tgetting used too , feels clunky at best . Targeting items or enemies is a real chore , and the hit detection often leaves you questioning the engine itself . Sometimes you ’ ll swear you hit an enemy , while others you ’ ll clearly whiff it and still land a blow . And then there ’ s the loot collecting problem that I simply can ’ t get over . When ever you draw your weapon for any reason , you can ’ t pick up objects around you . This doesn ’ t seem all that bad , but when in combat mode you can ’ t even see the items around you ! For a long while I thought that there simply wasn ’ t any loot to be had .
Then there is the level caps that are simply far too high for weapons to be enjoyable . Nearly 10 hours into the game and all I had to use was a rusty axe that I found in the forest around hour 6 or so . Look , I know games can be a slow burn , but nearly 10 hours with a lead pipe is just plain silly . And if you do have the cash to buy a weapon it won ’ t do you any good . You have to have the strength and dex ( or whatever pair of traits ) to buy / wield them , but good luck with that . You earn 10 points per level , so at level 6 at had 60 points doled out across Strength , Constitution , Dexterity , intelligence , and Cunning .
This is fine , and in most RPGs I ’ d build a character to my liking . Max out strength early on to help with leveling up quicker and so on , but Elex doesn ’ t want you playing that game . The first sword you can buy requires 33 Strength and 33 Constitution . So you can do the math on that for yourself . But in case you don ’ t want too , that ’ s nearly 7 levels before you can think to even use a damn sword . And that ’ s only if you knew about the curve and didn ’ t spend a few points per level on each attribute . Goliet is the first city in the game and you better be ready to send a whole lot of time there , kids . And that ’ s not the worst of it as the game hates telling you anything helpful . There is no on-screen indication when you do reach a new level and the level indicator is burred in the menu . So you won ’ t know what level you are , and the game won ’ t tell you when you do reach a new one . Hell , for the first hour or so I didn ’ t even know leveling was a thing .
But it goes even deeper than that as you must also upgrade abilities like Combat ( there are 7 ), Survival
( also 7 ), Crafting ( I hate crafting ), Personality ( 7 more ),
Berserker ( you get the idea here ), Cleric , and Outlaw . And each of those abilities requires a trainer to teach them to you if you have the skill points required . 15 hours into my adventure and I only had a few things trained . Grinding is really an understatement in Elex , not because you have to do it , but because it sometimes feels like the game punishes you for exploring ; at least in the first dozen hours or so .
Then we come to the loot ; the aspect of RPGs that make players all warm and fuzzy inside . In that regard , Elex does have a lot of loot and stuff for you to collect . You start the game like Symphony of the Night as an uber bad-ass only to lose everything and start from scratch , building to what you know you can be . But like with everything in Elex , there ’ s a catch ; finding and being a high enough level to wear a hat . By hour 5 of the game I had managed to find a single Worker Helmet ( leather cap ), a pair of Miner Pants , no gloves , no neck piece , and most importantly no body armor of any kind . Yeah , Elex is a very , very slow burn even in the best of cases .
And all of this is because Elex is a very deliberate game . Everything in the world is placed there for a reason and very few , if anything , is randomly generated throughout your adventure . For such an open-word , the game has a very , very , strict path that it wants you to go down , and god help you if you stray even a little from it ; which is often as the game doesn ’ t tell you what “ it ” wants you to do next . The first quest you take might lead you outside and you can pretty much expect to die the first time you run across one of the deep friend McNuggets ; and heaven help you if you run into one of the hairy pigs with a baby face on it …
And yet her I am still playing Elex long after I put in enough hours to complete this review . Still slowly sloughing through this war of inches in an attempt to see what ’ s next . Still picking up new companions and explore new areas . You see , that ’ s the real magic that Elex has to offer . If you can get past the dreadfully slow pace you find one beautiful and fully realized world that is a joy to learn about . So many characters and NPCs are fully voiced and let you in , little by little , into this post-apocalyptic future . Your interactions with them can go on for ages , but never does it feel boring . An NPC won ’ t simply ask for help with getting a gem , they ’ ll give you their backstory about their relation to the gem and let you ask them a dozen questions before you can accept of ignore the quest .
There isn ’ t some little World of Warcraft mission here . Every task in Elex feels meaty , and with the difficulty so high , even going to interview a few people can be a dangerous affair that will test your limits ; and I absolutely love it . The narrative has weight to it and never makes you feel like some super-powered hero , or some chosen one while playing . You ’ ll find yourself turning down quests simply because you know you are nowhere near ready or capable to handle it . And if you say no , then you may never get another chance to take said quest . This in and of itself adds some huge replayability to the game .
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