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PLANET ALPHA

Simply put, it’s colourful and spectacular, well worth the play-time.
69%Game Brain Score
graphics, gameplay
optimization, stability
65% User Score Based on 533 reviews
Critic Score 73%Based on 17 reviews

Platforms

PCPCXboxXboxXbox Series X|SXbox Series X|SPlaystation 5Playstation 5Playstation 4Playstation 4WindowsWindowsPlayStationPlayStationNintendo SwitchNintendo SwitchXbox OneXbox One
Buy Nowfrom $1.70
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About

"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.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
PLANET ALPHA screenshot
+1

65%
Audience ScoreBased on 550 reviews
graphics150 positive mentions
optimization7 negative mentions
  • Stunning visuals and art style that create a vibrant and immersive alien world.
  • Engaging gameplay with a mix of platforming, puzzles, and stealth mechanics.
  • Unique day-night cycle mechanic that adds depth to the gameplay and environment.
  • Gameplay can become repetitive and relies heavily on trial and error, leading to frustration.
  • Lack of clear narrative or character development, leaving players with many unanswered questions.
  • Some technical issues, including bugs and performance problems, especially for VR users.
  • graphics
    257 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of Planet Alpha are widely praised for their stunning visuals and unique art style, creating a vibrant and immersive alien world that captivates players. However, some reviewers note that the visual complexity can detract from gameplay clarity, leading to confusion during platforming and puzzle-solving. Overall, while the graphics are a highlight, many feel that they do not compensate for the game's shortcomings in mechanics and narrative depth.

    • “Incredible visuals that create a sense of awe and really transport you to another reality.”
    • “The graphics are stunning, and have some gorgeous landscapes, but the gameplay doesn't follow; it feels like scripted, bland platforming.”
    • “The visuals are just a treat to look at; it almost reminds me of Astroneer's visuals but with more polish and better lighting.”
    • “Planet Alpha is a very busy game visually, which works to its benefit for aesthetics, but against it for gameplay clarity.”
    • “It tries to hide behind its 'pretty' graphics up front, but there is no detail at all when you stop to look; everything in the background looks like a skybox that has been run through budget cuts 30 times.”
    • “The only thing that is somewhat positive, or even bearable, about this game is its graphics.”
  • gameplay
    241 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Planet Alpha" has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its simplistic mechanics and repetitive nature, often comparing it unfavorably to titles like "Limbo" and "Inside." While the game features visually stunning environments and a unique day/night cycle mechanic, the overall experience is marred by frustrating stealth elements, trial-and-error gameplay, and a lack of engaging puzzles, leading to a sense of tedium as players progress. Despite its aesthetic appeal, the gameplay is often described as uninspired and lacking depth, making it more of a visual experience than a compelling game.

    • “The gameplay is quite challenging - don't be afraid to die a lot - but also very rewarding.”
    • “The gameplay itself features the core mechanics of a parkour-heavy platformer, from the variation of platformers that are narrative heavy such as Limbo or Inside.”
    • “It mixes classic platform gameplay (in short: jumps, climbs, slides, moving platforms and so on), with original mechanics allowing the player to dynamically change the planet's rotation, modifying the environment in many ways to overcome obstacles and destroy enemies.”
    • “The gameplay is frustrating, requiring trial and error, with inconsistent mechanics and inconsistently spaced checkpoints sometimes requiring you to replay large, boring segments before coming to the part that killed you and trying another approach.”
    • “Unfortunately, the gameplay doesn't match up.”
    • “The gameplay itself is dull, its mechanics lack in originality, unique defining features and any variety.”
  • story
    134 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Planet Alpha" is characterized by its vague and open-ended narrative, primarily conveyed through stunning visuals and environmental storytelling rather than dialogue. While some players appreciate the atmospheric and interpretive nature of the plot, many criticize it for lacking depth and clarity, resulting in a disconnect from the protagonist and their journey. Overall, the game is visually captivating but often leaves players feeling uninvested due to its minimalistic and cryptic storytelling approach.

    • “The story really speaks for itself when playing, and it felt great to explore the vast world with its bright colors and beautiful creatures.”
    • “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 dialogue.”
    • “Not only does it manage to narrate a good story without uttering a word, but it also gives a sense of involvement that few other games of this type can.”
    • “There is no story - it's just a bunch of set pieces, stuff that doesn't make any sense and there are no explanations for the protagonist's paranormal abilities or even deeper lore of the planet.”
    • “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.”
    • “You see, this is one of those games which has a very vague plot – there’s no dialogue, no voices, and no real context for anything you’re doing.”
  • music
    59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game has been widely praised for its fitting and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the overall experience with beautiful compositions that complement the visuals. Many players found the soundtrack to be a standout feature, describing it as relaxing, immersive, and varied, effectively capturing the essence of the game's environments. However, some users noted issues with accessing the soundtrack on Steam, which detracted from their enjoyment.

    • “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.”
    • “The soundtrack, the music, and the atmosphere are lovely and in keeping with the world being explored.”
    • “The music is fitting and imaginative, floaty and lyrical to match the beautiful environments and harsh and thumping to reflect the enemies.”
    • “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”
    • “Oh my goodness the music is annoying”
  • atmosphere
    50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its stunning visuals, immersive sound design, and emotional depth, creating a captivating experience that draws players in. Many reviewers highlight the beautiful graphics and atmospheric soundtrack, which enhance the overall mood, despite some criticism of gameplay mechanics and pacing. Overall, the atmosphere is considered the standout feature, making the game worth playing for fans of atmospheric experiences.

    • “The soundtrack, the music, and the atmosphere are lovely and in keeping with the world being explored.”
    • “The world was gorgeous and so detailed, with so much atmosphere and amazing environments.”
    • “Stunningly beautiful graphics and a wonderfully atmospheric soundtrack.”
    • “The ending is pretty anticlimactic, but the visuals are strong in both the storytelling and the atmosphere.”
    • “The convincing atmosphere ranges from dreamy to downright nightmarish.”
    • “Overall, the atmospheres are the real quality of 'Planet Alpha'; they bring an unsuspected depth and an explosion of emotions in the middle of all the repetitiveness I mentioned.”
  • optimization
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players praising its visual appeal while criticizing its performance issues, including clunky mechanics and frame rate drops. While a few users reported good performance and stability, many others highlighted significant optimization problems that detracted from the overall experience, particularly in VR settings. Overall, the game's optimization appears to be inconsistent, with a divide between those who experienced issues and those who did not.

    • “The performance is good.”
    • “+ well optimized game that runs at steady 60 fps (quite GPU heavy on max settings though)”
    • “Performance and stability are good overall.”
    • “Not optimized at all.”
    • “I can't think of another reason why the visuals, animations, and the atmosphere are so well designed and implemented, yet the mechanics are clunky, performance is abysmal, and trivial defects were never fixed.”
    • “Terribly optimized, buggy.”
  • stability
    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is widely criticized, with many users reporting significant bugs, glitches, and performance issues that detract from the overall experience. While some players experienced only minor glitches, the consensus leans towards it being a "buggy mess" that can lead to frustrating gameplay and frequent interruptions. Overall, the game's stability is a major concern for potential buyers.

    • “As much as I wanted to like this game, it's a bad buggy mess.”
    • “This game is quite a buggy mess.”
    • “Game looks visually amazing, unfortunately it's all sorts of buggy.”
  • grinding
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviews highlight that the grinding aspect of the game is characterized by tedious gameplay, particularly in puzzles and platforming sections that often rely on trial and error. Many players found the pacing slow and frustrating, with a significant portion of the experience feeling like a chore rather than an engaging challenge. While some moments are exciting, the overall sentiment leans towards the grind being a detractor from the enjoyment of the game.

    • “Gave up when I came up against a tedious puzzle that I know how to do, but after a few minutes still couldn't time it.”
    • “The puzzles are a 50/50 split between being understandable and those that are tedious moments of trial and error, and/or poorly explained, and/or ones that don't necessarily follow the game's logic.”
    • “Puzzles often end up being extremely tedious while you try to get past what feels like something that should be much easier than it is.”
  • emotional
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviews indicate that while "Planet Alpha" excels in visual immersion, it falls short in emotional engagement due to a lack of narrative depth and impactful music. Players feel disconnected from the story, resulting in minimal emotional investment and a perception of the game as primarily visual spectacle rather than an emotionally resonant experience.

    • “Despite its minor narrative flaws, Planet Alpha stands out as an exceptional example of how visuals can drive player immersion and emotional connection.”
  • replayability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is generally considered to have low replayability, with players noting that while it features many memorable moments, these do not encourage repeated playthroughs.

    • “It is not replayable (at least for me).”
    • “There are many memorable moments, but I don't think it would be too replayable, actually.”
  • character development
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game is criticized for being poorly explained, which undermines the potential depth of its visually appealing character design, reducing it to mere aesthetics without meaningful engagement.

  • humor
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is perceived as lacking depth and craftsmanship, falling short of the bleak wit found in similar titles like Limbo or Inside.

73%Critics’ scoreBased on 17 critic reviews

Buy PLANET ALPHA

4h Median play time
5h Average play time
4-8h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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