There are a ton of games releasing between February and March, many of which are hotly anticipated titles like Elden Ring, Horizon Forbidden West, and more. One game, however, that shouldn’t be slept on releases in the thick of it, on March 1st, 2022. That game is Elex 2, and it is the sequel to THQ Nordic and Piranha Bytes’ 2017 title.
Elex 2 is an ambitious open-world RPG, defined by its Eurojank genre. What this essentially means is that it lacks the general polish of many AAA games but pushes the boundaries of ambition in gaming. Elex 2 is one such title, and ahead of its March release, THQ Nordic and Piranha Bytes have also released a new combat trailer.
Previously, devs at Piranha Bytes have discussed how the company wanted to improve the reactivity of the combat based on fan suggestions. This trailer shows a little of that, as players see how the weapons hit, how ranged weaponry works, how magic spells manage an area of effect, and more. Again, it’s not that AAA quality, but it’s a clear improvement over the original Elex. What’s more, the combat trailer also shows off something that hadn’t been seen before: Elex 2 combat in midair, thanks to the now-improved jetpacks.
Commander Jax, the protagonist of Elex 2, is also shown fighting many of the aliens, or Skyands, that have invaded Magalan. Players can look closely to see some new critters, among human enemies of course. Overall, it’s a pretty strong showcase for Elex 2’s combat, and hopefully, it helps build anticipation for the upcoming release. Elex 2 may be overshadowed in its release window, but it’s something fans shouldn’t sleep on.
Recently, The Best War Games was able to play through the first chapter of Elex 2 in a preview. Much of the original has been dialed up quite a bit in the sequel, which is to be expected, and on combat and its Eurojank roots, we wrote “the combat and movement animations are a bit awkward, set pieces and open-world items like mountains have a general lack of definition, but overall, it’s all very nit-picky things. Elex 2 very much feels like a triple-A title through the scope of an older computer game.”
Of course, this is easy to overlook because of the sheer ambition, storytelling, fun factor, and open-world RPG elements in Elex 2. Fans who fear the genre may not be in it for them shouldn’t worry so much, as it’s a new game that feels nostalgic and innovative all at once. It remains to be seen how heavily combat plays into that, as well as the general reception of the game at launch, but Elex 2’s combat trailer does much to build anticipation and set expectations.
ELEX 2 releases for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 1st, 2022.