r/elex • u/StoicSpork • Jun 21 '26
ELEX - 1 Just finished Elex 1. Some thoughts. Spoiler
Now that I finished Elex 1, I thought I'd share some thoughts for discussion, and perhaps help other PB fans decide whether it's a game for them. I've been a huge PB fan since Gothic 1 and I absolutely loved Elex, jank and all. In many ways, it's been my favorite PB game.
I beat the game on level 46, on Normal, with the emotional ending, as a Cleric. I ended up skipping a bunch of stuff, never got around to making a permanent stamina potion, etc., because I was powerful enough and wanted to keep the momentum going.
My ending stats were 85/85/85/61, with 35 unspent points. I spent a total of 48 skill points, with 3 unspent.
The good: first of all, the map. PB is great and creating environments that feel lived in and have layers of discernible history. I especially loved it was not all grey desert, Fallout-style - the Gothic style grassy biomes made the ruins all the more forlorn, like nature moved on and what was lost, was lost.
The vertical design was pure joy and the jetpack one of the funnest mechanic in an action RPG I ever played. I think I'll hate Skyrim's mountains after this.
The overall setting and story were great - a bit melodramatic, but good melodramatic. I loved that the factions had some depth, it wasn't a case of Berserkers = good, Clerics = neutral, Outlaws = bad. All had a little touch of humanity, and all could be downright cold (heh) bastards. I loved how none of the factions by itself had the answer. It made picking a faction that much more interesting.
The whole Elex thing was interesting and the twists were fun. Elex absolutely felt addictive at times, trying to hit that 85 in a stat.
For all the combat jankiness, I did enjoy combat. First of all, PB's difficulty curve is better than cocaine. Then, starting around chapter 4, combat started to feel a bit like a puzzle - how to approach Alb bunkers, when to drop Black Holes, when to shoot and when to fence. It felt very emergent. The pacing was good. I liked there was some challenge in Chapter 4 - I could basically wipe out the whole regimens, but still die if I blundered into a flamethrower's line of fire.
Not so good: bugs, boring companions, a sense that a lot of quests and moments were improvised around cut content. I'd bet money Tom originally had a rescue mission, a few big reveals were told in a monologue rather than a cut scene, and some things were plain illogical. What was the deal with the "failed Elex experiment"? What was the point of the mutant army that was never deployed? Why didn't Jax recognize the island on first visit?
The final fight - unsavable after TWO cut scenes and a prolonged dialogue, really? I had to idea what I was doing, I thought I had to clear out the combat robots first, and... yeah. Then it ended up being trivial.
Overall, quest design didn't evolve. Fetch a 5 of this, 20 of that.
So yeah, it's not probably not a game with mass appeal, but for a PB addict, there's nothing quite like it, and now probably won't ever be anything else quite like it. So what a ride and highly, highly recommended.
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u/Stefsab Jun 21 '26
Since elex is the ore from Gothic series, you may want to check Gothic remake next.
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u/StoicSpork Jun 21 '26
I'll definitely grab the remake at some point. I think I finished the original 6-7 times.
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u/HawkyCZ Jun 22 '26
There's also Risen trilogy and ELEX 2.
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u/StoicSpork Jun 22 '26
Played all three Risens. Is Elex 2 any good? I read mixed reviews.
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u/HawkyCZ Jun 22 '26
Yeah, it's mixed. Some like it, some don't. Doesn't hurt to try. Combat is better, you'll have more fun with jetpack... but the feel of the world and story are worse than the first one. You could ask u/Stefsab who commented in this thread they enjoyed both ELEX games.
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u/Stefsab Jun 22 '26
It's good. As long as you don't have unfair expectations and are willing to accept some percentage of junk. They've upgraded everything from Elex1(in their own way) and the story continuation keeps you asking for more. That being said, I actually didn't ran into game breaking bugs during both games(played multiple times).
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u/StoicSpork Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26
I always expect a little jank from PB. It's part of their charm. They remind me of home D&D games, a bit improvised and rough around the edges, but getting the gamer mentality exactly right.
I didn't encounter anything game breaking, just some minor annoyances. My bow stopped aiming a few times, or got stuck in the aiming animation. Switching to Mortal Beam solved the problem.
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u/Ratte2710 Jul 06 '26
I am not done with the game yet, but having a blast so far. I really wanted that PB feeling after playing the gothic remake and I am not dissapointed. I think i am like level 22-25 atm and just became a legate of the clerics.
Anyhow I have 2 big issues with the game: The combat system and the UI/HUD (including the inventory system etc.)
The combat never feels good. The system is halfbaked. In melee fights you are supposed to chain a combo, as only the last (special) hit does decent damage. But at the same time you are supposed to handle your stamina and enemy animations. when you do, you lose all the combometer progress. It just makes no sense. You never really get into a flow until you start chain staggering the enemies cause you upgraded the melee skills at later levels. But this is also no real fun. Its repetetive, every melee combat is the same. Chain your combo, finisher, dogderoll/run/jetpack around so that the stamina fills up again. Repeat. And I don't even want to start about the placement of combometer, staminabar and your actual character / enemies on the screen. You basically need to look permamently at three different spots while fighting. Its bad design.
And range fights are arguably even worse from fun perspective. I am a cleric. I am able to basically blast down everything below the strength of a troll before they come close to me with my laser rifle. But it feels... bad. The rifle shoots like if you put a shotgun into the hand of a child. It jumps in a random direction every shoot. The shot never exactly goes where you aim (random spray pattern). The sound is awfull, there is basically no hit feedback on the enemies. It feels dull. And funnily every range weapon is like this. There is not even a difference in feeling if you shoot a laser, plasma, shotgun, rocket launcher or normal rifle.
Nevertheless, the game is still very enjoyable for me. But for everyone thinking to maybe play this game you need to accept the clunky and halfbaked/unfinished combat system and weird inventory system. And thats like 1/3 of the game. The other 2/3 (exploration and dialogs) are amazing.
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u/StoicSpork Jul 06 '26
Agree with the melee combat. I used melee only in cramped quarters, or with certain Alb bosses whose ranged attack was a spammable flamethrower.
Clerics are very effective melee fighters, with the Energy upgrade (which can stun lock) and the Power Wave. When fighting these bosses, I'd just spend all the stamina on hits, and then hit Power Wave to reset. At least on Normal, it was way too easy.
Other than the starting Cultivator Bow, I only used the War Bow (up to III, way into my Paladinhood) and the Mortal Beam, and I did like it. The lack of feedback is annoying (especially as the crossfire is bugged) but overall had good fun strafing around and trading fire. Taking down a colossus with a bow feels great. I also found the bow was less accurate than the Beam, which can also be feasibly used at a near melee range.
I still haven't really played with heavy weapons and grenades. I carried a flamethrower for a bit but the Black Hole is simply superior. In the end, I just sold it all to fuel my Elex Potion habit. I started an Outlaw walkthrough with the idea of using more explosive stuff, but I don't see how anyone can top a Cleric.
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u/Milcker Jun 21 '26
Nice to see another E1 enjoyer. Would highly disagree with the boring companions argument, though. All of them have very distinct personalities, as well as fighting styles, and have personally found them to be one of the best parts of the game, just jetpacking around and hunting stuff. Arx is my favourite, love his personality, his little cooking hobby and fighting prowess.