ELEX II Interview

Piranha Bytes’ creative director Björn Pankratz and game designer Jennifer Pankratz recently took part in this Twinfinite interview that was all about their team’s upcoming sci-fi RPG ELEX II. If you’d like to know more about the game’s unique aesthetic, combat improvements, standout features, and more, you should check it out.

Here’s a sample question:

Dylan: The open-world RPG genre is dominated by some of the biggest studios in the games industry. What is the answer to making ELEX II a unique and exciting experience that differentiates itself from other RPGs that are made with a far larger budget?

Piranha Bytes: Each Piranha Bytes Game follows a formula. Over the years, we have improved it and we are delivering a game, that we ourselves love to play. An RPG where the open world is truly open, where you can go everywhere from the beginning on – but where you will also get beaten by many enemies unless you are strong enough to overcome them. We want the players to be confronted with enemies, that they cannot defeat at the beginning.

We want the players to be motivated to get stronger, to find better equipment, and learn new skills. And eventually, they can beat that powerful ogre or that giant combat mech. We also want players to have a lot of choices during the game and to feel the impact, either soon or somewhat later. They always shall have the feeling of changing the fate of different characters, different factions, and also the whole gameworld itself. And we are offering different factions to align with. None of them are the good guys or the bad guys, they are all following an agenda and their own principles. So the players can decide which faction suits them best.

Or even – and is a premiere for a Piranha Bytes game – decide to not join a faction at all and try to rescue the world on their own. Yes, you are right, there are some big players in the open-world RPG genre, but we have found our area within the genre quite a while ago and that is what people love in Piranha Bytes games and why they play and buy our games. And with each game we’ve released, we have reached more people, who like them.