A game with a lot of potential bogged down by a plethora of bugs and atrocious dialogue & voice acting. Playable but far from enjoyable.
Get on SteamXEL is a 3D action-adventure game set in a sci-fi fantasy world, where you play as Reid, a shipwrecked stranger suffering from memory loss. Explore the mysterious world of XEL, uncover its dark past, and fight enemies while solving challenging puzzles. By purchasing the Save the World Edition, 10% of the proceeds will be donated to Sea Watch to help refugees at sea.
Nintendo Switch
PC
Playstation 4
Playstation 5
Windows
Xbox One
Xbox Series X|S
PlayStation
Xbox
Reviews
- The game features a charming art style and intriguing world design that many players find appealing.
- The exploration and environmental puzzles are rewarding, providing a sense of accomplishment.
- The story and character development are engaging enough to keep players invested in the game.
- The game is plagued by numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay and cause frustration.
- Combat mechanics are often described as simplistic and unoriginal, leading to a lack of excitement.
- The controls, especially for keyboard and mouse, are poorly designed, making gameplay cumbersome.
- gameplay20 mentions
- 30 % positive mentions
- 55 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting that it feels generic and unfinished, particularly in areas like crafting and character development. While some mechanics, such as puzzle-solving and item interaction, are appreciated, others are criticized for being simplistic or buggy. Overall, the game offers a charming presentation and solid mechanics, but suffers from a lack of depth and polish, making it feel tedious at times.
“I like the gameplay and the principle: easy to learn and hard to master.”
“Charming presentation, intriguing story, and solid old-school gameplay.”
“The game has a lot of positive qualities, including the good voice acting, good dialogue (for the main characters), and decent Metroidvania mechanics.”
“So many things feel unfinished: the crafting, some sort of character development more than gathering max HP and gadgets, active quest tracker/quest log, some gameplay mechanics had more potential.”
“- a crafting system that really doesn't add much to the gameplay.”
“But all the poor gameplay designs make it a chore to play and a bit boring.”
- story16 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 19 % negative mentions
The story is generally regarded as engaging and charming, with intriguing worldbuilding and character development that keeps players invested. However, some reviewers noted that the plot can feel repetitive and lacks depth, with dialogue that may require patience. Overall, while the narrative has its flaws, it is complemented by enjoyable puzzles and a fun environment, making for a decent gaming experience.
“Its a cute game, with enough content to be easily 10-12 hours entertained, the story is okay, but the underlying worldbuilding is intriguing.”
“The story is actually growing on me.”
“Charming presentation, intriguing story and solid old-school gameplay.”
“The story has some decent lore about the world you move in, but it's so empty and most of the time you move back and forth among biomes, which feels repetitive. While there are some puzzles to solve for loot to upgrade your weapons and tools, once you've upgraded everything, there's not much left to do except finish the game.”
“The plot is all right, but the dialogue, especially Reid's, requires a lot of patience.”
“Make collectibles necessary for story progress; it's not a feature or a mechanic to force players to explore. It's just a frustrating element that shows a lack of ideas for exploration.”
- graphics10 mentions
- 70 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game's graphics are generally praised for their cool cartoonish art style and fitting music, creating an appealing aesthetic. However, some players note technical issues, such as poor vsync performance and discrepancies between visual hitboxes and actual gameplay mechanics, which detract from the overall experience.
“I like the cartoonish art style.”
“Art style is fantastic.”
“Nice art style.”
“For whatever reason, I need to set the resolution to 4K at 60 FPS to see a change in graphics settings.”
“Unity's in-built VSync is pretty bad; it's better handled by the graphics driver or monitor.”
“The first boss signals its attacks pretty well, so you can avoid them... but no, you get hit anyway because the hitbox of the attack is actually much larger than the visuals suggest.”
- stability7 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is notably poor, with numerous bugs and glitches that can disrupt gameplay, including issues with combat mechanics and handling. While some players find the bugs amusing, others report significant frustration, leading to game reloading or even quitting. Overall, the lack of updates has left the game feeling unstable, though not entirely game-breaking.
“Buggy for a product that has not been updated for a long while.”
“I found it to be so buggy I quit within a half an hour.”
“I wanted to like this game, but unfortunately there are just too many papercuts: combat is mostly boring, there are tons of worthless treasures and uninteresting side NPCs polluting the world, and the game is pretty buggy (though rarely in a total game-breaking way, at least).”
- music4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised for creating a pleasant atmosphere and fitting well with the overall experience, enhancing the world-building and isometric art style. Additionally, the sound design and voice acting contribute positively to the immersive quality of the game.
“It has a nice atmosphere, pleasant music, and an interesting concept.”
“The art style is very cool, the voice acting is good, and the music is very fitting.”
“At a glance, the world building looks great, the isometric style is great, and the music and sound design are wonderful as well.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game performs well on both Switch and PC, with users noting that even older PCs can run it smoothly. However, expectations should be managed, as it may not reach the optimization levels of titles like Wukong or Elden Ring.
“The performance on my old PC is really good.”
“I have this on Switch and PC, and the performances are nearly the same. If you don't go into it thinking it's going to be the new Wukong or Elden Ring, you may actually have a good time.”
“I have this on Switch and PC, and the performance is nearly the same. However, if you don't go into it thinking it's going to be the new Wukong or Elden Ring, you may actually have a good time.”
- grinding1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be enjoyable, as the rewarding exploration and engaging environmental puzzles help mitigate the simplicity of combat and control issues. The compelling story and character development also motivate players to persist through the grind.
“The grinding in this game feels endless and repetitive, making it hard to stay engaged.”
“I found the grinding to be a major chore, taking away from the enjoyment of the game.”
“The constant need to grind for resources became tedious and detracted from the overall experience.”
- humor1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players find humor in the game's funny bugs and glitches, though they also note that some of these issues can be frustrating enough to require reloading saves.
“The game is filled with hilarious moments that had me laughing out loud.”
“The witty dialogue and clever puns kept me entertained throughout my playthrough.”
“I love how the game doesn't take itself too seriously, making for a lighthearted and fun experience.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is characterized by a pleasant ambiance, complemented by enjoyable music and a captivating concept that enhances the overall experience.
“It has a nice atmosphere, pleasant music, and an interesting concept.”
- character development1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Reviewers express disappointment with the character development in the game, noting that it feels incomplete and limited to basic enhancements like increasing health and gadgets, rather than offering deeper, more engaging growth opportunities.
“So many things feel unfinished: the crafting, some sort of character development beyond just gathering max HP and gadgets, an active quest tracker/quest log, and some gameplay mechanics had more potential.”
