Rebel Transmute

About

"Rebel Transmute" is a modern Metroidvania game where you play as Moon Mikono, a space scrapper on a mission to uncover the fate of her missing mother. With over 50 unique upgrades, you can customize your playstyle to be aggressive, inquisitive, or summon an army of creatures. Explore a stunning sci-fi world filled with vibrant vistas and over 80 unique enemies. Challenging and customizable combat awaits.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 155 reviews

gameplay19 positive mentions

grinding8 negative mentions

Rebel Transmute features solid mechanics and controls, reminiscent of classic Metroid games, providing a satisfying gameplay experience.
The game has a beautiful pixel art style and engaging atmosphere, with a well-crafted world that encourages exploration.
The difficulty curve is well-balanced, offering challenging platforming and combat that rewards skill and persistence.

The game suffers from excessive backtracking and unclear progression, often leaving players feeling lost and frustrated.
Some mechanics, such as the short-range weapon and knockback effects, can lead to frustrating combat experiences and hinder platforming.
There are several bugs and technical issues, including problems with the map system and occasional crashes, which detract from the overall experience.

gameplay
57 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
61%
5%
The gameplay of the game is generally praised for its solid mechanics and engaging exploration, reminiscent of classic metroidvanias, with a mix of original ideas and nostalgic elements. However, players have noted issues with excessive backtracking, poorly explained mechanics, and some frustrating controls, particularly with swimming and shooting. While the game offers fun combat and a variety of upgrades, the lack of clarity in certain mechanics can lead to confusion and hinder the overall experience.
- “The gameplay is tight and the bit art is beautiful.”
- “The controls are tight, the movement feels good (with additional hidden mechanics) and exploration is fun.”
- “Tons of perks and unique abilities help Transmute separate itself from what's already out there, hitting that nostalgic sweet spot while dishing out a fresh mix of modern mechanics to keep you hooked!”
- “Certain mechanics, like making the gun fire at such a short range, don't really help.”
- “The game has a real lack of teaching you some of its core mechanics.”
- “Water movement and its associated momentum mechanic are infuriatingly imprecise, and the slightest mistake means losing all your momentum and having to start over.”
story
51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
43%
12%
The game's story receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its engaging and unique narrative that avoids typical tropes, while others criticize it for being clichéd and underdeveloped. Many appreciate the vintage visuals and how the story complements the gameplay, though some find it to be an afterthought with predictable elements. Overall, while the story has its highlights, it often struggles to leave a lasting impact amidst gameplay-focused experiences.
- “Vintage visuals, an engaging story, and one of the rare games that pitched the difficulty curve absolutely perfectly for me.”
- “Plus the plot is pretty great, avoiding both the minimalist 'silent protagonist' non-plot and the classic 'you've got to save the world by beating the big boss' plot.”
- “Story and characters are very well thought out and make me want to learn more about what happened in this world and how I fit into it :) 10/10 would recommend!!”
- “Oh, and there's random 'capitalism = galactic war crimes to those who support it, so let's destroy everything, while patting ourselves on the back for caring too much' messaging in there, but the story's such a minor part of the game, I doubt anyone would care by that point.”
- “There's almost a really interesting idea going on with the corporation mining the actual blood out of a living planet, but their reasons for doing so are never even remotely hinted at other than 'lol the corporation is evil!!!' which by today's standards is the most trite, overdone, and boring story beat.”
- “The story and writing is just bad; you get spammed with useless information everywhere.”
music
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
49%
8%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its atmospheric qualities and beautiful compositions, while others find it repetitive and forgettable. Sound design is generally praised for effects, but the background music can become annoying due to short loops, particularly in challenging sections. Overall, while the music contributes to the game's ambiance, it often plays it safe and lacks memorable standout tracks.
- “This game had me hooked from the start, with its gorgeous 8-bit style, metroid-inspired pixel graphics, cool atmospheric background music, and engaging gameplay.”
- “A stunning and vibrant game with beautiful music.”
- “The atmospheric music and beautiful pixel art draws you in, and the crunchy gameplay keeps you going!”
- “The basic pixel art lacks any charm or personality and the soundtrack is repetitive to the point of me muting it in certain areas.”
- “The music is forgettable ambient sounds (with maybe 2 bops that I liked), which consisted of 2-3 notes being played over and over.”
- “Music is fitting but plays it a little too safe.”
graphics
29 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
48%
41%
10%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful pixel art and retro aesthetic, evoking nostalgia reminiscent of classic titles like Super Metroid and Axiom Verge. While the visuals are generally considered engaging and colorful, some players noted that the design can occasionally lead to confusion during intense gameplay, making it difficult to distinguish between foreground and background elements. Overall, the art style contributes significantly to the game's atmosphere and enjoyment, appealing to fans of 2D action and exploration.
- “The art style being pixel art hits a nostalgia sweet spot for me.”
- “This game had me hooked from the start, with its gorgeous 8-bit style, metroid-inspired pixel graphics, cool atmospheric background music, and engaging gameplay.”
- “Top quality controls, excellent music, great graphics and that overall Metroid modern feel.”
- “I really like the art style of the game, but it happens quite often that it's hard to see what is part of the level and what is part of the background.”
- “When there are numerous enemies in an area, the graphics become confusing, making it easy to collide with an enemy.”
- “The aesthetic style is a lot closer to Metroid/Axiom Verge, but in most other ways its sci-fi themes come from ESA - and I know this was intentional because there's an off-hand line of dialogue referencing it.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect of the game is criticized for being excessively tedious, with players feeling that it detracts from the overall experience. While early game bosses are engaging and challenging, the later stages suffer from frustrating enemy designs and cumbersome movement mechanics, leading to a sense of unnecessary repetition and frustration in exploration and combat. Overall, the game fails to balance difficulty and enjoyment, resulting in a grind that feels more like a chore than a rewarding challenge.
- “This game could've been great, and while it clearly takes a lot of inspiration from Hollow Knight, it took all the wrong lessons from it, including some horrible design choices and the stacking of already tedious environmental effects with the worst possible enemy types (which of course aren't affected by these environments).”
- “Altogether, I hate not to like this, but this feels so massively and unnecessarily tedious when it could be 'Hollow Knight, but with a sci-fi setting'.”
- “Even with a weapon upgrade or two, enemies became bullet sponges and getting lost became tedious instead of fun, because even with multiple upgrades, movement just kind of sucks.”
atmosphere
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
88%
38%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its captivating 8-bit style, engaging pixel graphics, and atmospheric music, creating an immersive experience that hooks players from the start. While some players encountered technical issues, the overall level design and aesthetic elements contribute to a charming and polished environment that enhances gameplay.
- “This game had me hooked from the start, with its gorgeous 8-bit style, metroid-inspired pixel graphics, cool atmospheric background music, and engaging gameplay.”
- “Music and art was super atmospheric and cute!”
- “The atmospheric music and beautiful pixel art draws you in, and the crunchy gameplay keeps you going!”
- “The atmosphere feels flat and uninspired, lacking the depth needed to immerse players.”
- “Despite some interesting visuals, the overall atmosphere fails to create a compelling experience.”
- “The game’s atmosphere is inconsistent, often breaking immersion with jarring transitions.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is mixed, with some players experiencing occasional glitches and bugs, particularly with map markers and difficulty spikes. While some users report a smooth experience, especially on platforms like the Steam Deck, others note that it remains somewhat buggy even after initial hotfixes. Overall, the game is considered playable but not without its issues.
- “The at times ridiculous difficulty, and occasional glitches that you might not know of or realize happened until later in the game... or when consulting a walkthrough.”
- “The game is still somewhat buggy in places.”
- “Played it at launch so it was a little buggy.”
emotional
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The emotional aspect of the game is marked by a touching narrative centered on a space hunter's quest to find her mother, despite the overarching corporate villainy feeling clichéd and underdeveloped. While some moments resonate with players, the story's depth is undermined by predictable tropes and a lack of exploration into the corporation's motives. Overall, the emotional impact is mixed, with moments of genuine connection overshadowed by familiar storytelling pitfalls.
- “Some of the boss tracks are fun, though the story and writing, despite the clichés, were touching at moments.”
- “Visually, it draws primarily from Metroid and Axiom Verge (which drew from Metroid to begin with), and tells a concise but touching story about a space hunter character searching for her mom.”
- “There's almost a really interesting idea going on with the corporation mining the actual blood out of a living planet, but their reasons for doing so are never even remotely hinted at other than 'lol the corporation is evil!!!' which by today's standards is the most trite, overdone, and boring story beat.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game has faced notable optimization issues, including crashes linked to specific in-game doors and instances of softlocking, which have since been patched. Additionally, players reported significant framerate drops in certain areas, impacting overall performance.
- “There were crashes and performance issues too: a specific door in the early game, which has since been patched, caused a crash every single time. In one instance, I was pushed through a door by a bloodcast and softlocked, looping between rooms until I ended the task and restarted the game. Additionally, a few areas of the game experienced inexplicable drops in framerate.”
- “The optimization is severely lacking; I encountered frequent stuttering and frame drops that made the gameplay experience frustrating.”
- “Despite the game's potential, the optimization issues are a major setback, with long loading times and inconsistent performance across different areas.”