ELEX II

 Xbox Series X
Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
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  1. Post Arcade (National Post)
    Apr 22, 2022
    40
    This may have stood a minor chance in the bone dry days of summer, but with so many truly remarkable open world experiences currently on offer at the moment, it’s tough to see why anyone would opt for Elex II.
  2. ZTGD
    Mar 23, 2022
    30
    Like most RPG’s Jax will not save the world alone, Elex 2 does offer some companions to take along on the journey. Only one at a time can accompany the player but because the AI is so laughably bad in this game, they really only serve a purpose as a ‘meat shield’. Honestly, my companions were getting dropped more than they were hitting enemies in almost every instance. It was about this time that I really began to wonder what people were talking about when they praised the original game so much. Maybe it is that much better than this one, but Elex 2 is pretty bad. Worse than that I personally didn’t find it fun, no disrespect to those that love it. As I said at the outset, I don’t mind ‘janky’ games, but Elex 2 was just ‘bridge too far’ for me.
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  1. Xboxygen
    Mar 22, 2022
    Piranha Bytes is known for its – technically speaking – old school productions with rich content. Elex 2 further confirms this reputation and remains a title that one loves as much as he hates it. It will take many hours of suffering before you can really enjoy it. Therefore, it’s hard for the average player to get involved in a game that is graphically outdated and whose gameplay transforms the combat phases into real torture. A title to be reserved for fans of the studio or pad masochists.

Awards & Rankings

98
#98 Best Xbox Series X Game of 2022
50
#50 Most Discussed Xbox Series X Game of 2022

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 38 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 38
  3. Negative: 6 out of 38
  1. gawster
    Mar 5, 2022
    10
    I have so far put 12 hours in to the game and I can't really see what anyone can complain about. Those who talk about the technical issues areI have so far put 12 hours in to the game and I can't really see what anyone can complain about. Those who talk about the technical issues are missing the point Elex was fascinating. with high points like Abessa and finding the truth about Callan. Or even just making a decision about whether to use the moldy bread . Elex 2 is more of the same. By using a similar but not quite the same world map we can see the passage of time on the world. The characters are believable for the world they are in and while they might not all be that likeable at times they do fit into this excellent world of Magalan. The level of freedom, exploration and choice available should only be commended. The game often has me agonising over what may seem trivial choices in quests. Can I trust this person? what will the ramification's be if I do? Is it just easier to kill everyone? Its a fun game with a wide variety of quests and surprising moments. They have better balanced the difficulty compared to the first game and honestly combat is much improved over the first game (it won't win any awards but it works fine and much of what people complain about just isn't true, but that's the internet for you) There are many AAA titles that have worse combat/worlds/level design that everyone raves about continuously. Elex 2 is interesting, quirky, a genuine blast to explore. The care and attention put into this game is astounding. I think it would be very interesting to see what PB could do with a triple a budget but we will probably never find out. If you need everything polished then you should look elsewhere. If you want to vibrant full world, with a wide variety of quests and fascinating people then Elex 2 is more than worth your time. This is my 5th PB game and they are fast becoming one of my favourite developers and If I could preorder Elex 3 now I would.… Full Review »
  2. mattwalks32
    Mar 4, 2022
    9
    I'm going to preface this by saying, to truly enjoy this game I think you have to get past the 7-10 hour mark. Be patient! It gets so muchI'm going to preface this by saying, to truly enjoy this game I think you have to get past the 7-10 hour mark. Be patient! It gets so much better (you did it with elden ring you can do it with this game!). This game is going to get hate because of the janky controls, and the fact that it is not the most polished game on the market. But you can tell the developers poured everything they had to make this game a unique experience. The reason I rated this game so highly is the amount of variety and vastness of the quests you receive. Almost every quest I've done is completely different from the last. It's a breath of fresh air compared to most triple A games (fetch quests, go here kill this guy, etc.) The quests, factions to join, and world are so unique and everytime I load up the game I'm excited to see what's next. I'm willing to look past janky controls and subpar combat if the world and quests keep me guessing and it's done exactly that. I often find myself playing and think "Finally something different" compared to the same old same old we see from triple A developers. Overall, a super fun game if you look past some rough combat and the occasional janky control… Full Review »
  3. Nerevarinho
    Jul 18, 2023
    5
    I very much loved Elex 1 back then on PC, but I am disappointed with Elex 2 on Xbox Series S.

    Performance: The “optimized for Xbox Series    I very much loved Elex 1 back then on PC, but I am disappointed with Elex 2 on Xbox Series S.

    Performance:
    The “optimized for Xbox Series X/S” label is a big lie, it is even very stuttery on performance mode. 60fps exists only when looking at a mountain wall in front of the face.
    Game freezed during save. Game freezed and hard crashed during play.

    Mission design:
    There are Multiple backtrackings in early missions.
    It's no fun being taken for a fool by the NPC just because the quest designer doesn't write the dialogue well.
    Mission chain proceeds without marking the next automatically accepted mission as the current mission.
    Too much talking after 8 hours so far.
    Constant struggle in XP, forcing me to do dialogue quests instead of exploring the world.
    After 40 hours all the dialogues became lengthy, it was enough. Wanted to complete the game finally. In the end I skipped almost all the dialogue.
    Many backtrackings and some fetch quests (eg. kill 15 curators) in main missions.
    During the end battle, a companion forced-talk me to do her own quest.
    Endboss was pathetically easy. End cutscene was a low quality video.
    After the end boss, a scripted scene ported me outside of the dungeon, but the last companions quest wanted to talk with all companions, and my last companion was still deep in the dungeon, and I had to run all the way back, just because the developers decided to teleport me outside.
    After the bonus mission, a very slow and prolonged summary of the entire story came up. It was so massively boring, I stopped it after the 3rd slide started. And each slide showed multiple short texts, one by one.
    The infinite jetpack unlock felt like a bug (or it is a bug), until I remembered that there was a short log entry "Master jetpack something". No celebration or popup message, no indication or whatsoever.

    Dialogues:
    Outlaw companion hates me, tries to kill me, his boss orders him to follow me, 5 min later you say to him "stay in the Bastion", and the companion says as if nothing happened "yeah sure".
    Too often you are sold as a stupid player. Options are offered just so that the NPC can say that you're stupid. But when the options are offered, as a player you expect content, missions or something. Sometimes the NPCs say that you are persistent and you get a new mission, but sometimes people call you an idiot or an ****
    With such a big sacrifice that Caja had to make, she was still happy like “:-) everything is fine, thank you :-)”.

    Models:
    Again recycled faces. Eyebrows on top of hairs.

    Level design:
    Too big halls, NPC runs while talking.
    Less motivated to explore than in Elex 1, many locations are empty and just placeholders for later missions.

    Animations:
    Running on stairs sometimes makes a climb animation.
    Dialogue animations are 99% super stiff, then the romance scene is overacted.

    Companions:
    Companion gets teleported to the most upper part of the open world area (where I never was before), after the Billy Idol forced cutscene.
    Drone was supposed to be a big friend of Jax, but has the most boring Companion missions.
    Some companions were not returning to Bastion.
    Son can just be left unprotected and I can jetpack through the sky, he ports to me immediately.

    Progression:
    After 11 hours of play, I was level 11 and still had 79 Attribute points left. I only spent points for an intelligence dialogue and to wield a basic sword.
    Completionist achievement is a wrong naming, it's just completing the main story.

    Combat:
    During fights a stamina info popup prevents you from defending yourself and lets you die.
    Humanoids again have predictable combat behavior.
    Meele does unwanted unbreakable animation, when attacking during a sprint.
    When knowing the AI behavior, it's easy to combat. In the dungeons, I could just run through them. Auto Aim focuses on enemies which are more distant, and thus not intended to be aimed to. Conclusion: First 30 hours with the faction quests were fun. Next 20 hours to the end were rather boring. End was rushed with illogical plot progress and no effort in concluding remaining quests in any context to the ending, as if the final battle had still to be done.    … Full Review »
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