After 20 hours with The Alters, I just wanted to fast forward to the end.
Throughout most of The Alters, the resource management gameplay bounced off the narrative well — there was always some obstacle to be overcome, a lava river or gravity distortion, and solutions were found through exploration, research, and resource gathering in a satisfying (though stressful) gameplay loop. Act 3 is similar in that you have to research and build solutions to successfully signal the rescue team on its way to pick up Jan and the Alters, yet the gameplay became a slog and I found myself more than happy to fast forward between narrative beats — which eventually build toward an engrossing conclusion.
By the time Act 3 rolled around, the resource-gathering aspect of The Alters had worn thin. At this point, I had already built everything my wheelie space base needed, and mining had become less of a priority. All I really had to do was wait for Jan Scientist to research solutions to whatever problems the narrative presented. And who even wants to talk to that guy in the first place?
Image: 11 Bit Studios via Polygon
I already had a good stock of resources, and the automated mining stations did what good technology should do — automated menial labor, meaning the Jans didn’t need to be assigned to mining tasks. I didn’t even need to grow and cook as much food as before, seeing as how half of the Alters had splintered off on their own due to Act 2’s morally compromising quest. Most of Act 3’s days as Jan were spent needlessly exploring (and sometimes passing out from anomaly-induced radiation poisoning) or fast-forwarding through an unnecessary task while the Jans waited for Jan Scientist to finish up. Ultimately, it felt like the Jans were wasting time between narrative beats.
Exploring lost its luster during Act 3 as the map just threw too many anomalies in the mix, making exploration more of a chore. I could barely take five steps without having to pull out Jan’s space flashlight and banish those anomalies to the shadow realm. Act 3 introduced a new prism anomaly, turning my screen into a kaleidoscope-like prism that triggered my motion sickness as I aimlessly wandered around searching for a way to dispel it. Anomalies cover all the resource deposits, meaning if you’re in need of metals or organics, you’ll have to destroy anomalies to get to them. Can’t I just take a pleasant stroll across an inhospitable planet without running into a time dilation vortex?
But once solutions are found and The Alters’ narrative can move forward, it sticks the landing with a satisfying conclusion (well, how satisfying depends on your choices). My Jan prime, unable to rescue his rebellious Alters in time, seeped with regret. I didn’t want any more senseless deaths, and pursued the nonviolent route to smuggle those Jans to safety.
Image: 11 Bit Studios via Polygon
I leveraged my relationship with Lucas, the earthbound operator who was begging Jan to mine more Rapidium for the duration of the game, to help the Alters escape. He felt regret over his evil scientist-like work with Maxwell — plot twist: he be bad — and achieved a sense of atonement in helping Jan and his Alters. Lucas remote-piloted the rescue team’s spaceship and landed it somewhere not even Maxwell or AllyCorp, the big greedy capitalist corporation behind this whole endeavor, knew about.
But how to get the Alters past the rescue team, who could conceivably shoot them on sight — or worse, capture them for a life of experimentation? Jan could blow the base up with them inside, but this option didn’t feel right to me. Act 2’s sacrifice of Jan Tabula Rasa felt agonizing because, no matter how much I tried to justify it, I was still killing another human being. I didn’t want any more blood on mine or Jan’s hands. Instead, I constructed a Rapidium ark with false floors to house the Jans and gassed the rescue team with sleeping gas while Lucas piloted us home. Things got a little dicey — I sweated out the dialogue options as the rescue team inspected the arks, worrying they were going to discover the Jans and undo our escape. They didn’t, eager to get off this irradiated rock as much as I was, and next thing I knew, Jan was back in his apartment on Earth.
Image: 11 Bit Studios via Polygon
While Jan may never meet the Jans again — my Jan prime had a few postcards on his desk, all signed “J” — and his ultimate fate is unknown, I walked away from The Alters with pride in knowing I shepherded him and his Alters to safety. Though, in this case, “safety” meant a highly publicized trial (can’t forget that the whole cloning thing isn’t quite sanctioned by Earth’s governments).
There are several great ways for The Alters to conclude, depending on the choices you make. Despite the bumps in the road (and anomalies in the way), it’s worth seeing The Alters through to whatever end. You just gotta trudge through the needlessly drawn-out final act to get to a conclusion.
The Alters is available on PS5, Xbox series X/S, and Windows Pc.
