This game was very obviously made for a controller and for that I can only give it 4 stars. I finished the game and enjoyed all of it. It is monotonous yes, but in that soothing, comforting kind of way that simulation games should be. It's fun trying to work out what cost your loot should sell for and balancing spending your time making money to upgrade your gear or pushing through the dungeons to solve the mystery of what went before and where the creatures come from.
I'm gonna say it. Elex is the best game I have ever plays that tells stories SOLELY through the environment. The game has a lot of issues which the majority of other reviews cover adequately. But one of the things that the majority of games do is only tell their stories through dialogues, quests, or perhaps in documents or books found throughout the land. Elex, on the other hand, tells stories through the placement of objects, of skeletons, things that may not even relate to the main story of the game but help to build the world and the lore, to bring it all to life. Things occur around you and the evidence is there for you to find, be it of the old world from before the comet hit, or of the new world with the placement of bodies, of objects, and yes, with documents. This game is the best that rewards exploration, not just for the sweet loot, but with the stories it tells. I can highly recommend it for that reason alone.
I really enjoyed this game, even more than I enjoyed Pillars of Eternity. Paradox and Obsidian come together beautifully to bring this morally challenging story to life. I quite enjoyed all the characters and companions, flaws and all, and genuinely had to pause to think through my actions and the possible consequences they may have. Cause and Effect are very strong in this game, every action causing some kind of consequence, be it relatively minor as the way a basic NPC responds, to allowing what parts of the world you are able to visit. Multiple play throughs are a must in order to see the whole game which greatly lengthens the game. In my first play through I have spent 59 hours in order to explore every aspect of the game open to me which makes it well worth the price (and there were still some artifacts and researches I did not complete). The only let down was the rather abrupt ending. Without giving anything away I was looking forward to one major battle but the game was instead wrapped up with an epilogue detailing the final consequences of your actions. It does pave the way for DLC though which is very exciting. Looking forward to more from this world, just hope I can continue playing my Fatebinder.
