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ELEX is a handcrafted action role-playing experience from the award-winning creators of the Gothic series, set in a brand new post-apocalyptic Science Fantasy universe that puts players into a huge seamless game world full of original characters, mutated creatures, deep moral choices and powerful action.
ELEX is a rpg, open world and singleplayer game
developed by Piranha Bytes
and published by THQ Nordic.
Released on October 17th 2017 is available on Windows, Steam Deck and Steam Machine.
It has received 19,018 reviews of which 14,162 were positive and 4,856 were negative resulting in a rating of 7.3 out of 10. 😊
The game is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam, but you can find it for 4.50€ on Eneba.
The Steam community has classified ELEX into these genres:
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System requirements
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Windows
- OS *: 64-bit Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
- Processor: Intel Core i5 3570, AMD FX-6350
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 660 2GB, AMD Radeon 7850 2GB
- DirectX: Version 11
- Storage: 35 GB available space
- Sound Card: DirectX compatible Sound card
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User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
Elex, like so many other games, may not be perfect, but it's still a joy to play I've played Elex on console and now also on PC, and while I've had many frustrating moments, the game is unique, sometimes tough, a little janky, but very immersive and atmospheric. The studio Piranha Bytes (the creative minds behind the Gothic and Risen titles) may have closed, but don't let that stop you from playing this odd gem from a German developer. It'll scratch your sci-fi/fantasy rpg itch. The setting: Elex takes place on the world of Magalan, after a comet struck the planet. The comet brought with it a new substance, Elex, and the survivors learned to use it to help themselves survive in a new world where new factions fight for supremacy. Elex is a strange substance, able to change properties depending on what you do to it. The Albs refine it, consuming it to grow stronger, at the cost of their emotions. The Berserkers grow special plants to cleanse it, turning it into Mana and rejuvenating the land with new plant life. The Clerics use the Elex for technology, but also dedicate themselves to the religion of Calaan. Then there are the Outlaws, dedicated only to the acquisition of profits and scrap, thinking only of themselves. You enter the game as Jax, a commander of the Albs. Shot out of the sky, you start the game suffering from Elex withdrawal, your character incredibly weak and vulnerable. The story follows Jax as he looks for answers, and eventually changes the fate of the whole world. A lot of work went into this game, especially so when you consider the small team behind it. The music really evokes a sense of an old world gone forever, a civilisation and way of life that can never be recovered. In some ways the music reminds me of Fallout 3. Open world exploration, for all its dangers due to Jax being so weak, running and jetpacking away at top speed any time you encounter anything , is beautiful and surreal, even if some buildings and structures are repetitive. Combat is a mixed bag. I stick to using bows a lot at the start, but you have to pick your targets wisely. If foes are too strong they will reach melee range and destroy you, and if you jetpack away they start barfing up egg-and-bacon balls to hit you with their stomach contents if they can't run up to you. You discover pretty fast that you can't afford to get hit at all because you are so weak. You should expect to die a lot while you learn how to play. But once you know what you are doing? Hoo-hoo, it does get fun. Sure, there are problems with the gameplay, and the grind for some achievements is a bit too much, but there is no such thing as a perfect game. I mean, I love old Final Fantasy and Assassin's Creed games but I still find faults with them. Some fun stuff: - companions dialogue - when you finally do get overpowered and start wrecking machines and mutants - fighting the Outlaws' bomb One of the interesting things about this game is the way it deals with alignment and choices. There isn't a set 'good vs evil', but rather, an emotions vs cold... revolving around dialogue responses and Elex consumption. There are three different endings related to your Cold level, so it's an important feature. In terms of character progression, it's a little unusual. Earning stat points like strength and dexterity doesn't do anything to Jax other than unlock the ability to be trained in skills. The skills come under broad headings, with three of the skillsets locked under each of the three major factions - if you want one you have to join their faction. Unfortunately they get really expensive later on if you want the best skills. You only get 10 points per level (11 with one of the skills), but spending them on stats changes... eventually it will cost 2 points per 1 attribute point, and then it will cost 5 skill points per attribute point. Even drinking oceans of Elex potions takes a long time to build up these attributes. The game has issues too. The jetpack is great but also kind of useless - great for vertical movement, crap for any forward, back or side-to-side. Also it can't be upgraded. And it depletes kind of fast. Melee combat, or any combat for that matter, can be easily ruined as soon as you get knocked down. Quite often you're stun locked as, while you are on the ground trying to get back up, you're still getting hammered by rockets or melee attacks. Oh, and there isn't any kind of block, per se, only parrying, which means defending is useless too as you still get damaged. Trying to run just means egg-and-bacon balls or rockets up your bum. At least one of the companions seems half-done. Falks gets to a point in his own personal story where he undergoes a change, but after that, nothing. There should have been more character development but perhaps they ran out of time or money. Sneaking is only useful for stealing from people. Anywhere else is a waste. I felt like there were some places where sneaking didn't even work for stealing purposes either, like I couldn't figure out who could see me. Sometimes it seemed like guards had eyes in the back of their heads. ______________ Elex isn't like other games, but that's a good thing because as a gamer I don't want all my games to be identical. I think the frustration of how weak and useless you start out as makes the eventual rise to power so much more rewarding. In other games you level up but so does everything else, which always struck me as unrealistic. Here, you have monsters and wildlife straight from the start, right next to you, with skull icons on their health bars. It's refreshing, realistic, and keeps you on your toes. Despite its flaws, I still thoroughly enjoyed Elex, on both platforms. I played with a ps4 controller and only had a few setup troubles with camera panning speed that I ironed out easily. Game engine is very stable and ran smooth for me with no crashes. Highly recommended.
Easily one of the greatest games I have ever played. It's like they took every single Heavy Metal Magazine and smashed them together. It's just one giant dumb power fantasy in a grim dark world that mish mashes every heavy metal genre together. It's great. It's just great. World design is beautiful and I just love getting lost in these worlds. I am playing this after Gothic 1 Remake and I can play these games forever they're so amazing. Looking forward to Elex 2 after this.
this is my first Pirhanabytes game and I gotta say I'm very impressed. If you're a fan of open world double-A RPGs like Outward then you can't pass on this one - excellent worldbuilding, environmental storytelling, and player freedom. There is a lot of jank, most especially with the horrible combat, but the rest of the game was good enough for me to see past this. Don't even try to play the game vanilla - I played with the (mandatory) Elex Ultimate Overhaul which fixes a lot of the jank and broken mechanics. I also recommend playing with an XP boost for killing mobs - otherwise you hit a wall around level 15-20 and just have to go out into the world and grind fetchquests. If you're looking for a beautifully realized open world with that old-school Fallout freedom to screw everything up as you see fit, ELEX is an easy recommendation.
It is a crime against humanity to keep this wonderful gem at mixed reviews. Despite the fact that Elex excedes many of the aspects Piranha Bytes is known to excel at, it was unjustly bashed by casual gamers who are incapable of understanding core gameplay mechanics. I have finished the game in its entirety on Ultra difficulty using nothing but melee weapons without the help of companions at any point. Therefore, I will absolutely derail each and every single one of these unjustified arguments against its melee combat. But first, I will elaborate on the core gameplay loop and the general world design. Story and Exploration The story revolves around a post apocalyptic dystopia with a unique twist where a powerful resource named Elex has divided the humanity into multiple factions, each with their own rules, philosophies and agendas. The politics are never simply black and white as they have a number of nuances and it is genuinely intriguing trying to fit in as an outsider. Despite its gloominess, the world is extremely colorful, lively and eventful. Biomes all make perfect sense and blend into each other effortlessly. Every single tree, structure and even item was meticulously hand placed by the developers in a way that it's sensible and believable. Exploring, looting and surviving this harsh and hostile world never ceases to be fun and is hardly matched by any other game. Gameplay Design In its own staple Piranha Bytes fashion, the beginning of the game is extremely ruthless and is not meant to be brute forced through. You will start off extremely weak and you will lack capabilities to kill anything but the few of the weakest types of enemies in your surroundings. For the first dozen hours, you are expected to get intimate with the world, get to know each of the factions, understand their ideas and provide assistance. You will spend this time talking to NPCs, doing them favors and deciding which faction appeals to you the most. This will carry you through the "early game" until you decide to join one of them, and this will give you your first power spike where you will for the first time feel competent to engage in more meaningful combat and exploration. Understand that you are expected to run away from danger and survive. If you are really struggling, use a companion. They can outright trivialize early to mid game. The Combat Things not to do - do not spam clicks (The game features a timed combo system where you are expected to learn the flaw of your attacks and click exactly as the hit lands. This allows you to keep enemies staggered with constant offense and finish your combos.) - do not use lock-on (The lock-on system in this game disallows running and fast movement, which is a crucial part of combat encounters. Get used to manually manoeuvring around the enemies and attacking them when they are vulnerable) - do not stay on the ground without stamina (the moment you run out of stamina, the only safe place for you to be is the air. Use your jetpack and hover until your stamina bar refills) - Do not fight multiple enemies at once unless you are more powerful than them. (It is usually a bad idea to do so, but later on in the game you are forced to fight in this manner almost constantly. Here, you want to swing hard with heavy hits from a longer distance. Do this once or twice, dodge away, fly up and re-engage.) Things to do - Observe the enemy behavior and patterns (Each enemy type has its own unique set of tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. You need to be aware of them and exploit them accordingly.) - Keep jogging in circles and keep your distance (Most enemies like to charge at you from a long distance. Each and every single one of these charge attacks can be avoided by simply moving sideways. This is why you don't want to use the lock-on system because it will disable this mechanic. As the enemy misses the charge, it will try to run away. Chase them and start your combo from behind their backs.) - Block up close (when enemies are at point blank range, they will attack extremely quickly. As long as you have stamina it will always be safe to block these fast attacks, even without a shield. If you are good enough, you can dodge them instead.) - Mind the hyper-armour (Now, this is probably the most intricate one. Certain enemies can occasionally disregard your attacks and trade you hit for hit, which messes up your combo and your flow. When this happens you MUST disengage. It is not random, however. Most massive enemies like Ogres have these types of attacks, but are extremely slow and it allows you to cancel your attacks and dodge away immediately. Arachnids are another one, but it is safe to keep attacking them with heavy attacks which keeps them perma-staggered. Ironically, the only unfair enemy in the game is the ostrich type which is normally very weak but has random hyper armour and can rarely be combo-ed fully because of it. I am almost 100% sure this is a bug rather than a feature.) The only absolute BS gameplay mechanic in the entire game is the Flamethrower and Granade launcher which certain elite humanoid enemies wield. These can knock you down from infinite range and disrupt you constantly, making it impossible to play. You have to run into these enemies instantly and make them switch their weapon to melee. Conclusion I know this seems like a long one but I couldn't just sit there and ignore the fact that this last ditch mastery effort by this passionate company get trashed by incompetent "modern" gamers who are used to having success and gratification be fed to them with a silver spoon. If you are having serious problems with the combat, understand that it is you, and not the game. A skill issue, if you will...
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Frequently Asked Questions
ELEX is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam.
No, ELEX is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 29.99€ on Steam.
Yes, ELEX received 14,162 positive votes out of a total of 19,018 achieving a rating of 7.32.
😊
ELEX was developed by Piranha Bytes and published by THQ Nordic.
Yes, ELEX is playable and fully supported on Windows.
No, ELEX is not playable on MacOS.
No, ELEX is not playable on Linux.
Yes, ELEX is playable on Steam Deck, though it might require a few minor tweaks. Make sure to check the Steam store page and community feedback on ProtonDB for exact compatibility details.
Yes, ELEX is playable and fully supported on Steam Machine.
No, ELEX does not support VR.
ELEX is a single-player game.
Yes, there is a DLC available for ELEX. Explore additional content available for ELEX on Steam.
No, ELEX does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
Yes, ELEX supports Remote Play on TV. Discover more about Steam Remote Play.
Yes, ELEX is enabled for Steam Family Sharing. This means you can share the game with authorized users from your Steam Library, allowing them to play it on their own accounts. For more details on how the feature works, you can read the original Steam Family Sharing announcement or visit the Steam Family Sharing user guide and FAQ page.
You can find solutions or submit a support ticket by visiting the Steam Support page for ELEX.
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Additionally, we incorporate data from the SteamSpy API, which offers insights into game sales and player statistics. This helps us present a comprehensive view of each game's popularity and performance within the gaming community.
Last Updates| Steam data | 22 September 2026 09:03 UTC |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 14 October 2026 23:20 UTC |
| Steam price | 18 October 2026 03:04 UTC |
| Steam reviews | 17 October 2026 09:50 UTC |
If you'd like to dive deeper into the details about ELEX, we invite you to check out a few dedicated websites that offer extensive information and insights. These platforms provide valuable data, analysis, and user-generated reports to enhance your understanding of the game and its performance.
- SteamDB - A comprehensive database of everything on Steam about ELEX
- SteamCharts - Analysis of ELEX concurrent players on Steam
- ProtonDB - Crowdsourced reports on Linux and Steam Deck ELEX compatibility
Game modes
Features
Online players
66
Developer
Piranha Bytes
Publisher
THQ Nordic
Release
17 Oct 2017
Platforms
Remote Play
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