ELEX II is a Science Fantasy third-person Action RPG developed by Piranha Bytes and published by THQ Nordic. It was officially announced in June 2021 and released on March 1, 2022 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. Set several years after the events of ELEX, it returns to the post-apocalyptic world of Magalan, a once-modern planet still struggling to rebuild after a comet impact and the introduction of the mysterious substance Elex.
The fragile peace Jax helped establish in the first game has collapsed, and a new threat looms over Magalan: the Skyands, who sent the Elex-filled comet two centuries prior, are an alien force attempting to xenoform the planet for their own use. Their spread threatens all life, and the factions of Magalan are once again divided and distrustful. To stand a chance, Jax must reunite the major powers of the world, new and old, all while searching for his missing son, Dex.
The major factions now shaping Magalan include:
- The Albs: Former emotionless Super Soldiers struggling to adapt to post-war life after giving up pure Elex. Some wish to reform peacefully; others cling to the old ways.
- The Clerics of Calaan: A technocratic theocracy whose advanced energy weapons are still powered by purified Elex. Their influence has diminished since the first game, but they remain one of Magalan’s most organized militaries.
- The Berserkers: Now an expanding ecological power, having terraformed regions of the world back to lush forest since the first game. They enforce strict anti-technology rules and have absorbed portions of other groups into their new settlements.
- The Outlaws: Scattered and fractured after the fall of Tavar; many have become mercenaries or joined other factions, while remnants still cling to their survival-of-the-fittest ethos.
- The Morkons: A new subterranean cultist faction that emerged after the war, living in the old tunnels beneath Magalan and enforcing a brutal, punishment-driven faith.
- The Skyands: A mysterious alien invading force whose living machines and xenoforming threaten to overwrite Magalan entirely.
Once again, you play as Jax, former Alb commander and reluctant hero of the planet, now forced to gather allies, rebuild strength, and confront a planet-wide existential threat.
It would ultimately become the final game developed by Piranha Bytes before the studio was dissolved in 2024.
ELEX II contains examples of the following tropes:
- Bag of Spilling: Jax loses all of his skills and equipment from the first game after a Skyand tower flattens his house (and all the gear inside). Further, he gets bitten by one of the alien creatures, which infects him with a crippling disease that weakens him considerably.
- Cutting Off the Branches: The sequel makes it very clear what canonically happened in the first game: Jax had a high Warm level, romanced Caja, defeated the Albs, killed the Hybrid, and tried to warn the Free People of the incoming alien invaders. Flashbacks also show him wearing Berserker armor, which means he joined that faction. The absence of Duras and Arx also hints that Jax canonically turned them away or killed them. Nasty's presence also means that he helped her cure her terminal case of Gray Death.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Skyand are actually a group of pre-apocalypse human scientists who went out into space to study an interstellar entity known as the Singularity. Elex is actually a portion of the Singularity's life-force that the Skyand used to become immortal and evolve into alien-like creatures. Even after Jax defeats the Skyand, the Singularity is still coming to Earth to reclaim the Elex, and it's going to absorb all life on the planet when that happens.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the original, at least as far as the Berserkers and Clerics are concerned. Many of their rough edges, such as the former's aversion to modern technology and the latter's psychic brainwashing, are not present and never referred to. The latter are also much more open to visitors and helping those in need.
- Same Character, But Different:
- Jax has a different English voice actor, a far different personality being more emotional and a Deadpan Snarker, and via Cutting Off the Branches, did not join the Clerics or Outlaws, did not romance Nasty, and did not spare the Hybrid/take over the Albs.
- The Berserker faction have lost their hatred of modern technology and their aesthetics have gone from being akin to vikings to more like druids.
- Sequel Hook: The game ends with the Skyand (actually revealed to be a group of pre-apocalypse human scientists) defeated, but the cosmic entity they stole the Elex from is now coming to Earth to reclaim its essence, which would involve absorbing all life on the planet. Unfortunately, the studio closed and any payoff is highly unlikely.