Rob reviews Alterium Shift on PC…
Over the years the humble JRPG has found its home over on PC. While console players have their own market for the genre, it’s more prevalent on PC marketplaces such as Steam and the Epic Store. As such most fans of the genre have taken part in enough epic adventures that there’s probably not many more they can go on before the same old tropes come to the surface. Alterium Shift is the new kid on the block and is starting its life out within Steam’s Early Access. That being said, it’s definitely one that you need to consider as it’s interesting story, and vast landscape keeps its pixilated head above the JRPG waves.
Alterium Shift starts its narrative under those typical JRPG conditions. Recovering from a traumatic war with the local Dark Elves, the people of Alteria find themselves in a time of relative peace. However, this fragile peace is soon threatened by the existence of a set of magical amulets that allow for travel between dimensions. Soon follows a grand adventure as your chosen hero is tasked with saving Alteria from a deadly new threat.
While the narrative does tread some familiar ground, it’s still exciting. The macguffin of the amulet is also something that you don’t get until roughly the stories second act. This means that for the entire first act, you’re able to forge relationships with your fellow townsfolk as you perform various quests for them. Your heroes hometown of Sommiton is bustling with characters and stories to be revealed, and there’s plenty of introductory quests too. This somewhat slow opening does then allow for Dratzzy Games to give us plenty of wider world building and exposition to past events.
Moving on and when it comes to picking your hero, you have three to choose from. Each hero whether it’s Sage, Atlas, or Pyra each comes with their own personalities and skills. While the overall story remains the same, there are a few tweaks that gives a different experience depending on your hero and adds a good amount of content if you wish to experience the perspectives of all three heroes. Another interesting thing is that regardless of who you pick, the other two aren’t locked out of the story. Regardless of who you pick as your main character, the other heroes turn up as party members. They also have all of the same abilities as they would of you were playing as them and it gives a good indication of how each plays if you choose to replay the game.
For my play-through I went for Pyra. Classed as a “fiery leader”, Pyra is able to utilise a the element of fire to augment her powers, as well as being deftly capable with a spear. Elsewhere, Sage taps into the worlds magic and utilise all the elements in combat. Finally, Atlas takes on the familiar tank role and is able to harness the power of wind to augment his archery skills.
Combat takes the same turn-based style that’s reminiscent of Final Fantasy. As you roam the world map you’ll encounter enemies that’ll either be on the world map, or those pesky hidden enemy’s that like to jump out of nearby bushes in ambush. Once combat is initiated you’ll then have to select the best attack that’ll play on the weakness of the creature your fighting. There’s a bit of skill involved at the games beginning, but once you add more heroes to your party, you’ll become pretty well-rounded at dealing with most threats. In true RPG fashion there’s also gargantuan bosses to fight with each more than capable in dealing some major damage if you head in unprepared.
Much like other RPG’s Alterium Shift is packed to the rafters with side-quests to complete and items to be discovered. Even with the game being in Early Access there’s a lot to do, and even more to see. Whether it’s unlocking new areas, or simply spending time in the nearest town, Alterium Shift wants you to spend a lot of time in its world. Each biome is also distinct from the other and the pixel art work gives everything a gorgeous retro feel. There’s plenty of detail to these biomes too and whether it’s proceeding through the gloomy forests, or travelling through the vast desert - everything is steeped in pixel beauty.
One thing that I didn’t like is that on a few occasions you could lock yourself out of a location completely. While there is an option to travel back to previous locations, triggering certain story events won’t allow you to return. There’s also no indication that this is a bout to happen either, which means that those who like to take their time and explore every nook and cranny will need to do so before completing quests. This is also not helped by the absence of a quest log, which then means you’ll have to rely on your own memory - or good old fashioned notes - to keep track of what needs to be done. Likewise, the map is also quite hard to read with no option to zoom in. While these are relatively small niggles and will no doubt be ironed out through the Early Access process, for now it takes the shine away from everything else.
Overall, Alterium Shift is a a pretty compelling JRPG that has plenty of room to expand its offering. The development team over at Dratzzy Games have already crafted an RPG that’s packed full things to see and do, it just needs a little bit of polish to give it a smooth finish. However that’s the great thing about being in Early Access. It gives the team the time to refine this labour of love, and will ultimately give a comprehensive RPG experience that definitely deserves its place at the RPG table!
Rating: 7.5/10
A code was kindly provided for the purpose of this review.
Alterium Shift is available now and can be purchased via Steam by clicking here.
Rob Lake - For more comic book and video game chat why not follow us on X/Facebook @GeekCultureRev, TikTok/YouTube @Geekculturereviews, and BlueSky @geekculturereviews.bsky.social
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