ELEX 2 GAMEPASS UPGRADE

I wish it well, but I don’t think I’ll be calling it up for a second date.' - Leana Hafer, OctoScore: 4.9 But the frothy mix of joy and frustration that ELEX presents today skews too heavily toward the latter. It has enough good ideas that one day it might be talked about as one of those hidden RPG gems that people play and wonder why it wasn’t successful at launch. The best-case scenario for ELEX is that it’ll be worth picking up on sale a year or two from now after it’s been heavily patched to fix its rampant bugs and infuriating balance problems.

The one thing that's been improved from its predecessor’s combat system is that you don't have a lot of encounters where you'll get 360 noscoped by a firing squad offscreen, thus being forced to kite melee troops around a cliff for ages to break their line of sight. I often had to farm money for potions to get through tough encounters, which is a drag. Shields are all but useless until much later on, with some of the early ones only allowing you to take three direct hits instead of two. On top of that, there are too few effective options when you’re getting ganged up on in melee. Much like the original Elex, the scarcity of ammo and mana potions makes it very difficult to go for a pure ranged build – though being able to craft your own ammo helps a bit. Standing your ground usually gets you killed, since even basic enemies are flush with hitpoints and it takes Jax dozens of levels to feel more robust than a wet sheet of paper. I attack, then I stand back and watch the bad guy swing ponderously at the air, then I get to run back in and attack again. This creates an almost turn-based feel, and not in a good way.

ELEX 2 GAMEPASS UPGRADE

The poorly-balanced stamina system makes it difficult to smoothly transition between attacking, defending, and maneuvering, even after you upgrade your stamina regeneration much later on. Combat in Elex 2 is not bad because it's too challenging – take that from someone who’s currently loving Elden Ring.

Elex 2 gamepass