The style of the game is exactly as you can see from the previews; the actual game adds a lot of entertaining and funny ideas, dialogue, and stories. But after playing it for a few hours, you'll notice the progression is broken; the curve goes rapidly into an endless grind, with what feels like an exponential increase. Taking step n may require 10 rat tails, but n+1 is not just 100, it's 1000 already; and step n+5 is required to unlock... you get the picture. Could have been a fun little game if it had been playtested. What is now, is an unsatisfactory waste of time.
crashy crashy, five dolla ... FIFTY? I was looking forward to Elex II after Elex, no, really. I liked the world building, stories, factions, and even the quirks were feeling OK to me. Reusing the world map - well, that's kind of cheap, but it also can provide an interesting take: revisit all the locations and see what's changed, what's developed... so, my expectations were about story, characters, lore. I didn't need much technical improvements, but I would've of course welcomed them; the list of possible improvements was pretty long. Again: I even would've accepted the same engine with new content. But what I got is a game so unstable it is unplayable. And it's now 10 Months after initial release, during which they could've fixed it. Kind of sad. Crashy Crashy, but this disappointment costs not 5, but still 50! So, unless they get it fixed - or unless you can get it for 5 - spend your time and money on something else.
The good: The story and quest writing is good. No "bring 10 rat tails to the merchant" quests; the quests tell not only stories, but they add to a whole, bringing the world to life, a bit at least. I really want to underline this: the quests are good. Not stunningly good, but unusually good. The bad: Movement is somewhat clunky, and that makes combat harder without adding anything in return. But what's really bad: the world is left in unfinished-design-mode. If there is an item that can be moved or frobbed at all, it is for you, the player. Even the debris is glued in place, no explosion can move the leaves; if there is a path, it is because it was explicitly put there. If the way is wide enough, the threshold just a thumb high, but the designers didn't plan you to go there: you can't. There is no exploring outside the prescribed path, no useless cruft in people's drawers; there's the same crowd in the streets in back streets at night which walks the good places in sunshine... this is all just a scene set for the character, not a "world". And that clashes with the writing, which does a good job to paint the picture of a complex social, political, even economical situation with many parties involved. Honestly, most shooters from the 1990s have a "world" equal or better to this - let alone anything that was published this millennium. Will they ever get around to fix this? I doubt it. The ugly: Animations with the start-of-movement-jerk, overmuch reuse of assets (especially the houses), and THOSE TEETH. Yikes. Everybody, from the highest noble to the street-gutter misers, has shiny perfect teeth which are unnaturally far to the front, almost sticking out. Remember the "Alien" movies, the two sets of teeth? When they start to talk, it's as if the teeth are about to snap forward any moment. Seems intentional, since it won't be hard to fix. Summary: a good read, but tedious gameplay.
The visuals and rendering engine, I have no troubles with - it's a design choice, and a good one for the mood it tries to set. But as a game, it's pretty awful. The movement controls are jerky, the interaction items feel forced, and slow. You click your way through a story, but in an uncomfortable way. I've got to say, and I am serious about this: most shooters have a better way of conveying what little story they have, than this "game". It might work in another medium, as a visual novel, maybe written story or animated movie - but sorry, as a game, this is a complete failure. Can't recommend. Still, a second star for story, originality, and visuals.
Ah well. How this game is as of April 2022: Pros + Atmosphere, good visuals + Soundtrack is nice + A fresh stealth game! + Story fits, and adds to, the atmosphere. Cons - The perspective is fixed, which is bad for a stealth game where you need to see and understand the situation. - Good audio can do a lot for this type of game. But beyond the music, the audio doesn't help much with immersion. - The movement is tenacious; and the cover function is too sticky. You can't control much yourself. The movement dynamics of other stealth games allow for more suspense: Was my dash to cover too loud? Is my cover enough? Here, it is very much fixed. Press the right button at the right time. - Interaction with environment is very limited, and annoyingly restricted. Waist-height objects you cannot jump or at least mantle over? No frobbable things that are not quest-related or loot. So, the environment feels artificial. It's an immobile backdrop to the rail you're moving on. Was there any pressure to release this game now? It may be formally complete, but it is not polished yet. There is potential - but right now, except for die-hard fans, I cannot recommend it. Yet!
I checked this game carefully before buying; not just lots of hype, but it seems to be actually delivering. One big bad issue with it was not mentioned anywhere, though; that's why I do here, as a *warning to potential buyers*: The keybindings are hardcoded to cursor keys + space. If that's your jam, congratulations, you'll probably have lots of fun. If they are not, movement will be awkward, because you can't assign the keys you are used to. So besides solving the actual puzzles, you'll also fight with the movement. That's much less fun...
Some it may not bother at all; and if you play with a controller, you're probably fine. But I think it is important to get this warning before you buy this game: It doesn't support key binding. You are stuck with the keys the developers chose (and do not tell you). If that doesn't work for you - don't buy this game. There's no way to change the movement keys.
I would very much like to review the game content, but that stays inaccessible to me. There is no known way to remap the key bindings. I searched the forums on several sites, checked support, readme files - nope. Controls hardcoded, no config files anywhere. (I'd be glad if you can prove me wrong). So Unless the pre-set controls happen to match your preferences and hands, it might be very tedious to play. Serious WARNING for those with non-standard hands/input facilities.
