PLANET ALPHA

75%
Game Brain Score Based on 467 reviews
  • graphics
  • gameplay
  • story
PLANET ALPHA Game Cover
Simply put, it’s colourful and spectacular, well worth the play-time.
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"PLANET ALPHA" is a single-player fantasy platformer game with excellent mechanics, stunning visuals, and a memorable soundtrack. Players awaken as a stranger on an alien world, pursued by enemies and forced to manipulate the time of day to survive. As you explore this beautiful yet dangerous world, unlock the mysteries of PLANET ALPHA and discover your story.

  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

75%
Audience ScoreBased on 467 reviews
graphics132 positive mentions
stability10 negative mentions
  • Planet Alpha features stunning visuals and a beautiful art direction that captivates players throughout the game.
  • The game offers a unique day-night mechanic that changes the environment and adds depth to the gameplay.
  • The sound design and music enhance the immersive experience, making the world feel alive and engaging.
  • The gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks variety, often reducing to simple running and jumping with minimal challenge.
  • Many players experience frustrating trial-and-error mechanics, particularly in stealth sections where enemy detection feels inconsistent.
  • The story is vague and lacks depth, leaving players confused about the narrative and their character's motivations.
  • graphics217 mentions

    The graphics of Planet Alpha are widely praised for their stunning beauty and unique artistic style, often described as a blend of vibrant colors and intricate designs that create an immersive atmosphere. However, some players note that the visuals can be overly busy, occasionally hindering gameplay clarity and making it difficult to distinguish important elements. Overall, while the graphics are a highlight of the game, they are sometimes seen as overshadowing the gameplay experience itself.

    • “Incredible visuals that create a sense of awe and really transport you to another reality.”
    • “The graphics are stunning and the deep backgrounds of the game's environments will leave you breathless.”
    • “The art and graphics of this game are truly unique and stunning; I definitely would recommend giving it a go.”
    • “Planet Alpha is a very busy game visually, which works to its benefit for aesthetics, but against it for gameplay clarity.”
    • “It also can't hold a consistent art style and is frequently way too visually busy to the point where I couldn't tell the important bits from the unimportant bits.”
    • “It's more like a graphics demo than a full game.”
  • gameplay179 mentions

    The gameplay of Planet Alpha has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its beautiful visuals and atmospheric design but criticizing its lack of originality and engaging mechanics. While the game features a unique day/night cycle and some clever puzzles, it often falls into repetitive trial-and-error gameplay, particularly in stealth sections, leading to frustration rather than enjoyment. Overall, the gameplay is seen as basic and lacking in depth, making it feel derivative of other titles like Limbo and Inside.

    • “The gameplay was really nice too, with a fun mix between puzzles (not very complicated puzzles though, which is just how I prefer them), some more advanced platforming, some sneaking, some running and jumping in fast action sequences, and sometimes you were just casually jogging through this wonderful world, taking in the wonderful sights.”
    • “Incredible visuals and sound, great soundtrack, amazing world setting, super fun sidescroller gameplay that's not too difficult but still challenging enough to be fun, and a very intriguing story told with no dialog.”
    • “The gameplay itself is just challenging enough to make things interesting and makes good use of the game's style and mechanics.”
    • “Planet Alpha is a very busy game visually, which works to its benefit for aesthetics, but against it for gameplay clarity.”
    • “The gameplay itself is dull; its mechanics lack originality, unique defining features, and any variety.”
    • “The game seriously overstays its welcome after that, though, and becomes a frustrating exercise in tedium and trial-and-error gameplay.”
  • story108 mentions

    The game's story is often described as vague and lacking depth, with many players feeling it fails to engage emotionally or provide a clear narrative. While some appreciate the visual storytelling and atmospheric elements, others criticize the gameplay for being repetitive and aimless, leading to a sense of confusion about the plot. Overall, the story is seen as a missed opportunity, overshadowed by stunning visuals but lacking the compelling narrative found in similar platformers like "Inside" or "Limbo."

    • “Incredible visuals and sound, great soundtrack, amazing world setting, super fun sidescroller gameplay that's not too difficult but still challenging enough to be fun, and a very intriguing story told with no dialog.”
    • “The story unfolds naturally from the moment you load the game, with no text or cues, only the experience itself.”
    • “This game is creative both visually and in its storytelling.”
    • “No storyline, no puzzles, no variety, just running aimlessly for hours amongst the same scenes.”
    • “Nothing really happens that invests you in your avatar or their quest at any point; they have no idiosyncrasies that would endear them to you, and you know nothing about them, and that is by far my most massive complaint with the game.”
    • “There is no story; you simply walk, climb, jump, fall, and so on.”
  • music64 mentions

    The music in the game is widely praised for its fitting and enjoyable quality, enhancing the overall aesthetic experience alongside the stunning visuals. Composed by Barnhoorn, the soundtrack is described as atmospheric and mesmerizing, contributing significantly to the game's immersive environment. While some users noted issues with accessing the soundtrack on Steam, the consensus remains that the music is a standout feature that elevates the gameplay experience.

    • “That's right, Planet Alpha is a treat for both the eyes and the ears, as the music is also fitting and enjoyable to listen to.”
    • “It's that smokin' beautiful, remote alien world that the devs conjured up, along with a madly mesmerizing original soundtrack.”
    • “Now the environments in the game hold up on their own; the OST can be enjoyed outside of the game, but only when the two are combined can the whole thing come together to create one of the most aesthetically appealing platformers in recent years.”
    • “3/10 only for visual and music”
    • “The music at least could provide some emotional depth or stirring, but no; the music is too subtle, leaving the action to fall flat.”
    • “I love the music, bought the soundtrack, but I don't know where Steam stored that, and the game crashes within a minute of starting up.”
  • atmosphere42 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning visuals, immersive sound design, and the ability to evoke a range of emotions from dreamy to nightmarish. Many players found themselves captivated by the rich, detailed environments and the overall aesthetic, which significantly enhanced their gaming experience, even if the gameplay mechanics were less compelling. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, making the game worth playing for its artistic qualities alone.

    • “The world was gorgeous and so detailed, with so much atmosphere and amazing environments.”
    • “At first I wanted to play just a short time but I got sucked in for several hours on the spot because of the outstanding atmosphere and soon I forgot about reality for some hours.”
    • “The atmosphere is amazing.”
    • “The convincing atmosphere ranges from dreamy to downright nightmarish.”
    • “The ending is pretty anticlimactic, but the visuals are strong in both the storytelling and the atmosphere.”
    • “I will still recommend the game because I love the genre, and the visuals and atmosphere alone are worthy of the price purely from an artistic perspective.”
  • stability10 mentions

    Overall, the game's stability is characterized by minor frame rate hitches and occasional small glitches, but players report no significant crashes or major issues that disrupt gameplay. While some users note a general sense of bugginess, many find that these issues do not significantly detract from the overall experience.

    • “It is buggy and quite unfair.”
    • “I've seen quite a few comments in regards to bugs or glitches.”
    • “Great art and environment, kinda buggy, and pretty good atmospheric storytelling.”
  • optimization8 mentions

    Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed feedback; while some players report good performance and an immersive experience, others have encountered serious performance issues. Despite some optimization shortcomings, many agree that it does not significantly detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.

    • “The performance is good.”
    • “Additionally, I had serious performance issues.”
    • “As for the VR tags other reviews are talking about, I never had any performance issues, but I can't speak for everyone.”
    • “Adventurous and atmospheric eye candy environment, but there's a lack of optimization that doesn't bother your experience.”
  • emotional6 mentions

    Reviews indicate that the game lacks emotional depth due to the absence of a compelling story, resulting in minimal player investment. Additionally, the music fails to enhance the emotional experience, being too subtle to evoke any significant feelings during gameplay. Overall, players find the emotional engagement to be lacking and unexciting.

    • “No story means no emotional investment by the player.”
    • “The music could provide some emotional depth or stirring, but it is too subtle, leaving the action to fall flat.”
    • “There's nothing really heart-touching or exciting.”
  • grinding6 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious, particularly with puzzles that require precise timing, which can feel unnecessarily difficult. Despite this frustration, many still appreciate the overall experience of the game, noting that some tedious elements can be skipped.

    • “Puzzles often end up being extremely tedious, while you try and get past what feels like something that should be much easier than it is.”
    • “Near the end it gets quite tedious because you have to time certain things quite precisely.”
    • “That aside, Planet Alpha is fantastic, and you can miss the tedious portal bits if you like.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    While the game features many memorable moments, reviewers generally feel that it lacks significant replayability.

    • “There are many memorable moments, but I don't think it would be too replayable.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

73% average critic score

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Play time

4hMedian play time
4hAverage play time
4-4hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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