Leximan [Review]
Brush up on your leximancy because it's time to play irreverent story-based RPG adventure Leximan.
Leximan. Credit: Knights of Borria / Marvelous Europe
Leximan arrives at the doorstep of wizard tower and magic school Academy Elementinia. Soaked in the rain, Principal Elementine lets him in even though he has no invitation. However, Leximan's unique and chaotic form of magic, leximancy, gets him in trouble and thrown into the school's basement with the Academy's other failures, the “learners.” When the Academy is attacked, Elementine asks Leximan for help. So begins silly and hilarious Leximan, an Undertale-inspired (and, in turn, Earthbound-inspired) adventure game from UK indie team Knights of Borria and Marvelous Europe.
Throughout the story, you'll use leximancy. Sometimes, the magic summons or transforms things; sometimes, it's just a word you decide to speak in your situation. Fragments of words float around, and you select and drag them into the casting area to form a word, then cast it and see what happens. Often, the results are unexpected and hilarious, though, in the end, there is usually only one correct solution; thankfully, most of the time, you can just try again, even though sometimes the choice can kill you. You can also utter words to solve puzzles in the world by typing them in.
Leximan. Credit: Knights of Borria / Marvelous Europe
While I'd classify Leximan as an adventure game or a narrative RPG, there's much more here. Most of the time, you'll walk around, check things out, and talk to people, with plenty of opportunities to use your leniency in battle, conversation, or even temp work. Though that's the core, it's full of other gameplay styles spread throughout, as appropriate to the current story beat. There's a survivorslike bullet-heaven, a *Paperboy-*style driving delivery game, an RTS-style base builder, a turn-based RPG, and more. While most of these aren't very interesting in terms of gameplay, they're usually funny or do an excellent job of helping you experience certain parts of the story.
The game's script is solid. The dialogue is well-written, brings the characters to life, and makes them endearing. Unlike some recent games I've played in this style, it's funny and doesn't feel overwritten. The overall story isn't that special, but the turns it takes and locations it visits are always silly or interesting and it moves along at a steady clip for its 6-8 hour playtime.
Leximan. Credit: Knights of Borria / Marvelous Europe
I didn't love the game's art style. While the backgrounds and environments are decent enough 16-bit pixel art with some particle effects and deformation, all the character sprites are black and white, making them feel out of place in the world, crude, and lacking in definition. I think the game could have conveyed more personality with full-color sprites. All the battles or encounters are depicted in a style similar to the sprites, which to me felt boring. At least it doesn't detract from the game's humor.
Leximan uses flashing screen effects too often. I was playing in a dark room, and it was a nightmare. I was in the middle of an action sequence where I had to dodge lasers and fireballs; then the screen would flash, I would get blinded, and then get hit. Thankfully, the options let you turn the effect off. Simply reducing the frequency wasn't enough. Another point of contention for me is the game's save points. Sometimes, they're frequent, sometimes not, and there isn't an autosave feature. At one point, I had to reboot my Steam Deck, and I lost 30 minutes of playtime because of an extended sequence. Just let me save any time or provide autosaves at the start of important scenes. There's no mechanically interesting reason for Leximan to have save points you must access in the world.
Leximan. Credit: Knights of Borria / Marvelous Europe
Gripes aside, Leximan is a very good game. If you're a fan of RPGs like Earthbound or Undertale or classic Lucasarts adventure games, you'll love Leximan. Its silly tone, funny writing, and endearing characters make it a success.
Leximan is available now for PC on Steam.
Overall Score: 8/10
Played on: Steam Deck
