The Alters Review (Jumpydoll)
Great concept, meh game. I was quite engaged for Act 1, but by mid-late Act 2 the game started to become an unbearable slog. I like resource management games, I like difficult games. I hated playing this game and dealing with my clone's constant hissy fits over absolutely nothing. I'm in Act 3... I will probably push on finish it, but I've long since stopped enjoying it.
The problem basically is the game's main shtick, dealing with your Alters. Yes, people have needs. Yes, the setting is a very stressful situation. But they have the emotional development of toddlers and their work ethic isn't much better. What's more, they are ANNOYING. Every one is insufferably written and the voice-acting just isn't there. The characters are completely one-note which does not sell the game's "theme" of different life paths, choices, etc. making the man you are. Like, great, I could have chosen to be one ridiculous cardboard cut-out... or another.
Dealing with the Alter's arbitrary rioting - even when you gave them everything they asked for - can really put you in a bind with exploration and resource management. I can't get resources for making better food if the crew rages and skips work after one day of low quality meals. I was just running around frantic fulfilling momentary needs and couldn't get into a rhythm or get efficient. "Sounds like a skill issue." Maybe. Or maybe it's just not that fun to play...?
I couldn't stand the characters any more so I literally just started mashing spacebar through their dialogues. In a story-driven game. Then resource management got really tedious and repetitive. By Act 3 I was in such a bad place (story reasons) I was doomed. I charted out the map to find each resource spot, reloaded an earlier save, and then abused my foreknowledge to avoid the doom spiral. Some retries were necessary learning my way through Frostpunk and This War of Mine, but this feels REALLY bad in Alters as a story-driven game. You aren't doing new runs, you're playing the same segment over. The retread sucks butt.
What else? Graphics are pretty good, FSR upscaling and framegen not so good. Looked even more stuttery for me than native. I don't think the game benefits from >60 FPS anyway, so the bigger difference between highs and lows has no upside, only makes swings in FPS more noticeable. Music is totally forgettable. 15 hours in I can't remember a single tune. Fairly frequent animation bugs like character spasms climbing up ledges. Some crashes to desktop, but rare.
How would I make the game better? Tweak some of the Alter attributes so everyone is legitimately useful. Some of the Alters I picked weren't any help beyond "extra body". The Guard was actually just a drain on resources (I made a bad choice and he just stopped doing useful work). Make the Alters less needy, have more sensible mood progression/deterioration. Give "mood rooms" (gym, social, etc.) bigger effect. Gate fewer research upgrades behind "planetary samples", at least critical economy upgrades. Maybe prune off some of the less useful ones. I feel like I made "bad choices" not knowing future events and am suffering for it. IMPROVE STORAGE. It's very constrained and swings between empty and full on a dime. Frequently I have zero storage space remaining, but also somehow not enough resources to make stuff. Half my base is storage! I would cut "enriched metals" entirely. It's like an anti-resource.
TL;DR? Game needs rebalancing.
I said this before but I absolutely hate the voice acting and writing for every character (except Maxwell). Every line is delivered with such awkward pacing and inflection. Did the actor get ANY direction? Did they ever try a second take? I know they can't/won't fix something like that. I know that's harsh and it's sold at indie game pricing. But man, it's just unpleasant. I tried switching to the native Polish only to discover THERE ISN'T ANY. The English VA's are what you get. I need you to hear me on this. If I have to listen to the Botanist's cloying, simping drone for ONE MORE MINUTE I will turn this base around and drive straight into the sun.