ELEX on Steam - User reviews, Price & Information
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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 only on Windows
in 9 languages: English, French, Italian, German, Spanish - Spain, Polish, Russian, Czech and Simplified Chinese.
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 2.15€ on Gamivo.
The Steam community has classified ELEX into these genres:
Media & Screenshots
Get an in-depth look at ELEX through various videos and screenshots.
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System requirements
These are the minimum specifications needed to play the game. For the best experience, we recommend that you verify them.
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
User reviews & Ratings
Explore reviews from Steam users sharing their experiences and what they love about the game.
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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Elex is an admittedly janky game that does more than enough world building to provide a solid roleplaying experience in a fairly large and engaging open world. To be totally clear, it's not anything like a polished product. Among the not insubstantial number of elements that deserve criticism, the voice acting in particular comes off amateurish, and the combat is not at all fluid until you acquire basic skills and items at least 5-10 hours after the start (even then, let's be honest, it's still rough around the edges). Another aspect to highlight that is somewhat jarring early on is that the game world is not neatly arranged zone wise from easy to hard or early to late game - in other words, just beyond the present immediate area you may find yourself, you might discover several mobs that are impossible for your character to currently handle. This is not at all totally random, however, and the post-apocaplytic setting has main towns and roads that you should stick to at the start to avoid overwhelming enemies. There are also, even now in 2025, more than a few (minor) bugs, although I haven't come across anything gamebreaking. Regardless, I found that for all its faults, there are corresponding strengths and creature comforts that keep the title enjoyable - there's no player inventory weight limit, no enemy scaling, plenty of teleport stations that are always accessible from the map after being discovered, lots of detailed locations to discover rewarding exploration with bits or sometimes heaps of loot (yes, much of it is generic "junk" with no purpose other than vending), a faction system that impacts both your character build and questing that's not too restrictive while still allowing important allegiances, and player progression feels rewarding, especially in the face of the initial weakness of your character at the beginning of the story. You have to work to find ways to improve and progress in the world of Magalan, but on balance, the effort is enjoyable and feels worthwhile. The cherry on top for me is the central plot, which feels like more than the sum of its parts, and has become engrossing as I've gotten familiar with the game of Elex as a whole. The game successfully expands upon its world and your place in it, as well as mostly providing impressions of agency and consequence for the player in a meaningful and intelligible way as you make decisions working your way through the story, as one would usually hope from a true CRPG. I recommend it for anyone looking for an action oriented fantasy and sci-fi roleplaying title who is willing to overlook more than a handful of flaws for the bigger picture. I've also played this title a bit on the Steam Deck and it plays well on the device out of the box.
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What Amazing Level Design ! I mean if youre into cool overland zones, you gotta see this. The game curve is VERY high, so be prepared for a more than usual difficult game. But, I gotta say, I hope this level designer gets into making the next MMO, because I mean truly unique, awesome zones, areas...! Very Good Graphics BD
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First off, most criticisms the game received are valid, e.g. clunky combat, weird animations and subpar voice acting. It is certainly a far-from-perfect game. But this game has its merits and imo is definitely recommendable especially on sale. The RPG elements are what actually drew me into the game. As a forgotten amnesic soldier, you get to choose which faction to side with and learn their abilities accordingly. This is already a big plus because it creates strong immersion. Weapons have a good variety but I don't feel they differ much to give you more choices in combat, but the combat itself is fine for me. Story is well paced, you can feel that the story is progressing while still taking your time to explore different places or doing side quests. Overall a 7/10 for me, definitely worthing getting on sale when it often gets a 90% discount now in 2025.
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This game runs perfectly on Steam Deck. At first, it may seem a somewhat generic RPG with 3 opposing and different factions to support, undermine, or join. That is actually still the feeling many hours into the game - the combat and enemies are uninspired, overtuned, and usually offer little reward compared to completing tasks for people - and surprisingly that is where the game shines! NPCs will lie to you in this game and it isnt obvious, they have their own plans and some task outcomes effect other NPCs and their tasks for you. Plenty of tasks/missions/quests have multiple solutions, and you get a jetpack almost immediately. Its a decent and unique RPG, I just wish the combat was better tuned and exciting.
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Frequently Asked Questions
ELEX is currently priced at 29.99€ on Steam.
ELEX is currently not on sale. You can purchase it for 29.99€ on Steam.
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.
ELEX is playable and fully supported on Windows.
ELEX is not playable on MacOS.
ELEX is not playable on Linux.
ELEX is a single-player game.
There is a DLC available for ELEX. Explore additional content available for ELEX on Steam.
ELEX does not support mods via Steam Workshop.
ELEX supports Remote Play on TV. Discover more about Steam Remote Play.
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.
Data sources
The information presented on this page is sourced from reliable APIs to ensure accuracy and relevance. We utilize the Steam API to gather data on game details, including titles, descriptions, prices, and user reviews. This allows us to provide you with the most up-to-date information directly from the Steam platform.
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 | 19 April 2026 22:06 |
|---|---|
| SteamSpy data | 23 April 2026 08:06 |
| Steam price | 30 April 2026 12:46 |
| Steam reviews | 29 April 2026 04:06 |
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
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Game modes
Features
Online players
51
Developer
Piranha Bytes
Publisher
THQ Nordic
Release
17 Oct 2017
Platforms
Remote Play
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