Review — The Alters

The Alters

We sit down and review The Alters. A survival game that questions how a single choice can change a person. Here is our review of half of The Alters

It is time to play all by myselves here with the launch of The Alters out there on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. A new survival game that 11 Bit Studios has been working on for a while, and after much of a wait, was able to deliver. One that will take us to a terrible planet with all manner of harsh things to deal with. Not only that, but The Alters is also setting us up to ask some deeper questions along the way about how our lives could be completely altered by making one little choice. The classic style of personal introspection in video games. Does it hit the mark and deliver on those questions? Well, join us in some gameplay and our review of the game to find out. Also, to see if it will be a game you will want to lose many days into.

Story

Welcome to the future where AllyCorp has been heading out into space and sending teams to find and dig up a new element called Rapidium. We take up the role, initially, as Jan Dolski. Jan being one of the most average builders for the mission, who somehow was the only one to survive when crashed on this new and harsh world. A world that is ravaged by radiation and a harsh sun that Jan must keep moving his mobile base so he does not die. This is not a job for one person, though, and the only option Jan has is to start cloning himself with the help of a quantum computer. One that can alter the memories of the cones based on different paths Jan should have taken in life. What a trip…

Hated

Time to start off with something I thought I was going to love in The Alters, but sadly felt like it was something holding it back. That being the relationship system between all of the various versions of Jan we get. It is a nice mechanic on paper, but when in action for the game, it left me confused and led to me not wanting to make it through the whole game. Given that The Alters has different versions of the same character, they are not going to get along or vibe right at times. So, we have to check on them. Easy enough, only there is no way to truly gauge how everyone is getting along, and even when the game shows everything is ‘green’, they will still turn on you. That was my experience with it. For instance, I made sure to check on everyone, give them all the things they were asking for, stop any of the squabbles that came up, fed them the best food, but still had a mutiny happen every time. The dialogue even expressed how well I was doing, but the gameplay mechanic never mirrored this. Others might have a different experience, but gods this did not work for me.

Speaking of elements that were not perfectly defined in The Alters for users, storage, and resource management is a bit of a mess in the game. Not in a way that it does not function as intended in the game, but it is presented in such a way that it took way longer to get a feel for it than it should have. In addition to the Rapidium, we have to work on mining and collecting certain things along the way. To help the crew survive as well as build new things and get the base moving as we need to. All of these things can be found in the game’s environments, but the icons and representation leave a lot to be desired. Knowing this from the start would have helped, but it took me hours of playing The Alters to finally get a feel for figuring out which resource was needed, and mostly only when I would get a red error popping up telling me I needed more Organics or more Metals. If this were labeled better or easier to see in the game’s HUD, or even a better tutorial for it all, this would not be an issue. Something that 11 Bit Studios might want to consider in future patches for those looking to get in on the game.

One more issue I will go in for with The Alters is that it feels like none of the different Jans have much in the way of self-preservation in the game. This is apparent when it comes to assigning tasks and jobs on the ship. A nice little mechanic that feels like an extra level of micromanagement that was not needed. At least when one of the other versions has not been set to a task. If they were in the first place and then finished said task, they will ask for a new one, and we will be prompted to assign something new. If you miss that, then the Alters will just roam the base doing whatever. Even when there is food that needs to be made or repairs that need completing. I hit a game over screen due to this one too many times, only to find out I missed my engineer on the daily tasks, and he sat idly watching everything break. When I need to focus on 900 other things and there are systems for everything else to be automated, it feels odd that this is not something that was also added in. I know some might say that is part of the game, but when you can lose all progress due to something like this, it feels like something that needs to be addressed. Maybe it is just me.

Loved

Okay, while the math and behind-the-scenes of it all were a bit weird for The Alters, I do have to say I enjoyed all of the little social play that had to go on in the game. Also, how each one truly felt like a different character, even if it was all a deviation of the same base character. By that, some of the Alters required a bit of humor in your approach in dialog options, others a little more rigidness, and others a little bit of subservience. All of which need us to remember between the six different versions we could have walking about. Compassion might work for one, but shaming could work for another. It was an interesting bit to place in there and rather forced us to learn the lore of Jan to make sure we could figure it all out. All of that was done through the memory data that was collected, and led to a bit of fun intrigue in the storytelling of it all. Even to the point where one of the Jans was still in love with another’s wife and offered to play matchmaker a bit, or how the scientist version was always superior, but would always back down when being stern with them. It was interested and fun to play with, if only things were easier to see translated from it all.

So, when not engaging in the story or the social aspects of The Alters, we need to take our Jan Prime out into the world to explore and find the resources and other things to keep us moving. This also includes figuring out how to overcome some of the weird things in the world that are also hindering the base from moving forward and keeping the crew alive until help comes. At first, this feels a little daunting with the radiation issues and other hardships that the game throws at you. It quickly became one of the best parts of The Alters for me as it is filled with environmental puzzles and other challenges that kept me engaged. All with a ticking clock added in for each day, so you would have to rush through a few things so you could head back the next day and keep the progress going. All while giving you a feeling of accomplishment with each new area or item found along the way. Not to mention the weird anomalies you could run into that caused all manner of other things you would need to overcome. The world felt fully planned out and like there was more purpose to it all than just being a place to grab resources. My only wish was that I could spend more time in each before needing to rush along as they were that solid.

Last up, that actual base-building and design in The Alters. For me, this always feels like a slog in video games, and I lose interest rather quickly beyond just the basics. Here, though, I enjoyed getting to reconfigure and shift the base around as needed, as well as adding in all of the unnecessary elements to the base. Partially to keep the various Alters happy, but also to keep myself happy while playing the game. I will not say I lost hours of gameplay doing all of it, as it is not overly involved. I will say that I found it to be more engaging than many other titles that offer up a system like it out there. A better version of The Sims, and it also built into the need to explore the worlds, too. Even when limited at the start of the game, it was a fun little aspect, and I found myself leaning into expanding more than the other little things that could have been done. A great way to do it in a video game and 11 Bit Studios deserves the praise for it all.

Overview

In the end, I did enjoy my time with The Alters. At least, up to a point. Many times I tried playing through, I would hit a wall where there was no way to survive the night, and the other Jans would turn on me. All for little to no reason. If that part of the game and a bit more of a tutorial on things were added in, this would be close to a perfect survival game. Then you add on a solid story, amazing characters all acted out, and a world to explore that was just as engaging: a solid game. Sadly, this one is going to be more for those who enjoy the grind and micromanagement, so I do have to shatter things a little bit. Maybe the studio will add in some features or DLC to correct some of the issues I had with it, then I could tell all to pick up The Alters. For now, it is going to be a game for those who love the genre of gameplay, and worth watching the story play out through videos for those who do not.

I give The Alters 6 Alters on the Alter scale.

The Alters — Hades Plays The Game Up To 48 Days [PS5]

The Alters was developed and published by 11 Bit Studios for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on June 13^th, 2025. A PlayStation copy of the game was provided by the publisher for reviewing purposes.