The Alters Review – Me, Myself, and Jan

Conversations with yourself can be difficult, especially when they’re standing right in front of you on a hostile, lonely planet where the sun is an ever-present danger. There’s room for honesty, appreciation, and maybe some unnecessary glad-handing…except when there’s not because the not-you happens to differ from the other.

If it sounds confusing – and at least somewhat tantalizingly exciting – then welcome to The Alters, 11 bit studios’ newest title and one that requires as many people skills as resource and time management. To no small end, of course, given the exciting premise, story-telling, characterization and tough choices, though it can sometimes get a little dry on the gameplay side.

The premise revolves around Jan Dolski, an employee of Ally Corp who embarks on a mission to find Rapidium. Eventually, he lands on an unknown world with rain, lava, and anomalies that could potentially represent the junction between parallel worlds – the usual. Except he’s the only one alive. The rest of his crew are dead for unknown reasons. Upon arriving at the base for the operation, Jan scrounges up some resources and even discovers Rapidium but fails to get it moving. The only option? Create an Alter using the Rapidium, one with the necessary skills to find a solution.

"Their different lifestyles mean they won’t always get along with each other – or you, for that matter. Decisions arise that will require siding with one Alter over the other – providing quality meals for a select period or sticking to the usual mush is only one example."

Clones in science fiction are nothing, but The Alters handles this very differently. Using Mind Records, the base’s Quantum Computer activates branching, where you can view the lives of different Alters based on key decisions made. The Engineer, for example, would have stood up to Jan’s father and stood by his mother, eventually developing a knack for machinery that makes him more efficient in such matters than Jan. However, the Scientist opted for a different path that provided a fundamental understanding of Rapidium, which resulted in no shock upon seeing Jan after awakening.

While each Alter has more or less the same body as Jan, their minds are completely different. It goes a step further when considering that their memories exist as lives that haven’t happened yet. Flipping through the Mind Records is a good way to bond with and understand your Alters – you’ll learn very quickly that the Scientist favors a no-nonsense, emotionless approach, above all – but conflicts will inevitably arise. What happens when you create an Alter that wants to reunite with Lena, Jan’s wife, even though they’re currently separated?

Things get even dicier considering the circumstances of the mission and Ally Corp’s agenda surrounding the Rapidium. There’s also the mystery over what killed the crew during their landing, with the implications raising even more questions. It’s a testament to the story that it juggles so many threads and sustains interest in every single decision. Between survival, the moral implications of creating Alters, and Jan’s personal feelings, a lot is going on, but it never feels overwhelming from a story-telling stance.

The same can’t be said for your Alters, though. Their different lifestyles mean they won’t always get along with each other – or you, for that matter. Decisions arise that will require siding with one Alter over the other – providing quality meals for a select period or sticking to the usual mush is only one example. Alternatively, you can do nothing if you don’t mind disaster down the line. Each Alter has a different mind state depending on your responses and whether their needs are met, from frustration and motivation to anxiety and rebellion. Even selecting the ideal dialogue choice doesn’t guarantee they’ll walk away from a conversation feeling better in every single way.

"Alex Jordan is the star, obviously, rendering each Alter into a version that feels distinct yet, for lack of a better word, Jan-like. However, the other actors, whether it’s the awkward Lucas, Jan’s boss Maxwell or Lena, put in exceptional work."

Meeting each Alter’s needs also requires managing resources. Mineral and organic deposits abound on the surface, but first, you need to find them, build mining drills, and connect them to the base with pylons. Each drill also requires interacting to extract the resources, which costs the most valuable resource of all: Time. After 8 PM, you can’t exit the base or continue working or your efficiency drops the next day.

Socializing with the Alters is still an option, and while you could push them into overtime (echoing Frostpunk in some sense), it can have long-term consequences on their mood and well-being. Other notable aspects to manage include batteries to power the radiation shielding, drill charges for destroying rocks and opening up new routes, kits to repair any broken-down tech, and so on. You can divide up tasks for your Alters, letting the Engineer handle mining ores while you explore the planet and harvest other resources, which is ideal, though they could face injuries while on the job.

You’ll need the required modules to take care of them. Base building is much more straightforward but still challenging. You have a limited amount of space for different modules – most are freely rearrangeable, but ensuring that there’s elevator access is important (even for things like storage space). Expanding the base is an option after completing enough research (which also unlocks more efficient battery consumption, mining, refining, etc.), but more modules result in additional weight. And more weight means more organics required to actually move it, the same organics required for food. Better hope there’s enough stockpiled – but not too much, or work can halt in other places – to ensure you’re ready to get moving when the sun rises.

All this combined makes for a compelling survival sim that combines visual novel-like conversations with light resource gathering. Alex Jordan is the star, obviously, rendering each Alter into a version that feels distinct yet, for lack of a better word, Jan-like. However, the other actors, whether it’s the awkward Lucas, Jan’s boss Maxwell or Lena, put in exceptional work. It doesn’t hurt that the dialogue flows almost effortlessly as well – even if the tonal shifts can be a little odd in places upon choosing a less-than-ideal response.

However, the gameplay may not resonate with everyone. A good chunk of the experience involves running around and/or holding down a button to harvest resources. This is broken up when dealing with Anomalies since you need to carefully walk around before finding ways to deal with them, but even those who are into survival crafting games will find The Alters limiting. Efficiency in time management – like creating a set of pylons en route to a potential mining spot rather than building a drill and then working backwards (since you can fast travel back to the base from a drill) or creating Alters to handle common tasks with more efficiency first – is the main focus. Some random events can occur as you progress further, but if you’re not a fan of exploration – which also isn’t the most mechanically demanding – then the backtracking and actual gameplay can prove repetitive.

"While The Alters isn’t breaking any boundaries, it offers a compelling story with great characters and exciting mysteries despite the more low-key gameplay portions and iffy visual issues."

Graphically, The Alters looks fantastic. Creating such a distinct look in the sci-fi space is challenging, and even if it evokes more of the familiar rather than blazing a trail, it looks incredibly good, whether it’s the various faces and expressions of Jan or the lava rivers flowing through the planet. Performance is also very good – setting everything to High and character model detail to Ultra while DLSS Quality is enabled at 1440p, offering a stable 60 FPS throughout, with the occasional drop. However, an odd issue occurs in close-up scenes, whether you’re taking calls or talking to an Alter, where the models become way more pixelated. This occurred seemingly at random, and despite improving past the first few hours, it does take you out of the experience, especially with how much you’ll be starting at one Jan or another.

While The Alters isn’t breaking any boundaries, it offers a compelling story with great characters and exciting mysteries despite the more low-key gameplay portions and iffy visual issues. I’m keen on more playthroughs to see what I’ve missed, but if the narrative reinforces anything, it’s that you’re always your best enemy (or worst friend).

This game was reviewed on PC.