Jax returns to protect Magalan from a new threat in THQ Nordic’s Elex II.
In Elex II you play as Jax, the hero of the first Elex title and the savior of Magalan. A new threat has fallen to the planet and it will take all of the factions working together to survive. Obviously Jax is needed to unite them all but doing so is easier said than done.
Visually the game looks like it is on par with the previous generation of consoles for the gameplay, however the trailer and some of the cinematics have some stunning effects. Controls felt rather intuitive, even when adding jump jets that allow you to reach greater heights when jumping. The game’s story felt slow and failed to engage me early on, even when forcing myself to push further I couldn’t find a reason to get interested in it. The early foes are more or less feral creatures you will have to face but don’t get cocky. That’s what I did and found myself surrounded by them and killed easily.
Overall gameplay felt uninspired and failed to keep my interest beyond the minimum time I had allotted to play the game prior to writing my review. A big reason for that is behind the stamina mechanics, simply they are broken. Recharging the stamina is slow to the point of frustration and your attacks simply use too much of it. This leads to a combat system that makes you want to shut the game off early into your journey.