In short, you will have understood that in The Alters it is necessary to keep an eye on a fair amount of options, parameters, and eventualities. As already mentioned, however, most of these are introduced as the story progresses without ever overwhelming the player. You will have noticed, however, that I wrote “most.” Yes, because on a handful of occasions, I found myself unable to perform an action necessary to save my life without understanding why I couldn't do it. Mind you, the game manual has its own section in the main menu and can be consulted at any time, but leafing through the instructions while you're in imminent danger of death is not a particularly reassuring action, especially when you realize that the information you're looking for is nowhere to be found. Another important factor to note, which could add further stress to players who are not particularly fluent in English, is that in The Alters, the entire experience is completely devoid of Italian. We are certainly not talking about a title with the quantity and complexity of texts found in Disco Elysium, but this absence could be debilitating for some or, if we want to look at it optimistically, make the experience even more survival-oriented. In any case, The Alters is designed to allow the player to partially roll back their run in an agile and extremely granular manner. The system automatically saves progress every time Jan goes to sleep, thus marking the arrival of the next day. Although I, spoiled by Xbox's Quick Resume, found it a bit limiting to have to wait until the end of the day to turn off the console, this system has the advantage of not only allowing for fairly precise reloading within your game timeline, but also triggering the virtuous circle of ‘I'll do another day and then turn off’, thanks to an articulate and extremely satisfying gameplay loop that will keep you playing The Alters for hours on end without ever getting tired of it. Take one part third-person action, two parts management, mix in survival mechanics, and blend it all together with an intriguing but never excessive narrative component. The result is The Alters: a well-balanced cocktail made intriguing by a lingering sense of unease. Sure, the geological detection phases lengthen the overall flavor a bit, and some ingredients may be a little cryptic, but these are almost canceled out by an irresistible fruity, almost cherry-like aftertaste that keeps you coming back for more.
Review in Italian | Read full review