There are a ton of games releasing between February and March, many of which arehotly anticipated titles likeElden 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 isElex 2, and it is the sequel to THQ Nordic and Piranha Bytes’ 2017 title.
Elex 2is 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 2is one such title, and ahead of its March release,THQ Nordicand Piranha Bytes have also released a new combat trailer.
RELATED:Elex 2 Release Date Confirmed in New 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 clearimprovement over the originalElex. What’s more, the combat trailer also shows off something that hadn’t been seen before:Elex 2combat in midair, thanks to the now-improved jetpacks.
Commander Jax, the protagonist ofElex 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 forElex 2’s combat, and hopefully, it helps build anticipation for the upcoming release.Elex 2may be overshadowed in its release window, but it’s something fans shouldn’t sleep on.
Recently, Game Rant was able to play through thefirst chapter ofElex 2in 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 2very 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, andopen-world RPG elements inElex 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, butElex 2’s combat trailer does much to build anticipation and set expectations.
ELEX 2releases for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 1st, 2022.
