Elex 2 is lifeless, uninspired and floaty. The open world is vast and empty. There is nothing to seriously explore but the game litters you with useless junk loot in every corner. After a few hours in I freed myself of any monetary worries by selling a truckload of junk loot including toy cars, lanterns, plates, forks, and a stack of 600 cigarettes. Instead of interesting caves, houses, and bandit camps like in older titles, Elex 2 has lots and lots of random entirely empty points of interest and prefabricated houses and after a few hours in I couldn't care less about exploring any of them. NPCs are at the bottom of uncanny valley and although there are plenty of them, there is no life to any camp or settlement whatsoever. There is no excitement or the anticipation of discovery upon entering new areas.

I am simultaneously replaying Gothic 2, and although more than 20 years have passed, Gothic 2 is much more enjoyable and even addicting than Elex 2. It really feels as if Elex 2 extends the clunkiness, adds some unneeded genericism and gets rid of all the life and passion. This applies in comparison to the Gothic and Risen titles (which I am a huge fan of), but also compared to other games. Without the Piranha Bytes secret sauce, all that's left is horrendous combat (undercutting even the already horrendous combat from early titles), uninteresting quests, subpar exploration, boring dialogues, a cliché story, and visuals that are almost surpassed by 10-year-old Risen 3. I really do not like this game.

Classic Piranha Bytes experience - if you have never played the gothic or risen games, start with those. Gameplay is janky, animations and voice acting are often laughably bad, but there's just something there that gets you hooked once you start exploring and get immersed in the world. If you liked the first Elex you'll probably like this one too.