ELEX II Reviews
Elex II is an initially promising but ultimately disappointing RPG that fails to be better than the original.
Elex II is a perfect continuation of the Piranha Bytes RPG formula, but it is unlikely to win over new fans. The graphics and gameplay are very similar to the first game and are beginning to feel increasingly dated, a feeling exacerbated by all the fantastic games released in the last few months. If you're already a fan of Piranha Bytes then this is exactly what you've been waiting for, for good and ill.
Elex II was a promise. The promise to take the good things that had been done previously and to re-propose them improved and purged of their defects. Honestly, the choice made, that is to re-present a huge product in its branches, is not a happy one. Piranha Bytes doesn't have the means to ape more expensive brands. But it does have the means and the ability to tell and describe stories and worlds that are pulsating with life, realistic and plausible. In all honesty, it would be enough to take a few steps backwards - simplifying the combat, renouncing a few hundred objects and environments - to offer a reduced but homogeneous videogame. The reasons for this grade, sufficient but nothing more, are therefore to be attributed to the lack of farsightedness of a production that, after years in this sense, cannot but realise its limits and should finally aim at its strong points, which are there and make Elex II at least playable.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Elex 2 does not give a good initial experience due to technical issues. But if you stick with it and grind out its systems, you’ll be rewarded with a great time. The game may have received a 6/10, but if I were to review it based on just how many times I’ve laughed at something, it’s a solid 9/10.
ELEX II offers plenty of new and familiar content that should satisfy the players of the first game, but it comes with a lot of technical issues.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Elex II is a particular game, to say the least. If you were a fan of the initial game, you're going to like this one. But if you didn't play it, you could have an unsatisfactory experience. The idea of a minimalist HUD is striking, an open world that you must explore to discover its secrets, difficulty in combat. But there are many things that do not become satisfactory, the main one being combat. Elex II does not manage to get out of that feeling that you are playing a retro game, having launched in the middle of 2022.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Elex 2 has provided a good experience with different categories of peoples and their diverse and overlapping disciplines and tasks, but the surface fighting system and technical problems have made it difficult to move to the category of games that are recommended not to be missed.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Elex 2 features interesting elements and has a lot of content that can be fun and engaging for fans of the free world role-playing titles, but at the same time it also suffers from numerous structural and technical problems that distance itself from today's standards of role-playing titles.
Review in Persian | Read full review
While there's plenty to applaud in ELEX II's freeform open-world approach, it comes at something of a cost. Technical issues, inconsistent dialogue quality, and some wonky combat do much to muddy the good that can be found in Piranha Bytes expansive RPG.
If you like classic RPGs and are able to make big concessions on the technical side, Elex 2 is a game not to be missed.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Elex 2 asks a lot of you and only gives so much in return. The game provides several special concepts and attempts, but the team's resources limit their potential the entire way. As long as you know what Elex 2 has in store, you might find something there for you.
Elex II retains both the best qualities and the worst problems of its predecessor, but it's overall a better game. Still, it's hard to recommend it without qualms to anyone who hasn't played a Piranha Bytes rpg before.
Review in Italian | Read full review
ELEX II builds upon its predecessor, offering up an enticing return to Magalan, a setting that is as enjoyable as ever. As with all Piranha Bytes games, there is a level of unrefined gameplay to be found. Audio and animations can be a mixed bag. But beyond the rigidness, there’s a game full of sprawling, deep systems that give the player the freedom to tackle this medieval/sci-fi mash-up their own way. It’s unfortunate that the design of a bygone era comes under fire from resolvable technical problems that make it harder to overlook the rougher edges. After a few patches, ELEX II may be able to shine brighter, but as it currently stands it has one too many jagged edges overshadowing its greater parts.
Elex 2 is basically a typical Piranha Bytes game with everything that comes with it. The good and the bad. And while it's probably technically inferior to the first one, it's much better in storytelling, content, mechanics, and world-building. It has all the things that were missing from the first game. It's fun, it draws you into its magical world, and it won't let you go until dozens of hours later if you give it a chance. But that can be problematic, as the game's technical state, weird 3D models, animations, and crappy optimization can effectively put you off in the first hour of play. Ultimately, it's just fun. But at what cost?
Review in Czech | Read full review
It looks like Piranha Byte seems comfortable staying in its shell, as Elex 2 is keeping the things that the fans loved about the first game but they haven't made any attempt to raise the bar.
Review in Arabic | Read full review
Come for the jetpack, and stay for flawed but truly free form classic style of RPG Elex 2 represents.
While the first Elex left me with positive expectations for the sequel, the second part had the opposite effect.
Review in Polish | Read full review
Elex 2 is one of the games that I have the hardest to review. On the one hand, we have here a good story and interesting assumptions that are overshadowed at every step by archaic mechanics. Still, fans of Piranha's work will have fun with this title.
Review in Polish | Read full review
The usual strengths of Piranha Bytes games are downed by archaic mechanics.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Elex II is a uniquely ambitious game made by a developer that already focuses on ambitious games, and Piranha Bytes almost stuck the landing.