Imagine being stuck on a planet where you have no idea where or how you got there because whatever happened in the past has all been erased from your mind. The only way to recollect old memories is to figure out various puzzles, meet new friends, discover hidden treasures, and playthrough this unique world known as XEL, to unlock the mysteries that may lead you to help protect the world and the connections you have with this planet. However, don’t be fooled, as there will be plenty of challenges along the way, and as the heroine Reid with your companion Chap, you’ll have one large journey ahead of you.
How Was The Game
I honestly couldn’t say I am a big sci-fi-themed game kind of person. They never seem to feel very entertaining or even stir my interest. However, this one isn’t too bad! Being a heroine named Reid and journeying through this planet or world with a friend named Chap was quite interesting. As Chap does have a very lively personality and Reid you can sense her extreme determination to solve the many problems she is facing. However, together they make a perfect team throughout this entire game.
I definitely found the various puzzles and obstacles to solve quite simple, adding a bit more entertainment than just fighting enemies along the way. It still provided plenty of action-packed fighting portions to the game, but I think the balance of exploring, and figuring out mini puzzles to move forward made it all work well together. It almost felt like the game could be a large maze to move through. Plus, it doesn’t hurt to have some awesome weapons and upgrades, making it perfectly all fit the classic genre of an RPG adventure-style game.
Another part that I really want to point out is that the viewpoint was wonderful in this game! I love seeing the entire world from a high point in the sky. It felt as if the player appears as if they are looking down from the clouds and getting to witness everything from each side before getting close to one location. Perfect for avoiding or missing anything when you can see it all ahead, behind, or from each side of you. Plus, there are no fears about working a camera as you play, to make sure you keep an eye out on everything.
Ok, so no camera rotation is needed and a high point view is great, but there is one downfall that comes without the actual use of rotating the cameras. Well, at first I thought of the idea and when I was playing it was a great idea, made things simplified. However, it doesn’t work in certain locations. You won’t be able to see all the hidden blind spots that are blocking you from viewing locations with actual boxes or objects you can attack and collect items from. It’s hard to tell where you are located, Reid ends up being left in a blindspot.
Now to move on to the design of the game, which I felt was really nice, especially since all the focusing and easy control buttons to use were simple to adjust to right away. There isn’t much to learn and it felt more like a game that anyone could dive right into and be Pros at playing. The graphics are very clear and full of slightly-realistic objects, with a cartoonish design. Regardless, the movements of water, the leaves of the trees, each new dark and dreary location, as well as the characters, were very well created and set the scene for the story beautifully.
I also loved that even if you wanted to recall what the character is trying to figure out in a portion of the game. Reid will sometimes repeat her speech with the exact text on the screen below. It is very helpful if you didn’t catch it the first time or need to recall what task needed to be done. Either way, it’s like a maze, and easy to realize where you need to go next, as there is no other path to travel only ones to activate the main path or find objects to access the main location you want to go to. Additionally, the little map or large map view during the pause menu.
I did have a few other issues with the game, not including just the blindspots cause of no camera rotation ability. The first issue is that even with the view and the number of enemies you will destroy puzzles that will require a little solving to move forward. It felt a bit repetitive and just a bit dull, even after moving forward in the game. I felt there were just too many empty and boring locations that could have more action or thrilling things to occur than you have in this game.
The second problem is the movement. In certain parts of the game, it seems as if the heroine; our character is moving super slow. We can barely go fast or move at the same pace as the others. Instead, we go in this slow-mo style and even if the world is one large location that connects, lacks the need to load to a new portion of the game. The slow movement sort of ruins the game and makes it feel awkward or just not perfect for the rest of the movement of the game.
The last is that its volume could have been raised. Even at the highest audio setting, it was still very hard to hear what the characters were saying. Most of the time it sounds like there is no volume at all. If the game is in the Beta stage. Plus, it does seem like she talks plenty throughout, and it all still hard to hear it all. So thankfully there are words on the bottom of the screen to read, clearly. It’s probably best to be in a quiet room or use earbuds to hear the game completely.
Final Thoughts
The game XEL is quite unique and original but brings that classic 3D RPG action-packed game genre to the Nintendo Switch. It’s a very easy-to-play game that doesn’t require many control buttons to use or a long time to acknowledge what you must do next. Everything is easily explained and the major portion of the game is to explore the world while finding hidden objects and upgrades to help you along the way.
Plus, the world seen from such a wonderful new perspective gives a great advantage that many other games wouldn’t always allow. Additionally, the challenging puzzles, the new enemies you will meet up with and the story really is remarkable, but the game gets dull after a while. It actually had me not as entertained as I am with other games. I wish I could say it was compelling that I couldn’t put the handheld console down, but honestly, it was just lacking excitement for me. However, it is something that would be easier for many new to playing RPG games that are not too crazy with enemies or difficult puzzles to solve.
