ELEX

68%
Game Brain Score Based on 4,959 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
ELEX Game Cover
There is a fantastic RPG at the core of Elex with some excellent world and quest design, remarkably diverse factions and environments awaiting those who can get past its slow start, clumsy combat and overall lack of fine polish.
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"ELEX is a single-player, fantasy open-world game with an interesting plot, set in a unique post-apocalyptic universe. The game offers a seamless exploration experience, tactical combat, and a highly interconnected quest system. However, it is quite grinding, has bugs, and can be hilarious at times. Despite these flaws, ELEX delivers a highly emotional and replayable experience with its masterful music and immersive atmosphere."

Play Modes

Reviews

68%
Audience ScoreBased on 4,959 reviews
story994 positive mentions
stability189 negative mentions
  • The game features a vast and beautifully designed open world, filled with interesting locations and lore.
  • The story is engaging, with meaningful choices that impact the player's experience and the game's outcome.
  • The game offers a unique blend of sci-fi and fantasy elements, providing a fresh take on the RPG genre.
  • The combat system is clunky and unresponsive, making battles frustrating, especially in the early game.
  • The game has a steep difficulty curve, with many enemies being able to one-shot the player, leading to a lot of running away instead of fighting.
  • The voice acting and dialogue can be poor, detracting from the overall immersion and quality of the storytelling.
  • story3,677 mentions

    The story in Elex is a mixed bag, with many players appreciating its intriguing premise and complex narrative that explores themes of morality and choice, while others criticize it for being clichéd and poorly executed. The game features a rich world with numerous quests that often allow for multiple solutions, but the pacing can feel uneven, especially in the early game where players may struggle with difficult combat and unclear quest objectives. Overall, while the story has potential and offers engaging elements, its delivery and the accompanying gameplay mechanics leave much to be desired.

    • “Elex is a great game telling an in-depth story that unfolds as its world is explored.”
    • “The writing is exceptional, with well-realized characters and intricate world-building that will keep you invested in the story from start to finish.”
    • “The story is filled with moral ambiguity, political intrigue, and personal drama.”
    • “It had so much potential to be better, but the voice acting, the story, gameplay, the graphics, and all were just so subpar.”
    • “The story is a mess.”
    • “The story is weak but I gave it a chance; then I encountered NPCs.”
  • gameplay1,003 mentions

    The gameplay of Elex is a polarizing aspect, with many players finding it clunky and unpolished, particularly in combat mechanics, which often feel outdated and frustrating. While some appreciate the depth of RPG elements and the unique world design, others criticize the slow progression and the need to exploit game mechanics to succeed. Overall, the experience can be rewarding for those willing to invest time in learning the mechanics, but it may deter players seeking a smoother, more modern gameplay experience.

    • “Not only does the jetpack open a lot of tactical possibilities against very hard foes, changing the entire gameplay flow, but the entire world has been designed for vertical travel from the ground up.”
    • “The gameplay is a clunkier version of Gothic 4's gameplay, akin to a very poor Dark Souls for those who never played Gothic.”
    • “If you can stick with this game for at least 10-15 hours you'll start to see the beauty of this world and the story imbued in it, but you have to get through 10-15 hours of figuring out and coming to terms with some of the most jank gameplay mechanics in a finished open-world game ever.”
    • “The whole game feels half-assed, from core mechanics and game design to writing and dialogues.”
    • “The fact that every quest that has combat always puts me against enemies way above my level makes it so that my main gameplay loop goes around kiting enemies in the dumbest way possible.”
    • “The gameplay is surprisingly bad.”
  • graphics910 mentions

    The graphics of Elex have received mixed reviews, with many players noting that while they are decent for their time, they feel dated compared to modern AAA titles. Some appreciate the artistic design and environmental detail, finding beauty in the game's aesthetic despite its technical shortcomings, while others criticize the visuals as subpar, with issues like pixelation and poor character models. Overall, the graphics are seen as a blend of nostalgic charm and outdated execution, appealing primarily to fans of the developer's previous works.

    • “The graphics are beautiful and only slightly dated, and controls are just fine.”
    • “The graphics are good, the game runs fast.”
    • “The graphics are decent, but where this game fails to deliver in several other areas.”
    • “The graphics are laughable, the controls are sad and pathetic, just terrible, the voice acting, no, there was no acting, it was just horrible voice.”
    • “The graphics are dated, the UI is obsolete, there are no autosaves, and so on.”
    • “The graphics look like something off the Xbox 360, and there's at least one monster that is a free engine asset.”
  • stability198 mentions

    The stability of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players reporting a variety of glitches and bugs that can significantly impact gameplay, including game-breaking issues and crashes. While some users found the game to be mostly stable with only minor glitches, others experienced frequent crashes and frustrating bugs that hindered their ability to progress. Overall, the game is characterized by a blend of charm and technical shortcomings, typical of Piranha Bytes titles, leading to a consensus that while enjoyable, it remains a buggy experience.

    • “Performance is fine, the graphics are nice, mostly bug free.”
    • “Tech-wise, the game is stable and runs great.”
    • “It's not buggy or broken.”
    • “I have spent hours battling through glitches and crashes, and couldn't even finish the story.”
    • “In 33 hours of gameplay, I experienced two game-breaking glitches where the screen goes black both times in combat and I have to restart my gaming computer.”
    • “This game is a buggy mess filled with design flaws, mediocre translations, and a fighting system so clunky that you just have to ask yourself 'why am I still playing this?' all the time.”
  • music168 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its atmospheric qualities and ability to enhance immersion, while others find it forgettable or poorly implemented, often overpowering dialogue. Many note that the soundtrack features a blend of ambient tracks that can be calming, but also criticize the combat music for being overly upbeat and mismatched with the game's tone. Overall, while some enjoy the music's nostalgic ties to previous titles, others feel it lacks the memorable quality expected from a role-playing game.

    • “The sound design and music score are top-notch, adding depth and immersion to the world.”
    • “Exploring the world is made even more enjoyable with a smooth, calming soundtrack that helps enhance the sense of wonder.”
    • “The music is awesome and fitting, bringing the character of the world to life with a calming harmony.”
    • “The music is the closest thing this game has to good quality, and that's solely because it's barely noticeable.”
    • “The music is trying way too hard to be dramatic and comes across as awkward and inappropriate.”
    • “The music is forgettable and mostly just there to prevent silence, and sometimes is too loud and overpowers dialogue.”
  • atmosphere136 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive world-building, blending gothic and sci-fi elements, and rich lore that captivates players. Many reviewers highlight the game's ability to create a charming and engaging environment, despite some criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics and graphics. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, drawing players into a unique and detailed world filled with intriguing stories and diverse locations.

    • “The world feels large without being empty, and there are tons of interesting snippets of stories left around from the old world, which adds to the atmosphere.”
    • “The atmosphere and depth of the game are unlike any modern game I've played.”
    • “Incredible world design and atmosphere.”
    • “But the worst aspect is the lack of immersion and atmosphere I felt.”
    • “Combat is super clunky, the world seems lifeless and the atmosphere is not right at all.”
    • “It is different from Gothic in many ways and it doesn't capture the same atmosphere that Gothic did; it's indeed quite different.”
  • grinding135 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with players describing it as tedious, frustrating, and poorly designed. Many reviewers noted that the early game requires excessive grinding to progress, often leading to a sense of futility as combat encounters feel unbalanced and rewards are minimal. While some players found satisfaction in the eventual power progression, the overwhelming sentiment is that the grinding detracts significantly from the overall enjoyment of the game.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The grinding and difficulty of fighting aspects while progressing is immensely absorbing; it took me 4 days straight, almost non-stop, 45.9 hours to achieve level 26 until I'm almost unbeatable, though I still occasionally die from unexpected encounters with big trolls and mutants.”
    • “The fights are so tedious—and the rewards are so paltry—that it never feels remotely worth it.”
    • “It's a very frustrating and overly grindy experience for very little reward.”
  • replayability98 mentions

    The game offers high replayability due to its multiple factions, each providing unique abilities and storylines, encouraging players to explore different paths and outcomes. Choices made throughout the game significantly impact the narrative, leading to various endings and enhancing the overall replay value. However, some players feel that while the game has substantial replay potential, it may require multiple playthroughs to fully experience all content, which can be seen as forced replayability.

    • “The choices you make throughout the game also impact your faction allegiance and ultimately influence the outcome of the story, adding replayability.”
    • “The game's faction system adds depth and replayability, allowing players to align themselves with different groups and experience varying storylines.”
    • “The game has high replay value because you can choose any of the 3 factions, each faction offers unique skills and traits to develop the main character so you can just pick one and try things out!”
    • “Not being able to have everything and do everything in a single playthrough is pure shit and forced replayability.”
    • “As replayability for an RPG, I can say you can exhaust nearly everything with 2 playthroughs; builds end up with similar playstyles in the end.”
    • “Personally, the thing that held me back the most must be how you gotta do errands for the 3 different factions (the clerics, outlaws, and the berserkers) before you can join them, but again that gives you insight into how they do stuff and how their moral code is. It makes you think twice about if you want to play that way, but it makes the replay value not that big after a while.”
  • humor93 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding it both intentional and unintentional, often stemming from awkward dialogue, hilarious bugs, and absurd character interactions. While some appreciate the clever writing and funny quest moments, others point out that the poor voice acting and clunky mechanics can lead to laughter in unexpected ways. Overall, the game offers a blend of dark humor and comedic elements that can be entertaining, despite its flaws.

    • “The game is very funny, but... on extreme difficulty, it is a little bit difficult at the beginning.”
    • “If you want a game with a good story, character depth, a really good karma system, and funny dialogues within a stunning handcrafted world, then this is your game.”
    • “The quests have a lot of funny twisting moments, especially your companion quests and those from the outlaws are very funny.”
    • “The dialogues are not funny, but serious and to the point.”
    • “The attempts at humor fall flat and feel forced.”
    • “I expected more comedic moments, but the jokes just didn't land.”
  • emotional79 mentions

    The emotional aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing the protagonist's lack of emotional depth and the confusing karma system that quantifies emotional choices. While some appreciate the attempt to explore the struggle between emotional and cold responses, others find the execution lacking, leading to a disconnection from the story and characters. Overall, the emotional engagement is often described as frustrating and poorly implemented, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “The heartwarming story of an albino autistic man going through steroid withdrawal.”
    • “Jax going through emotional confusion became one of the more compelling subplots of the game.”
    • “Get ready for a good story with satisfying gun and/or melee play where your faction allegiance hardly matters compared to how much of a heartless money-grabbing jerk or emotional good-willed try-hard you are.”
    • “The awful voice acting, cancerous dialogue, and boring story all made this game agonizing to play.”
    • “I could forgive a boring story, the wooden acting (it's insanely terrible and there is absolutely no explanation as to who you are or why you were shot down. Pretty much you get a crappy 30-second video where some guy on the side ambushes you but doesn't bother to make sure they finished you off).”
    • “I don't know what annoys me more, the bland and boring story or the bad controls which you constantly have to fight against.”
  • optimization61 mentions

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its stable performance and smooth gameplay on various hardware setups, while others report significant issues such as stuttering, low frame rates, and unresolved bugs. Overall, while many users experienced good performance and minimal crashes, others found the game poorly optimized, particularly at higher settings, indicating a need for further improvements.

    • “Well optimized game (low hardware requirements to run on high)”
    • “The game runs smoothly and crashes are rarely a thing, which is important for me.”
    • “Pro: excellent performance optimization.”
    • “Elex is a pretty good RPG with a compelling story, an interesting world, and some unique ideas; but I feel it is brought down by unintuitive leveling and progression mechanics, a generic art style that doesn't distinguish the game on a visual level, poor combat controls and balancing, and multiple performance issues and bugs that have still not been resolved nearly six years after release.”
    • “The beginning of the game moves at a glacial pace, with nothing but endless dumps of exposition, walking, poorly optimized gameplay, and scripting errors galore.”
    • “Another one of the biggest problems I had is the absolutely terrible optimization.”
  • character development51 mentions

    Character development in Elex is a mixed bag, with some players appreciating the depth and customization options, while others criticize its execution and clarity. Many reviews highlight that choices significantly impact character progression and skills, but the system can feel convoluted and poorly explained, leading to frustration. Overall, while there are engaging elements and a rich world to explore, the character development mechanics are often seen as clunky and unpolished, detracting from the overall experience.

    • “Whether you align with the technologically advanced clerics, the nature-bound berserkers, or the ruthless outlaws, your choice significantly impacts your character development, available skills, quests, and story progression.”
    • “This game has a rich world to explore and many ways to approach quests and character development, with various quests and areas truly adding different experiences.”
    • “Character development is key for most adventure games, and Elex does a pretty good job of that, as well.”
    • “However, Elex stumbles when it comes to storytelling and character development.”
    • “Every second dialogue suggests that you should be trying some sort of diverse character development, but in practice, it simply doesn’t work.”
    • “What totally ruined it for me was the very slow character development and progression combined with the fact that you really can't do battle with most of the creatures in the world until you develop your fighting skills.”
  • monetization19 mentions

    The game is praised for its clear and ethical monetization model, featuring no microtransactions, loot boxes, or season passes, allowing players to purchase a complete experience without additional costs. Reviewers appreciate the absence of exploitative monetization practices, highlighting the game's commitment to providing a full, engaging RPG experience without the distractions of modern sales tactics. Overall, the game's approach to monetization is seen as a refreshing change in the industry.

    • “This game doesn't have loot boxes or any other microtransactions.”
    • “No microtransactions, no loot boxes, no season pass.”
    • “It is so refreshing to finally get to play a game that hasn't been dumbed down for the masses, has no microtransactions, and no bullcrap immersive breaking multiplayer.”
    • “Though I know it won't be appreciated by the mass market gamers who love their Overwatch and glossy but shallow AAA games (with their microtransactions, loot boxes, season passes, and real money transactions).”
    • “That's false fricken advertising and should automatically remove the game altogether.”
    • “A Piranha bite RPG with some rough edges but no microtransactions, DLC, season pass, loot boxes, premium currency, skins, or paid mods...”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

57% average critic score

Buy ELEX

Play time

18hMedian play time
33hAverage play time
27hMain story
86hCompletionist
9-50hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 118 analyzed playthroughs

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