Thursday, October 19, 2017

ELEX ~ The Verdict

Pirahna Bytes' game, "ELEX" is a sight to behold, and a well narrated journey filled to the brim with the utmost attention to detail. You'll find that Magalan, the home world which all of the post-apocalyptic factions are fighting in, and where the game takes place is a beautifully rendered place enriched with tons of lively characters to talk to as well as unique locations that vary according to the residing population. The protagonist, or anti-hero of the tale who starts the story off seems to step in midway into the upheaval of each factional society, and is made an outcast who must make allies before he can exact revenge on those who wronged him. His adventure is of the open world sort, and gives the player controlling his actions, and reactions free reign on whatever tasks they wish to take on. When it comes to said tasks, or quests Jax (the anti-hero) must prioritize his objectives in order to better prepare himself for the fights ahead. This entails earning currency to buy equipment, as well as completing quests to rank up among your chosen faction to learn their skills, and improve upon your strengths via RPG stat upgrades.

While the game nails the plot details through excellently voiced character conversation along the way, and makes the playthrough visually appealing throughout in the "Triple A" sense it falls short of being worthy almost immediately with a combat system that leaves Jax sluggish, slowly responsive to the battle, and ill-equipped for most early fights with lesser creatures. The fact that there is no guard mechanic, and that the game leans on an evasion maneuver for escape purposes that drains on the same short lived stamina meter that attacks do leaves you open to assault, and quickly dead especially when faced with multiple or stronger enemies. The added fact that the quest grind that allows you to withstand these battles better through stat upgrades, equipment earning, and learned skills leads you into enemy infested territory unprepared up until the point that you complete what needs to be completed. I was actually surprised by a PR note that basically said to run out of harm's way if you find yourself not prepared to face an enemy. With the character being stamina drained in battle so quickly (3 heavy strikes), and staggered by attacks this escape isn't so easily done in most cases. To me the combat felt too slow, and unbalanced on Jax's part as well as too advantageous for the quicker attackers who were attacking him.

Ultimately the balancing act of visuals, and storytelling along with the accompanying battle mechanics resulted in the ELEX failing to live up to what it could have been. It's a game that submerges you neck deep in rich lore, gives you plenty of nice things to look at, but loses traction in the battle scenarios that manifest mainly in quest driven, and travel laden encounters that seem to take a second place of importance to everything else in the game. It was obvious from the start that the developer/s invested more resources in the story being told, and paid less attention to fine tuning the combat, and it's focus.

I still can't give this game a passing rating for the $53.99 price tag it is asking for. It had potential, but fell short when it came to combat. As Jax I felt more like a wimp playing as a gruff badass, and less like the badass one man army I should have been. Being stripped of armor is one thing, but what the heck happened to Jax's stamina, and his fighting training? Lost armor should not impact him that much, especially in comparison to creatures, and non-Alb characters.

VERDICT: Could have been great, but succumbed to a combative Achille's Heel.

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