Five Elements

About

Five Elements is a single player role playing game. It was developed by TaosX and was released on March 24, 2017. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Five Elements is a real time strategy game about managing energies of five Taoist elements (fire, earth, metal, water and wood). The hero is a monk in quest for Enlightenment.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

67%

Audience ScoreBased on 21 reviews

music3 positive mentions

grinding1 negative mentions

Engaging and strategically deep gameplay with many interactions between five unique elements, providing a challenging tactical experience.
RPG-style progression system with leveling and unlockable spells, enhancing replayability and player customization.
Thematic and coherent presentation with stylized graphics and calming music that suit the meditation/enlightenment theme.

Steep learning curve and difficulty spikes, with some levels feeling unfair or unwinnable due to enemy AI or initial conditions.
Technical issues including crashes, bugs (such as unsolvable levels and ability glitches), and inconvenient UI limitations like lack of key rebinding and forced zoom level.
Repetitive gameplay and slow pacing with limited variation over time, combined with unintuitive menu navigation and lack of helpful in-game tooltips.

gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The gameplay is noted for its interesting and in-depth mechanics that gradually increase in complexity, offering many different interactions. While some find it slow-paced, the tutorial helps ease players into the core concepts, creating an engaging experience. Sound effects complement the gameplay without being distracting.
- “The mechanics of this game are interesting and I have to admit I feel a bit bad that I picked it up during the winter sale, since it's probably worth the regular price.”
- “Gameplay - Five Elements includes a tutorial to gently introduce you to the core concepts.”
- “I am enjoying this game and how complex the gameplay gets to be over time.”
- “Slow gameplay”
- “I can't really remember the premise, since it's basically irrelevant to the gameplay, but from memory you play a warrior seeking training in meditation from a monk to reach enlightenment.”
- “Gameplay - five elements includes a tutorial to gently introduce you to the core concepts.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's graphics are simple, stylized, and abstract, focusing on colorful elements rather than detailed visuals. They are functional but not particularly impressive or showcase-worthy. Graphic customization is minimal, limited to resolution and display mode options.
- “The game has a very simplistic graphic concept, essentially connecting and occupying slots with elements represented by colors, and nice music. It is real-time based, though you can pause it to plan your next moves.”
- “Graphics are stylized and abstract.”
- “The graphics are functional as they are, but Five Elements isn't a game you'd leave on 'attract mode' to show off your new graphics card.”
- “The game has a very simplistic graphic concept, essentially connecting and occupying slots with elements represented by colors.”
- “There are no graphics options beyond resolution and full-screen/windowed mode.”
- “The configuration menu has a graphics quality option, but the only selection is 'advanced'.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
50%
The music in the game is generally calm and slow, fitting its meditative theme, though some users find it simplistic or unremarkable and not compelling enough to seek out separately.
- “The game has a very simplistic graphic concept with elements represented by colors, and nice music, enhancing the real-time gameplay.”
- “The music is slow and calming, fitting perfectly with the game's meditation theme.”
- “I didn't find the music annoying, but I wouldn't be eager to buy the soundtrack if it were available.”
- “Bad music”
- “I didn't find it annoying, but I also wouldn't rush out to buy the soundtrack if one were available.”
story
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story features multiple modes and conveys its narrative through still-image, hand-drawn cut scenes, offering some thematic depth but relatively simple wisdom.
- “Has different modes and insightful wisdom presented in the story bits.”
- “There are still-image hand-drawn cut scenes at certain points in the game to present the background story.”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is described as somewhat repetitive and grind-heavy toward the end, likened to a rock-paper-scissors mechanic, but it remains enjoyable overall.
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The RPG system enhances replayability by allowing players to choose different skills in each playthrough, providing varied experiences and strategies.