ELEX Reviews
ELEX follows in footsteps of the previous Piranha Bytes games. Don't be fooled by the attractive post-apocalyptic and seemingly accessible and open world, this isn't another Horizon Zero Dawn. This is a ruthless old school game that'll give you nothing for free.
Review in Slovak | Read full review
Piranha Bytes sticks to what they know best, providing another distinctly Gothic-like RPG, for better and worse.
Poorly designed in term of combat, storyline and mechanics, ELEX is a game that Piranha Bytes should be ashamed of, especially considering their previous RPG legacy with the Risen and Gothic franchise.
ELEX is a game that has a great idea but awful execution. While there are moments to roleplay, the progression feels incredibly forced, and combat is a wholly unenjoyable experience. You can’t go and be the Jax you want to be without spending far too long with Viking hippies first, which was enough for me to be put off the game. If you like being one-shotted by inappropriately placed enemies or are really, really, really longing for an RPG that channels old-school design, maybe ELEX is for you. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, though, because the future is always on the horizon, and it’s got better games than this.
To wrap up, the game feels under developed where clearly it needs more time. Graphics wise isn’t something to be happy with it. It has a lot of bugs – clearly unfinished and combat system is something you don’t want to look forward to. Trailer looked really nice but the game just failed to deliver what they mentioned in Gamescon. ELEX being acronyms of Eclectic, Lavish, Exhilarating and Xenial, flashy words but unfortunately it fell short on my expectations and I want to give it another chance but I feel like I will be wasting my time.
The world of Elex is great to look at, but difficult to traverse. The mutants are unforgiving and you aren't well equipped for the job. Poor animation and an unpolished feel across the board make this a flop for the genre.
If you're a RPG or Gothic Veteran you will find some enjoyment in the story behind Elex. Besides that everything else is so faulty and inaccessible that we can't recommend the game to anyone else. The terrible sounds and animations combined with the clunky gameplay make it hard to keep on playing this game.
Review in German | Read full review
There is so much which can be done and more time to spend on the game to make it better, there are things to fix and need to be changed, but I am afraid now I am addicted to ELEX. Ultimately, ELEX is a mash-up of the things we are familiar with famous open-world games like Fallout and Skyrim and an intriguing story which combines sci-fi and fantasy successfully.
ELEX is a title that leaves us so, in half, in a limbo of emotions a little upset. On the one hand we find an old RPG style that reminds us of the old Gothic years; an interesting story that is enriched by details and subversions that make perfect contours. A very ambitious setting that offers vast worlds and environments studied as well as several choices and paths to take. Opponents and NPCs of the most disparate who will have different means to face us and various stories to tell. On the other hand, however, we find an old gameplay, with woody movements and a often frustrating combat system. Animation and graphics leave a little to be desired, and although there is a texture improvement, the engine used does not show pace with the times, offering an interesting eye but not enough.
Review in Italian | Read full review
ELEX has some good ideas that will appeal to fans of Sci Fi and Fantasy. Unfortunately, the game is plagued with issues that hold it back from reaching its potential. There's fun to be had here, but the hurdles to get there are severe.
Bizarre and brazen but totally sincere, ELEX is a rough diamond that offers everything a hardcore RPG fan could want in a very rough and ready package. For everyone else, however, it's a total oddity and one that's hard to unequivocally recommend.
Elex is a fascinating attempt to blend the likes of an open world RPG with the ideas that so brilliantly make the Soul’s series combat what it is. Shot down from the sky by one of his own, Jax sets out for revenge with nothing more than a bent pipe in the post meteor struck world of Magalan.
ELEX does little to break new ground in the RPG genre. Fortunately, the core aspects that make a solid RPG are done expertly by Piranha Bytes and this results in a world that is worth exploring.
Elex is a game with so many missed opportunities. It could've been good, if only it was better executed.
Elex is a game that may frustrate you the way it did to me. You'll know the game is so much better than it seems when you run into issues. The story is amazing and the gameplay can use some work, but that is fixable. For those gamers that are interested in Elex, I do not want to sway your purchase, it has its high points. You may though, want to wait for a major patch to release to fix some of the minor things and balancing. I personally am hopefully looking forward to the future of Elex. They have a great world, an amazing story, and I hope that this becomes a sleeper hit after a patch to clean up some of the game. RPG fans should keep an eye out for this title.
Sadly, for all its premise, Elex has to be one of the most uninspiring RPGs I have experienced in a long time
Elex has extremely limited appeal thanks to the horrendous combat and seemingly mindless balancing issues. Even habitual RPG players will be put off by these problems, and that spells doom for almost anyone outside that little niché.
ELEX is a genre-soup developed by Piranha Bytes, the studio responsible for the highly regarded Gothic franchise. Its most curious aspect is how it attempts to put different fiction genres within a single seamless open world, which serves as a gimmick more than anything. It doesn't feel special enough to compete with Skyrim, yet Gothic fans might find enough enjoyment out of its weak plot and poorly written characters.
I made a big mistake that didn't play ELEX sooner. If you are an action RPG fan, ELEX is one of those games that you must play. With a beautiful big fantasy-sci-fi world full of various mission and activities, tons of RPG elements, upgrades, weapons, characters, important choices and with challenging combat system, ELEX is an absolutely valuable game by Piranha Bytes. Of course it has tons of technical isues and graphical problems like annoying map control or animations, but in the end, good aspects of the game is so many more than its weaknesses and ELEX is a game that i easily recommend it to hardcore action RPG fans.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Elex needed much more time in the oven to be the game its promising previews made it seem to be, and with the dearth of games available this winter, I can't recommend it to anyone but the most hardcore fans of the genre.