AT (Alter) is a game about mirrors and everything mechanically interesting when
you begin to think what your action will do to the mirrored world. In this
respect, AT has attained what i sought for when i think of a puzzle game based
on mirrors. The mechanics here while deceptively simple are showcased rather
wonderfully in all of the levels. In some respect, this reminded me of the
beginning of NC (Nodecore) as you start to unveil the ruleset one by one. Fantastic!
Anyways, like most good puzzle games, the graphics are... uninteresting. I'm
sure many players would care less for graphics than good levels in a puzzle
game. In addition, the player has a familiar company - one that i would call
overplayed or oversaturated and it really shows here as i felt that it entire
presenece was rather unnecessary. AT (as of this review) doesn't really need the
overseer now does it?
Overall, AT did accomplished being a somewhat difficult and decently interesting
puzzle game. I would very much would love to see more of it.
While i wouldn't call the mechanics here flawless, AT is definitely up there in
the rather small "pantheon" of MTE-based pure puzzle games (NC isn't a purely
puzzle game so... yeah). The main mechanic is simple - you're given
a consumable item that deplete from use, which teleports you to the "mirror
world" or more accurately the other side of the glass wall. When teleporting,
your velocity is also kept. Additionally, any blocks you placed shall also only
appear on the "mirror world". Each level you solve you get more of the
consumables.
That's the gist of pretty much everything that defines the ruleset of AT. It's
so blatantly simple that I almost feel like the developer cheated. The levels prove
otherwise however, because the levels oh boy... the levels are such gems. All of
them teaches you something new without outright spoiling AT's
mechanics. They are intuitive yet challenging and that's a good sign of a good
puzzle game design. Because the game doesn't spoonfeed you to do anything, it
truly feels like i'm probing around a new toy. From the way the toy work, I can
tell that the developer toyed lot with the mechanics to make the levels work
naturally with everything the player have already learnt.
However, despite my praise there are definitely flaws. When i approach a puzzle
game i enter a mode of thinking i would call "puzzle zen" perhaps. Poking and
prodding around with each level has been a blast; mirror to the other side,
jump, place node and mirror bac- what the heck? Back to the beginning?
There's one more rule I forgot to mention above: Losing your consumables means
being thrown back to the beginning of the game, after the overseer (politely)
asked you if you can still solve the puzzle without any of the consumables. This
is a rather contrived punishment for players trying to solve the puzzle, don't
you think? Thankfully, I discovered this on the first level while exploring the
mechanics. Imagine if Portal set a counter to how many portals you can shoot,
and if you run out you get sent all the way back to the chamber at the start of
the game. Though, if there was instead a mechanic associated with the
consumables I'd be more forgiving.
Level UI/UX - or rather the lack of one - totally dampens my mood while playing
this game. "Yo, that was cool, i wanna try a different solution i thought about
earlier. Oh yeah, no level select." is a common trail of thought i had while
playing AT and it is really frustrating.
Aside from that, each level while brilliant in design is also muddied with the
rather overused overseer dialogue from which you can only exit by responding to
it. This can only be done by clicking the small dialogue choices (granted the
size depends on the font settings, so i'll give the developer a pass for that). W-why
force the dialogue even when there's only a single choice that doesn't matter?
Perhaps this is an uninteded bug or technical limitations of MTE, in which case
i hope this is fixed.
This is a first, a thematic section! Unfortunately, as you might have guessed
i'll have no praises here. The trope has long been explored in other games and i
no longer enjoy from the same uninspired demeanor of a supervisor with a
particular distate of humans. In a couple years, we'll celebrate the 15th year
since the release of Portal. Look, i'm not saying the overseer archetype is a
bad thing in puzzle game, but the developer will need to bring something different to make
it work. That's a really challenging task, one that many have failed to make
it entertaining or at least interesting. I hope the developer can still make the
overseer character into something different or spice it up to become
entertaining.
Anyways, aside from not-GLaDOS, i believe there's an untold premise here aside
from being a human lab rat. Since the developer went with the overseer character
i had hoped to see something indicating an overarching theme or story but i
guess it's not in here yet... or not supposed to be and i misunderstood.
Graphics gives games their character, which AT unfortunately took the void-esque
approach in this regard. While completely functional, i was hoping for more charming
textures and flashy things instead void:mapgen_stone. Even games like
Sokobond and A Dance Of Fire and Ice (in its early development) didn't feel as
barren as looking at. However, to me, this is somewhat of a tradition in
puzzle games so i suppose it's fine - and some people actually like the
utilitarian look.
Background music would also be a nice addition while probing the levels. This
isn't really necessary but it really adds to the immersion of entering "puzzle
zen" as i brought up earlier. Sounds could also be improved to support the
theme/premise. Right now, it just reminds me of MTG i played on modded servers
I have a couple suggestions that i believe would expand AT in a fun direction:
More mechanics! Obviously, but more specifically one that relies less on
parkour and movement. MTE movement isn't really fun to play with unless
the developer is willing to further expand the player's physics.
Level creator! Another obvious suggestion too.
Get rid of the default green sprite. I really thought i was gonna see sam, so
i was mildly amused when i saw the OG sprite. Anyways, this could further
enchance what i said in the Graphics and Theme Section earlier.
Perhaps get rid of the inventory slots entirely. Having the player be limited
to only two hands/items would be interesting.
Aside from that, kudos for implementing the mechanic bug-free. Not all games can do that in a game jam.
Thanks so much for the detailed review. You clearly have put a lot of thought into these points and I plan to make some changes in response to your feedback and others'. One recurring pain point for many people is the dialogue system, and I'm increasingly seeing why. As for mechanics, I have a couple ideas in mind, but they need some fleshing out and consideration. I can't answer to all your points now, but I have read all of them and I appreciate all the effort you put in to writing them out here!
Conclusion
AT (Alter) is a game about mirrors and everything mechanically interesting when you begin to think what your action will do to the mirrored world. In this respect, AT has attained what i sought for when i think of a puzzle game based on mirrors. The mechanics here while deceptively simple are showcased rather wonderfully in all of the levels. In some respect, this reminded me of the beginning of NC (Nodecore) as you start to unveil the ruleset one by one. Fantastic!
Anyways, like most good puzzle games, the graphics are... uninteresting. I'm sure many players would care less for graphics than good levels in a puzzle game. In addition, the player has a familiar company - one that i would call overplayed or oversaturated and it really shows here as i felt that it entire presenece was rather unnecessary. AT (as of this review) doesn't really need the overseer now does it?
Overall, AT did accomplished being a somewhat difficult and decently interesting puzzle game. I would very much would love to see more of it.
More in the comments...
Gameplay+Mechanics+Levels
While i wouldn't call the mechanics here flawless, AT is definitely up there in the rather small "pantheon" of MTE-based pure puzzle games (NC isn't a purely puzzle game so... yeah). The main mechanic is simple - you're given a consumable item that deplete from use, which teleports you to the "mirror world" or more accurately the other side of the glass wall. When teleporting, your velocity is also kept. Additionally, any blocks you placed shall also only appear on the "mirror world". Each level you solve you get more of the consumables.
That's the gist of pretty much everything that defines the ruleset of AT. It's so blatantly simple that I almost feel like the developer cheated. The levels prove otherwise however, because the levels oh boy... the levels are such gems. All of them teaches you something new without outright spoiling AT's mechanics. They are intuitive yet challenging and that's a good sign of a good puzzle game design. Because the game doesn't spoonfeed you to do anything, it truly feels like i'm probing around a new toy. From the way the toy work, I can tell that the developer toyed lot with the mechanics to make the levels work naturally with everything the player have already learnt.
A particular mechanic...
However, despite my praise there are definitely flaws. When i approach a puzzle game i enter a mode of thinking i would call "puzzle zen" perhaps. Poking and prodding around with each level has been a blast; mirror to the other side, jump, place node and mirror bac- what the heck? Back to the beginning?
There's one more rule I forgot to mention above: Losing your consumables means being thrown back to the beginning of the game, after the overseer (politely) asked you if you can still solve the puzzle without any of the consumables. This is a rather contrived punishment for players trying to solve the puzzle, don't you think? Thankfully, I discovered this on the first level while exploring the mechanics. Imagine if Portal set a counter to how many portals you can shoot, and if you run out you get sent all the way back to the chamber at the start of the game. Though, if there was instead a mechanic associated with the consumables I'd be more forgiving.
UI/UX
Level UI/UX - or rather the lack of one - totally dampens my mood while playing this game. "Yo, that was cool, i wanna try a different solution i thought about earlier. Oh yeah, no level select." is a common trail of thought i had while playing AT and it is really frustrating.
Aside from that, each level while brilliant in design is also muddied with the rather overused overseer dialogue from which you can only exit by responding to it. This can only be done by clicking the small dialogue choices (granted the size depends on the font settings, so i'll give the developer a pass for that). W-why force the dialogue even when there's only a single choice that doesn't matter? Perhaps this is an uninteded bug or technical limitations of MTE, in which case i hope this is fixed.
Theme+Premise
This is a first, a thematic section! Unfortunately, as you might have guessed i'll have no praises here. The trope has long been explored in other games and i no longer enjoy from the same uninspired demeanor of a supervisor with a particular distate of humans. In a couple years, we'll celebrate the 15th year since the release of Portal. Look, i'm not saying the overseer archetype is a bad thing in puzzle game, but the developer will need to bring something different to make it work. That's a really challenging task, one that many have failed to make it entertaining or at least interesting. I hope the developer can still make the overseer character into something different or spice it up to become entertaining.
Anyways, aside from not-GLaDOS, i believe there's an untold premise here aside from being a human lab rat. Since the developer went with the overseer character i had hoped to see something indicating an overarching theme or story but i guess it's not in here yet... or not supposed to be and i misunderstood.
Graphics+Music+Sounds
Graphics gives games their character, which AT unfortunately took the void-esque approach in this regard. While completely functional, i was hoping for more charming textures and flashy things instead
void:mapgen_stone. Even games like Sokobond and A Dance Of Fire and Ice (in its early development) didn't feel as barren as looking at. However, to me, this is somewhat of a tradition in puzzle games so i suppose it's fine - and some people actually like the utilitarian look.Background music would also be a nice addition while probing the levels. This isn't really necessary but it really adds to the immersion of entering "puzzle zen" as i brought up earlier. Sounds could also be improved to support the theme/premise. Right now, it just reminds me of MTG i played on modded servers
Misc
I have a couple suggestions that i believe would expand AT in a fun direction:
More mechanics! Obviously, but more specifically one that relies less on parkour and movement. MTE movement isn't really fun to play with unless the developer is willing to further expand the player's physics.
Level creator! Another obvious suggestion too.
Get rid of the default green sprite. I really thought i was gonna see sam, so i was mildly amused when i saw the OG sprite. Anyways, this could further enchance what i said in the Graphics and Theme Section earlier.
Perhaps get rid of the inventory slots entirely. Having the player be limited to only two hands/items would be interesting.
Aside from that, kudos for implementing the mechanic bug-free. Not all games can do that in a game jam.
Reserved.
Thanks so much for the detailed review. You clearly have put a lot of thought into these points and I plan to make some changes in response to your feedback and others'. One recurring pain point for many people is the dialogue system, and I'm increasingly seeing why. As for mechanics, I have a couple ideas in mind, but they need some fleshing out and consideration. I can't answer to all your points now, but I have read all of them and I appreciate all the effort you put in to writing them out here!