I love survival/resource management/base building games, but I usually have little interest in narrative games because, to be honest, I find a lot of video game writing to be subpar. Also, I think it doesn't play to the strengths of the medium, which, in my opinion, is emergent stories that come from the player playing the game. Think of crazy stories your friend tells about a Battlefield match, or how you narrowly survived a raid in RimWorld. Nobody sat down and wrote that story; it emerged from the game's parameters for what can happen and your choices as a player.
So, I was skeptical of The Alters at first because it had the stuff I liked, but with a narrative story wrapper. I didn't grab it at first, but, eventually, the positive reviews from critics who have similar sensibilities about gaming as I do, and the good aesthetics I saw from reviews and marketing overcame me and I copped it at $15 and I'm glad I did.
The survival mechanics do not feel tacked on at all or underdeveloped as I expected them to feel. They aren't as complex as RimWorld or Oxygen Not Included, but they don't need to be because you aren't going to drop 1,000 hours in the game trying to hyperoptimize your base. The writing is actually much better than most video game writing. Not Disco Elysium "This is high literature!" levels, but impressive and substantial enough to pull at my heartstrings and make decisions carry weight. The characters are interesting and have depth and are distinct enough to make it interesting. You may even find that one of them annoys you, which makes sense because being cooped up with a group of people, you're bound to have some tension with one or two, even if they are clones of yourself.
The graphics are splendid. I will say, however, that while it is playable on Steam Deck, it ain't pretty. I get textures popping in and out, even when I lower the settings. I love my Steam Deck, but I would recommend a beefier device to have a satisfying experience with The Alters.
Overall, zero regrets about buying this. I'm almost at the end of Act 2 and I'm eager to see this one out.
