XEL Review 

Game: XEL
Genre: Action, Adventure
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows & macOS) PS4 and Xbox)
Developer|Publisher: Assemble Entertainment
Age Rating: EU 12+ | US Teen
Price: US $18.99 | UK £17.09 | EU € 18,99
Release Date: July 14th, 2022

Review code provided with many thanks to Press Engine.

A Good First Impression 

Xel is a top-down adventure game with a Zelda-like feel to it. On appearances, Xel looks like it has got a winning formula. An intriguing sci-fi setting with a mix of combat and puzzle solving just crying out to be explored by the player. But it won’t take long into the game before you discover this ambitious title is not in the best shape on launch, at least not on Nintendo Switch. This is unfortunately another example of a game launching quite broken. But hopefully, things will be tuned up in the future. However, if you need to know more then read on. 

Another Common Case of Video Game Amnesia

You play as a young girl named Reid who has crash-landed on the mysterious planet Xel, suffering from a common case of video game amnesia. This trope is becoming relatively common in my reviews this year that it might compete with the regular appearance of buzzsaws in platform games. With the help of a little robot pal, you soon find civilization and learn there is a bit more to Xel than meets the eye. The story is presented with full voice acting. For the most part, the cast does a pretty good job with their performances but I found the attempts at humour didn’t always meet the mark. I mostly overlooked this since the world of Xel was an interesting mystery to explore in itself. It’s just a shame the mystery is kinda clouded by multiple issues with the game.

Combat and Exploration

The gameplay is a mix of exploration, puzzle solving and combat. You can attack with your sword and avoid the enemy’s wrath by dodging or using a shield. It all feels pretty by the numbers. Enemies follow a standard attack pattern although they have a habit of randomly respawning in places which just felt off. Keep a close eye on your stamina meter. When using your shield it drains your stamina bar rapidly and sometimes just doesn’t appear to protect you from incoming damage at all. This led me to rely on the dodge mechanic more than the blocking.

Not long into the game, you unlock the ability to jump into the past to solve some puzzles. For example, moving a block to a certain spot in the past will hold up a bridge in the future. You can also find new gizmos which will help you access new areas. Exploration is where I had the most fun but navigating your quest is a nightmare. No markers are placed on your map and when an NPC tells you where to go you just have to kinda wonder and guess. This might have worked for my younger self. But I’m an old git now with no patience and I need a vague hint of where to go. The game also features other mechanics like upgrading your equipment and even cooking food but I didn’t get to invest much time in this as the game, for me, soon became just unplayable. 

Bugs Aplenty 

Xel as a world is intriguing and mysterious. A mechanical wasteland with a beautiful side thanks to the plant foliage. To a degree, I enjoyed exploring the world looking for chests and attempting to find secrets. But this enjoyment was severely hampered by multiple presentation issues.

Xel plays in a top-down perspective which feels overly zoomed out making it hard to follow your character. This is particularly problematic in the handheld mode where I felt like I had to squint my eyes, that or it was finally time to invest in reading glasses. That’s not the only issue though. Your character often gets obscured by the environment. Since you have no control over the camera and no ghost image is shown, it’s really hard to follow where they are when they run under a giant root.

The overall graphics feel like they are covered with a layer of Vaseline making everything feel foggy. Performance is unpredictable, stuttering along at a low frame rate to the extent that it made me a bit ill at times. The game doesn’t have the best checkpoint system either, so if you die you are sent back to the last crystal you saved at. These were sometimes very far away meaning you have to repeat long tedious segments again. There are also a plethora of bugs and glitches such as environments just not loading in until you’re right on top of them, to NPCs just floating about.

It all feels like it really struggles on Nintendo Switch. Another platform may be a consideration but I can’t speak to those in this review. Xel just feels a bit too ambitious on Switch with too much going on on a platform that is struggling to accommodate it. The final straw for me was when my game just crashed to a black screen when taking on a boss and in that moment I just decided I was done. A real shame because I like what Xel is attempting to do.

Rocky Start but Hope for the Future

Xel hasn’t had the best launch on Nintendo Switch. The idea of a new contender to the Zelda like genre with a more futuristic feeling is something I have wanted to see for quite some time. But Xel isn’t quite up to the task, yet. The framework is here for a fun-filled adventure with a unique environment to explore but the bugs, glitches and poor performance are just too loud not to notice. There is hope though. We have seen other examples of games released in a bad state and the developers rolled their sleeves up and fixed them later. Hopefully, Xel will be one of those redemption stories. But it is not this day. 

I’ll keep an eye on this game for future updates. One day I hope this thumb can be turned the other way around.

Final Verdict: I Don’t Like it