IXION Critic Reviews

Beautiful setting and sound design, fantastic story, and perfectly implemented gameplay mechanics make IXION an easy 10 for me.

So, in order effectively play this challenging city-building, survival hybrid, players will need an upper mid-tier PC. It's unfortunate because IXION is a game that quickly catches the player's attention and, despite it's high demands of the player, it finds a way to feel balanced and fair. For those that enjoy this type of game and have the hardware to comfortably play it, then there's no hesitation in recommending this title. Otherwise, it might be better to start with a less intense game in this genre and wait for some performance patches to avoid the punishment of the ever spinning wheels of fire and buffering.

It probably sounds frustrating. And it is. I walked away a few times in disgust. But as is clear from the tone of this review, I always came back. That counts more than anything else. That’s the most important thing. I liked spending time in Ixion’s world, in Ixion’s story. I like space disaster stories. Eventually, I was happy to bump myself down to the ‘story’ difficulty, because I didn’t want to miss out. I like looking at it, and I like listening to it. I plan to return to Ixion, to once again embrace sweet failure.

IXION is a game packed with good ideas and great execution which is a rare combo these days. The gameplay is rather innovative for a city-building title and the story is no short of a well-made Sci-Fi movie. IXION is a must-play for city-building lovers!

The only criticism I can make of the game is that the difficulty is quite high, and if you don't think about your actions, you'll soon be mopping floors instead of driving a space station.

Overall, IXION offers nothing new. Players will get through the good ol’ survival and management mechanics that we have all seen around. However, it is still addictive due to the competent combination of those elements as well as interesting execution and catchy aesthetics.

A Sci-Fi survival simulator that has an extraordinary background story that can only be seen in novels of the same genre. While the game has a wide range of content from managing a space station to boldly go where no man has gone before, its excessive complexity and difficulty in management give players as much stress as they give fun.

As a space-style "farming" game, "IXION" presented a cold space world and the space station "Tai Kun". It is not only home for players, but also a carrier for exploration and advancement. The experience of wandering in space with home is quite unique. But beyond this, "IXION" did not bring more surprises to the players. The imperfect details, fast pace in the early and mid-term, and some unreasonable difficulty settings make players easily frustrated.

There is a lot to like about Ixion – it is an atmospheric tale of humanity dealing with the odds and overcoming any obstacle in its path, one way or another. That same difficulty is often too oppressive however, and I feel that it will be a bit of an obstacle for some; in addition, there are a few foibles elsewhere which can make for a frustrating experience and have marked down my enthusiasm. For those who want a challenge though, Ixion will be an excellent and immersive choice.

Ixion delights with its sophisticated construction, but it disappoints with the story of all things. There is also a lack of polish in the second half.

Superb ambienceand outstanding music elevates a well crafted story in this relentlessness and somewhat unbalanced space manager game.

Ixion is an unassuming space odyssey in which you build and manage your own space station. It’s a bit like Frostpunk but also adds its own layers, even if the execution sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. There is a pretty nice story accompanying all the strategy, though!

An enticing premise held back by uneven pacing and glaring technical issues.

Ixion perhaps could be used as an example of flying so high... and then missing the mark and falling pretty far down. There was so much to recommend and enjoy about the game, especially if only checking the first few hours. But the more you play, the flaws, difficulty, unraveling story, and pretty much everything else frustrates the player to such a degree that many players are not going to finish the game, either due to the difficulty, or simply not wanting to do the same thing for 5 hours and hoping their ship doesn't blow up randomly.

Ixion is a properly great blend of management sim and sci-fi storytelling. There are a lot of games clamouring for my attention right now, Darktide, The Callisto Protocol, that new God of War over on the devil's PC to name a few. But throughout my time with Ixion, I was never tempted to sack it off for those bigger, flashier games, which is a testament to its meticulous design, and its engrossing tale of humanity's search for a new celestial roof to sleep under.