ELEX II Hands-On Preview

Speaking in gameplay terms, the Berserkers, Morkons and Albs are what we would call the "Main Factions" of ELEX II, of which Jax can directly become a member, with the Clerics and Outlaws having a much more minor role - but by no means negligible. Moving on to other impressions more relevant to gameplay than world-building, let me first mention a similarity to the first ELEX: the Lockpicking and Hacking minigames, which appear in II almost unchanged and with exactly the same logic behind them. The philosophy behind learning new Skills is also the same, with the spending of Skill Points at specialized Trainers in order to gain the required knowledge. Similar but "with a twist" is the existence of the Destruction meter, which is more or less the same system as the Coldness of the first ELEX. From "Coldness-Hotness", in II the bipole has become "Creation-Destruction", and the choices in the game's dialogues corresponding to these 2 moods occasionally result in a pop-up informing us whether our Destruction is increasing or decreasing, and by how much. It becomes clear that due to the conversion of the Coldness meter, no longer does consuming Elex Potions result in a corresponding increase as it did in the first game.

Ranged battles in the game are also more or less similar to ELEX, but not Melee ones, as the Combo system seems to have been removed from them and the process is now a bit more streamlined (Light attacks with a single click, Heavy attacks with a prolonged click, stamina meter, dodge, parry, etc). Among the enrichments/additions worth mentioning is also the introduction of a Stealth system, which finally allows us to avoid being seen by enemies that don't have us in their line of sight, or even get close enough to them to throw a backstabbing sneak attack that does increased damage!

Some changes are also introduced in the field of Crafting. Firstly, there are now dedicated crafting benches that correspond to different items we can craft: ranged weapons workbench, Melee weapons (usually a blacksmith's anvil), Lab bench for potions, various cooking stations, and the new Jet Pack Bench (more on the updated jet pack right below). Secondly, upgrading weapons now follows some sort of "rule of three": e.g. we can upgrade a "Damaged Blade" to a better Blade with increased damage (but the same, fixed stat requirements!) only if we own 3 identical such Damaged Blades in our inventory, which we can process on the respective crafting bench in order to replace them with 1 item of increased quality.

Perhaps the most impressive gameplay mechanism modification compared to the first ELEX is the revamped Jet Pack. Which, instead of offering just a default short-duration boost (or fall deceleration), can now accept a number of add-ons via modification at the corresponding Jet Pack bench, add-ons that are unlocked by spending Skill Points (or having the appropriate upgrade item in our inventory): fixed hover capability (so we can aim ranged weapons while in the air), boosters that allow us to dodge left and right while "flying", increased fuel capacity (this can be "leveled" 50 times in total for maximum capacity and flight duration), retrorockets so we don't die if we fall from a high altitude even if we run out of fuel... And, finally, Sprint Boosters, which allow us to fly straight ahead at high speed like Rocketeer (or Iron Man, depending on one's age and the pop culture reference one can most easily understand)!

Obviously, the available fuel for the Jet Pack is quite limited in the early stages of the game, so don't expect to be able to fly continuously from the get-go or, once you unlock the Sprint Boosters, to be able to fly across vast areas of the map at supersonic speeds early on. As the available fuel increases, however, flying and covering larger distances (and, of course, the view from above) is truly one of the greater "small pleasures" that ELEX II can offer.

Since we are almost 4 full months away from its official release, it becomes clear that the ELEX II experience I've had so far in the Preview is going to be further upgraded/enriched until its final release. As such, it's probably unnecessary to dwell on any bugs/glitches I encountered, or "flaws" such as the quality of certain character models. Even under these circumstances though, three things are worth mentioning.

The first is that, even in this early build, the game's environments are simply gorgeous, whether we're talking about the lush green lands of Tavar, the snows of Ignadon, or the desolate slopes of Carakis. The second is that the exploration aspect of Magalan's hand-crafted world is consistently as satisfying and "rewarding" as we've come to expect in Piranha Bytes games. Logbooks and letters in seemingly desolate locations enrich the lore or offer random short stories of joy or sorrow from the world's inhabitants. Unique weapons are placed in seemingly inaccessible places such as hidden caves or rooftops of tall buildings, waiting to be discovered by the persistent explorer. Treasure Chests, metals or Elex Potions are waiting for the player to collect them from ruined huts in the middle of nowhere.

I've already mentioned the third point twice above, but it's worth mentioning a third time: ELEX II is a Piranha Bytes RPG. In every sense of the phrase. Meaning that this familiar and damn fun freedom of choice and movement is constantly a given, and that applies to everything. Whether it's the battles, as mentioned above, or the choice of how to approach most quests, or our interaction with NPCs, Factions and the relationships between them, with the results of our choices being varied and probably affecting the world state until the game's ending.

Beyond this freedom, of course, Jax's ultimate goal in ELEX II remains to counter the Skyand threat. And to that end he moves through the Main Story, gathering friends and would-be allies who are willing to stand by his side against the alien invaders. But who/what are these Skyands, anyway? What are their plans? What goes on inside their strange Spires? How do they relate to the very existence of Elex? What effect does the strange variety of purple Elex that appeared after their arrival have on the people and flora-fauna of Magalan?

In the end, can the Skyands even be successfully countered? What hope can a forgotten veteran like Jax have, even with the help provided by one or more of the world's factions, who turned a deaf ear to Jax's warnings instead of preparing in time? Are Jax, Caja and their son ultimately more "special" characters than their friends and, more importantly, their enemies initially assume?

The answers to these questions, and many more, on March 1, 2022.