XEL
Top Critic Average
Critics Recommend
XEL Trailers
Critic Reviews for XEL
XEL takes many of its cues from the Zelda franchise, with combat and puzzles that keep things interesting throughout as well as a charming, fun cast of characters. However, technical glitches in the Switch version make it difficult to enjoy at launch. There is the potential for a great game in here, possibly after a hefty patch to fix some of the bugs, but despite its obvious promise it fails to live up to its potential in its current state.
XEL looks great on the surface, but unfortunately it has too many bugs and technical issues to warrant recommending it to anyone. The framerate drops and slow-loading zone transitions alone can cause some frustrations, but add in an uncontrollable camera that is overly distant from the action, difficult to detect enemies, and terrain that is easy to get stuck to - forcing you to reload from your last save point, and you have a game that is near unplayable in its current state. Patches may resolve these issues, but as of right now XEL is too frustrating to fully enjoy.
XEL has the potential to be a great game, but too many elements are left unpolished. Hopefully, a patch will be able to fix these issues, and then it may be a solid adventure game.
XEL is a game that understands its genre, but the development team fails to see that solid innovation is required to compete, given how crowded it is. The basic exploration and combat work well and the time stuff is an interesting addition. But much more is needed to get players interested and to keep them playing.
XEL has little character to enjoy, there's no story to keep you fully engaged, and gameplay feels contrived and repetitive. And that's before we get to the frankly abysmal state that this game was released in. I was holding off this review to see if the game would be updated before its release, but quite frankly it seems that updating and fine tuning XEL will be an effort that I personally don't think is worth it.
I think there’s a solid game here under all the technical issues, but it’s hard to say. XEL’s combat and time-based puzzles are satisfying, the setting and narrative are engaging, and its aesthetically charming. But until those issues are addressed, XEL is largely unplayable. I’ve spent way more time dealing with those issues than I have playing the game. I’d like to revisit it in the future, assuming it gets fixed.
A game with a lot of potential bogged down by a plethora of bugs and atrocious dialogue & voice acting. Playable but far from enjoyable.
A new game that combines classic Zelda-like gameplay design and sci-fi story. While the adventure part is enough to enjoy, the lack of convenience feature makes it hard to believe that the game is released in 2022. Also, the bugs are scattered all over the place to the point where it is almost difficult to proceed the game. It needs to be improved quickly.
Review in Korean | Read full review
