Eurojank. That’s a new word I learned since I started playing ELEX II and, in my understanding, it refers to AA games that are as ambitious as AAA titles but without the budget. And, interestingly enough, last year we actually covered a game that fits that description called Biomutant. (Which was coincidentally also published by THQ Nordic.) At first glance, it may sound almost offensive to use the term, however, there is a niche audience that really adores games in this genre. Players who see the game’s bugs as charming and ones who accept the technical shortcomings as part of the package deal. It’s that very same community that made the original ELEX sort of a cult hit. For me, as someone who has not played the first game, going into ELEX II was a journey into the unknown. A step into the latest game from a developer behind Gothic one of the most famous “eurojank” games ever made. Though I knew little about the game or its niche genre when I stepped foot on Magalan, after over 20 hours into my playthrough and several more spent browsing related webpages, I have come to realize that this review has to address two separate audiences. The first, are those who didn’t know what eurojank meant until this introduction, and the second, are those who are already fans of the genre.
ELEX II from Piranha Bytes is a sequel to the 2017 vintage open-world RPG called ELEX. The game takes place a few years after its predecessor and follows Jax, a war hero whose efforts to warn everyone about forthcoming dangers have fallen on deaf ears. In the time between the last game and this one, Jax is married and even has a child, though he is estranged from both as the game starts. You shape Jax’s character with the dialogue decisions you make but, at least in the low destruction path that I took, that doesn’t change him much past his gritty emotionless war hero. Despite having spent all this time with him on this journey, I just didn’t find myself rooting for Jax in his noble mission to save Magalan. Luckily, there is a rather colorful cast of characters that accompany Jax on this long journey, and their stories, struggles, and sentiments were much stronger motivators to accomplish the mission. A similar note can also be said about the game’s overarching story. There are lots of twists and turns, but overall, I found some of the side storylines more memorable than the main narrative. Due to may lack of knowledge about the first game, I spent a lot of time on the ELEX wiki getting caught up on the lore and story. The game is certainly playable without prior knowledge, but with so many returning characters and referenced events, it’s easier to go in with a general idea of what happened on Magalan six years ago.
Of course, to see all that (side) content, you have to explore. Magalan is an expansive setting, though that isn’t always for the better. For those who played the first game, the map size isn’t much different in ELEX II, but a lot has changed in terms of how it looks and what factions are in power. The sense that the Magalan in ELEX is an ever-evolving world can be seen with the changes made from the first game to this one, as well as with the choices you make in ELEX II alone. I felt that some of my decisions could really impact the land and its people as I played. That being said, the world can still feel empty. Enemies are scattered around randomly waiting for you to walk by and NPCs mostly exist in half-empty towns. In the later hours of the game, this encouraged me to just use fast travel. This is a shame because the jetpack is one of the best gameplay mechanics in the game.
Speaking of gameplay, I want to share a forewarning I received from the developers before I played the game, which pretty much said that ELEX II is not easy. The game does have a few difficulty options but by and large, the game is hard. Especially in the opening hours. The third-person combat is fine for the most part, with the exception of close quarter combat with multiple targets where the camera can get a little jumpy. You start off with a broken pipe as your main weapon but you can build your character up in your image. It’s good to take a second to decide what kind of build you want prior to playing because it’s easier to allocate attribute points each time you level up. There is also a skill tree that lets you further flush out your character. Wheater you want a cunning pickpocket or an intelligent mage, the game gives the player ample freedom. This freedom is a big part of what made ELEX II enjoyable for me. Seeing the character grow, less in terms of story and more in terms of strength, makes it fun to return to previously seen sights and its enemies. Even if that all-powerful feeling doesn’t last long thanks to the fact that there are always bigger fish waiting to eat you up. Figuratively speaking.
From a visual standpoint, ELEX II sort of looks like a last-generation game. There are some pretty sights to be seen, and I do want to give a special mention to the wind effect on the grass and trees, but for the most part, ELEX II is nothing to write home about. Visual bugs, a topic I will talk a bit more about later, are common and can really hold back the game. Hair textures for characters will sometimes be transparent and lighting, although well done in the open world, can turn certain sequences so dark or so bright that it’s hard to see any details. I also want to mention that I played the game on the Xbox Series X, and I was a bit disappointed with the lack of graphics options. The new generation of consoles packs a lot of power and I expected there to be more than just a simple gamma scale.
Things aren’t much better when it comes to the sound department. Voice acting is fine with each of the actors committing to the sometimes over-the-top characters they play. The following isn’t really a note on sound, but I do want to mention briefly that the game has some poor sound sync which made it almost better to just listen to certain conversations than to look at the screen. And there are a few mistranslations and grammar mistakes in the dialogue as well, they are likely due to translation errors, and are not all too regular. Back to sound, the ELEX II score is fitting for its sci-fi fantasy setting, but there were also no real standout musical pieces that made me want to stop and stare at the sights.
Alright, time to talk about bugs and glitches. It doesn’t take long to see that ELEX II is rough around the edges. From awkward conversations where the camera was inside an object instead of showing the character it was supposed to be focusing on, to one peculiar glitch where a giant rock appeared over the bastion that acts as Jax’s base camp, I could fill this review with examples of things going wrong. However, if you’re a fan of the first game, these sort of hiccups aren’t a surprise. And if you’re new to the series, you should go in with ample warning that they are in the game. Perhaps it was my time with Fallout 3 that has prepared me for such open-mindedness when it comes to bugs, but once I accepted the reality of the situation, I found myself having a much better time with the game. The game did crash on me once, but thanks to frequent auto-saves, no more than three minutes of progress was lost.
Now I want to address the fans directly. Some of you have been waiting on ELEX II for a few years, and I can sense that eagerness over the last few days of hanging out on the ELEX subreddit and following up on ELEX threads. Putting aside my problems with the game, I really think that you will love ELEX II. The second game builds onto the first game in almost every way. To me, it’s evident after seeing players’ complaints with the first game back in 2017 that Piranha Bytes has been paying attention. This is smart because with how little promotion there was leading up to launch, it seems Piranha Bytes and THQ Nordic are banking on the fans from the first game to return. And if you are planning on returning to the game, all my aforementioned bugs and glitches are expected. I would recommend waiting for a sale and hope performance issues are patched out by then. But, if you’ve already locked down your copy of the game and are just reading this to hold yourself over until the game is released, then I think you will be fine with the game as is.
I want to take a paragraph to address the elephant in the room. Or the elephants rather. In the last two weeks, Horizon: Forbidden West and Elden Ring have both released to rave reviews from fans and critics alike. With a release right after both titans, it may seem like THQ Nordic is sending out their game to die. However, the fact of the matter is that while the open-world RPG tagline might be seen in all three games, they are all different and all aim for different audiences. There will certainly be a spillover of players from one game to the next, but similar to how Elden Ring will be lauded by fans of Souls-like games, I hope ELEX II will also find a home with fans who have been looking forward to this game with wide eyes for the last year. In short, this is not a case of one game eating another’s lunch, like Halo Infinite and Battlefield 2042 for example.
To wrap it up, ELEX II is a massive open-world RPG from some of the most renowned AA open-world RPG developers currently working. Looking at the studio’s 33-person staff, it’s easy to see that ELEX II is punching above its weight class and it’s hard not to be impressed. For returning fans, this is everything you enjoyed about the first game, but a bit better. However, new players should be warned that the game does have a lot of problems. Frequent bugs, glitches, and a general lack of polish can ruin the playthrough for someone expecting a smooth gameplay experience. There is fun to be had in ELEX II, it’s just forgettable if you aren’t already attached to its narrative. That all being said, if you are interested in picking up the game, ELEX II is out tomorrow, March 1, for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC. A code was provided by the publisher for review.
