PLANET ALPHA

The negative reviews for this game I feel are unjustified and don't accurately portray the games positive concepts. If you don't like a so-called "walking simulator", then why are you purchasing a 2.5D platformer?
For me, PLANET ALPHA was an absolute joy to play! It's a colourful and visually appealing alien world with some intriguing art style. A beautiful alien world filled with mystery and danger. Relentlessly pursued by robotic enemies, you must harness the power of day and night as you struggle to survive PLANET ALPHA's invasion.
PLANET ALPHA is affected by the solar cycle, and as you progress you’ll discover a unique gift – manipulating the time of day and night allowing you to use the environment to your own advantage.
A great 2.5D platformer with very little difficult and only a few mechanics used throughout. Nonetheless, each puzzle still manages to feel rewarding. PLANET ALPHA has great design of alien scenery, retro-futuristic machines, easy puzzles and a unique timeline allowing open story interpretation. There is great flow between stealth and chase sequences leading to some epic escape moments!
My only gripe with PLANET ALPHA was the enemy field of vision, it can become rather annoying at times leading to multiple deaths. It seemed like they had x-ray vision majority of the game. However, the death system is quick and starts you back exactly where you died. After learning enemy paths they become very easy to navigate. I also had one game crash towards the last 15-20 mins of my entire play-through, maybe that's something the developers could iron out.
PLANET ALPHA in my opinion is a very reasonable price at the lower end of £8 at full price. Meanwhile, being an outstanding price when on sale. It's defiantly one of the better under £10 games that I have played.
I thoroughly enjoyed the art-style PLANET ALPHA offers and the fluidity in the games play-ability and puzzles. I would defiantly recommend if you want something quick and easy to run through.
PLANET ALPHA was a decent 7.5/10 for me! :D

It's an impressive visual feast on rails with light puzzle solving, For what it is and the frequent sale price of two bucks or around there... I give it a hearty recommendation to those who enjoy the idea of playing the game this game happens to be otherwise disappointment could very well easily follow.

I give this game a rank C (60-65%)
Okay game - not bad but you can skip it or try on sale.
See my profile for more details about my reviews.
I give Planet Alpha around 62%: it is definitely not a bad game, but there is a reason why this game barely has 68% on Steam, and why the small team did not do anything much after it. It feels like it was full of good ideas, but final realisation is just mediocre. Actually, there are several reasons!
If you know and/or like games like Limbo/Inside, you KNOW what to expect, and that is the very first problem with Planet Alpha: nothing new here, just a gameplay we already saw before, and which is not a very engaging gameplay in the first place. Very casual platformer, of "keep going right or left, jump if you are stuck, move that block here to jump on that platform, avoid the enemies, just run away". That's about it. They try introducing a new mechanism halfway of "changing the time", but as it is just using L and R buttons to modify the environment, it does not add any depth to the whole thing really. They even mostly let it go towards the end...
The tag "walking simulator" could almost be applied to this game, as this 2.5D scroller is very forward, and almost plays by itself. Very casual, very easy: you can ram through most of the platform sequences, most of the time it will be okay. You may die once or twice each time, but it could be from a bug, clunky physics or simple awkward game play. The puzzles are elementary, the platform boring...
...so what's left? why giving this game 62% and not 30%? I think the art direction in Planet Alpha was very good. It really wanted to tell a story, it tried many camera angles, many narrative features, and also many changes of scenery, colors and lights which were, in the end, very pleasant. I am not a big fan of flat tessellation, so I am not entirely sold on the look of Planet Alpha (for me, it also feels very generic, very abstract, very deja vu), but I can't help admiring the scenery: huge, colorful planet, full of life, buzzing fauna and flora, lush nature, hostile yet mesmerizing environment. Then antagonistic, retro sci-fi enemies, so cool looking and scary. Very alien technology. Lots, lots has been done in Planet Alpha to give it a LOOK and a LORE that are attractive. And the music by Barnhoorn is always a pleasure, this guy deserves to be called for so many better projects.
So in the end, you get a not attractive "game", in an attractive "environment". A mediocre content in a good container, so on average 62% is sadly what it deserves. Around 6 hours to finish, probably a few more to get the 100% ending. I would have wanted to do it, but the gameplay is just too boring. I reckon most people will forget this game - but if you love Limbo-like games, buy it on sale? it is still a unique one in that category, and I would have wanted a better game within the same universe.
Hem is live on Hem & Watch

85/100 - Great design of alien sceneries and retrofuturistic machines, easy puzzles, the story is open to interpretation, the main character doesn't have personality (too bad), epic little escape and chase sequences. The game may crash in the first minute but the solution is simple and is avaible in the discussions.

Planet alpha had me glued to my screen when exploring its beautiful world, utterly captivated by the absolutely gorgeous vistas on display. Planet alpha's art direction is nothing short of phenomenal which is obvious if you look at any screenshot or trailer but how is the game itself? Well it's mostly solid with a few pain points left and right in regards to stealth sections and platforming. Most of these are fine but occasionally you will find it hard to judge wether or not you are behind cover for the enemy because of depth perception and perspective. Same with jumps which are occasionally pretty strict or hard to gauge due to these same reasons. This leads to some trial & error to get a feel for it but planet alpha is very generous with checkpoints and respawning is quick so it never felt frustrating.
What was more frustrating was that at times it was very hard to see what was part of the background and what wasn't. Planet alpha is a very busy game visually which works to its benefit for aesthetics, but against it for gameplay clarity. I had to consult a guide every now and then because i missed a ledge or interactable thing somewhere along the way. The game also has a unique mechanic where you can manipulate the time of day, but this feels a bit inconsistent and is generally poorly explained/telegraphed. However i love that it drastically changed the environment which made the game look even better at times. Still though for some players this may prove a bit of a frustration point as this pads out the gametime by a bit.
Still the roughly 5 or so hour journey didn't nearly feel that long because the world is intrigueing and beautiful. The jungle areas especially felt like the most beautiful and immersive jungles i've seen in gaming till now. This is in no small part due to the rather great sound and ambience. That's right planet alpha is a treat on both the eyes and the ears as the music is also fitting and enjoyable to listen to. Your experience may be hindered by a few hickups in terms of fps but you will encounter no major glitchess or crashes, probably. It's a game that will make you say wow a few times, and has some VERY memorable moments. There's one in particular near the end that will probably stick with you for a long time but you'll have to experience that one for yourself :)

took me longer than it should have to finish this game but thats a skill issue.
10/10 !! fun puzzles, visually beautiful even though the creatures sounded like my tummy when i dont got my snacks xD i reallly reallly enjoyed this game that i had to replay some chapters just to get all the achievement and im glad i did because the ending was different. also i wonder if the world/story is just Spacecore limbo

Similar to INSIDE or LIMBO but far more colorful. The puzzles were not really my jazz and I wasn't a fan of them. But the rest of the game? Really quite a fun ride.