The Good: Atmosphere/setting, exploration,the jetpack from the start of the game, the auto save system, game runs buttery smooth even under linux using wine(Very impressive). The auto save systems makes multiple autosaves so you can roll back farther than just 2mins. Say when you spend all of your resources killing 6-7 bandits to hack in to a safe you assume has loot in it, the loot turns out to be toilet paper and the currency of the game. The Bad: Pacing, Loot, enemy placement, technical issues, overall design, leveling, just about everything else The writing is even poor, you take on the role of Jax, an ALB commander. Albs are revered as battle hardened warriors who wish to conquer everything. Jax, the ALB commander, struggles fighting a chicken and can easily be overwhelmed by children. Quests from the starter town take you to areas with monsters that 1 shot you till much later on. Nothing drops armor and 99% of enemies wont drop weapons and combat is mehh. Early on you'll find a sword or hatchet you can upgrade, don't. This levels the sword and you cant use it for another 6-10 levels. You are only allowed 1 active quest at a time, upon completion of a task sometimes you'll need to go back in to the menu and reactivate the same quest you are working on. This is especially a pain in the beginning of the game because you are in a town called Goliet. They hate technology and complain every time you bring up your map/inventory/quest log or anything else. The game with maybe a year or two more of development and tweaking could have been outstanding. When you play Elex you see quality base with a bad implementation. Its frustrating to see such a quality world held back. I just cant recommend you spend full price on this.
The game loop is nice, you are always building to the next thing and trying to please your town. However the game is not very deep. Once you get in to the higher tier stuff and build decent defenses you quickly run out of things to do. The game is nice and comfy for a weekend, but be warned it does not have enough content to last more than a day or so. Its a casual city builder and i enjoyed the 12 hours i put in.
Looking for a casual hack and slash? Well look no father. This game is a solid h&s. Its got new game plus and some additional modifiers to keep the game fresh. You cannot go wrong with this game if you find it on sale. 1 full clear + a newgame plus speed run has me clocked in at just under 10hours. Well worth the money I paid.
