Introduction

XEL arrives with the modest premise of a crashed spaceship, an amnesiac pilot named Reid, and the kind of earnest ambition that makes small studios build giant puzzles. It wears its inspirations on its sleeve - if that sleeve were a pixel-art cloak woven from classic Zelda threads and sci-fi yarn. The game was made by Tiny Roar, a Hamburg-based outfit, and its console debut on Xbox Series X/S came with a side of DLC called "Breaking Time." People who like exploring, poking at levers, and pretending their memory loss is relatable will find familiar comforts. People who dislike technical hiccups will find that XEL is a reminder: memory loss in a character is less tragic than performance loss in a console port.

Gameplay

The core loop of XEL is simple and cheerful: Reid wakes up on an alien world, forgets everything, and then spends several hours making friends with rocks, switches, and vaguely hostile lifeforms. You explore an isometric landscape, open chests, solve environmental puzzles, and fight enemies with a modest kit of moves. The twist is Reid's time-manipulation ability, which allows you to slip into the past to rearrange things, solve multi-era conundrums, and feel momentarily clever for splitting time like a cosmic gumshoe. Controls on the Xbox Series X/S are serviceable. Movement, attack, and the time-jump mechanic slot into the controller with no surprises, which is probably exactly what you want when you are trying to save the universe with an amnesiac protagonist and a day-old coffee. Combat is not the game's strongest suit: it behaves like a polite board game about violence, where the enemies take turns to get mildly angry and you counter with a well-timed dodge and a regretful slash. It works when the game frames it as tactical puzzle-brawling, and it feels thin when the game wants sustained, rhythmic action. Puzzles are where XEL tries to leave an impression. Many rooms are carefully designed, with switches, movable objects, and cleverly placed time-split mechanics that reward observation more than button-mashing. There are moments that genuinely evoke the satisfaction of solving a Zelda-style dungeon - you get the little "aha" chime in your brain and briefly consider yourself a genius. The time travel puzzles are the highlight; visiting the past to rearrange a path in the present is an elegant conceit and is used with enough restraint to avoid parody. Storytelling is functional and fairly minimalist. Reid's amnesia is a narrative permission slip: it allows the game to drip-feed exposition, sprinkle in a few NPCs, and remain mostly focused on exploration. If you are expecting a sweeping sci-fi epic, XEL is more like a modest postcard from an alien island. Some reviewers called the story "boring and lackluster," and they were not being dramatically incorrect. It's pleasant and occasionally mysterious, but it rarely reaches for emotional high notes. The Breaking Time DLC adds another chapter, which is appreciated by those who wanted a little more map to wander, like asking for a second helping of mashed planetary mystery. Where the gameplay experience trips up is not design but execution. Multiple outlets noted bugs and performance issues, and the console release was not immune. Expect occasional hiccups, framerate drops on weaker hardware, and the kind of odd freezes that make you question whether the planet itself needs a nap. These technical side quests detract from the atmosphere, because when your screen stutters in the middle of a scenic time jump, it is hard to stay enchanted by the narrative ramifications of your own forgetfulness. If Tiny Roar irons those out, the core design has a decent foundation; as-is, the game feels like a well-crafted wooden ship with a few screws left loose.

Graphics

Graphically, XEL opts for isometric charm rather than photorealistic ambition. Its environments are colorful, thoughtful, and often quaint, like dioramas someone spaced out while making. The art direction leans into retro-modern aesthetics: pixel-styled clarity with enough detail to make exploration rewarding, and a palette that does not shy away from alien flora and tasteful neon. On Xbox Series X/S the visuals polish up nicely compared to earlier Switch performance, but this is not a showcase title for hardware prowess. Expect smooth camera angles, readable environments, and character models that manage to be expressive within their modest polygon allotment. The isometric viewpoint helps the puzzles look intentional and makes combat readable, which is genuinely useful when you are juggling time-based mechanics. The soundtrack and sound design do their job with quiet competence. Music swells at appropriate intervals, and sound effects deliver satisfying thunks and zips that make toggles and time jumps feel consequential. None of it will unseat your favorite game soundtrack from its throne, but it supports the atmosphere and rarely draws attention to itself - a polite but reliable companion. All that said, the graphical experience on consoles was reported to have performance wrinkles on release. Nintendo World Report, writing about the Switch version, called it "one of the worst performing games" they've seen on that platform. On the Series X/S the issues are less dire but present enough to be noticeable: occasional framerate dips and longer-than-ideal load pauses. These are fixable sins, but they are still sins, and they do interrupt the otherwise pleasant visual package.

Conclusion

XEL is a game with a clear personality: it wants to be an isometric, Zelda-inspired action-adventure that sprinkles time-manipulation like seasoning. When it lands, the flavor is enjoyable - clever puzzles, decent combat moments, and a world that invites exploration. It also arrives with the sort of technical baggage that makes you frown in the middle of an otherwise lovely sunset. If you are the kind of player who appreciates puzzle design over flashy action, and you don't mind a few rough edges, XEL on Xbox Series X/S is worth a look - especially if subsequent patches have smoothed the rough bits. If, on the other hand, you demand a polished, impeccably performing experience from the first hour, you might be better off waiting until Tiny Roar tightens a few screws. It tries earnestly and often succeeds in surprising you with an elegant puzzle or a neat time-based solution. It also occasionally reminds you that games are made by humans rather than time-traveling robots with quality-control degrees. At 6.0 out of 10, XEL is recommended on a mild, thoughtful basis: bring curiosity, patience, and the hope that future updates will make Reid's second chance at memory last a little longer than the frame rate hiccups.

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