs.
[...]

Information about

ELEX

SP/MP: Single-player
Setting: Post-Apoc
Genre: Action-RPG
Platform: PC, PS4, Xbox One
Release: Released


Details