90s visuals, tank like controls, fixed camera angles, stop to shoot, puzzles, locked doors, great art direction, am I in heaven? Not quite but Alisa is really great and it is impressive that a lot of it was done by one person. After getting about 30 minutes into Alisa I was a little concerned. It wasn’t fully clicking with me and I thought that I might leave underwhelmed. Now I am on my fourth play through and it has grown on me so much that I have no problem putting Alisa alongside Signalis and Tormented Souls.
The first thing that grabs you about this game is how it looks. Alisa really looks like it could have released sometime between 95 and 99. It has nice pre rendered backgrounds and character models authentic to that late 90s era. The style that they went with is really damn good too and is the perfect fit for the older visuals. It looks like if Resident Evil was set in a 1920s European doll house. Alisa is never scary or gruesome instead going for a creepy, weird, unsettling vibe that it nails. What I want to really praise and highlight the most is the art direction and cohesion. This is not a lazy throwback just banking on nostalgia. The accuracy and commitment to delivering something looking late 90s PS1 is impressive. And the way everything here ties together in service of its style and vision makes me think this was created by an obsessive perfectionist and I love it. Obviously this also highlights the strength that an individual or smaller team can have.
Of course Alisa sounds just right as well. The music is great and really elevates this games feel, adding to the weirdness and discomfort. It is a mix of beautiful and strange, although there was one track in the funhouse area, which while fitting, did start to grate on me. The voice acting and dialogue is perfect for this world and its characters and I can’t imagine them sounding different. They are unusual but deliberate performances that help to enhance the strangeness and give something extra to these characters. While the game also sounds good in other areas I do have to mention that I may have encountered a bug. Sometimes while going through a door there was a weird noise like something that was meant to play was being cut off. The presentation is fantastic overall though and suits the setting and the minimal but enjoyable story that has multiple endings.
Just by looking at Alisa you can probably already tell how it plays. Survival horror fans will be at home backtracking around the dollhouse, solving puzzles, finding keys, being careful with item and ammo consumption, choosing to avoid or engage in combat, taking out bosses and getting further and further in while learning the layout. I love this style of game. It is methodical and rewards being careful but can still deliver tension and action. I like making lots of little choices and considering each encounter. I like learning the layout to the point that I no longer need to check the map and getting more efficient with each play through is satisfying. Alisa does this all pretty well but there are some issues.
First of all, while I liked the puzzles there were not a whole lot of them. Then there is the pacing which starts off well by building up to a steady pace. But then once you get the fish key and do the things immediately after this the game begins to just rush towards the end. This leads to my biggest issue which is that Alisa is just a bit too light. It needed to be a little bigger and more intricate. I think the outdoor area could have been further developed and I could see this dollhouse having more rooms or even another floor. It is also not a particularly long game with first play throughs falling between 4-7 hours and play throughs after this will drop to about 2-3 hours. You can also go quite a bit quicker than that if you enjoy that type of thing too.
Alisa is low priced though and does have a lot of replay value beyond the different endings I already mentioned. There are a lot of different weapons and outfits to unlock that require multiple plays. The outfits actually alter stats as well and act as part of this games player lead dynamic difficulty. How hard this game is can really depend on how much you engage with combat, what weapons you use, what outfit you wear and if you install modifications. It works well but overall Alisa could have used just a little extra challenge. In addition to this the survival part of the game could have been better. I found resources to be a bit too abundant.
The combat in Alisa is good for this genre and works well within the context of this games setting. The enemies can be avoided but you are going to be backtracking so maybe it’s worth the risk to get rid of some. The enemies also drop currency called ‘toothwheels’ which is needed to buy everything from a limited amount of health and ammo to new outfits and weapons and it is also needed to save. It creates an incentive to engage with something that carries risk although once you get to know the game there isn’t that much risk anymore.
Fighting the enemies works well. You need learn how they move and attack. Then use your movement and speed to your advantage. Learn how the hit stun works so you know how many attacks you can squeeze in or if there is safe time to reload. Reposition when needed and don’t let 2-3 enemies get on top of you. Bait enemies into attacking and be aware of spacing and enemy movement speed. You can get trapped by hit stun yourself and take multiple hits in a row leading to death but honestly that’s your fault for getting into that position. You can parry with your melee weapons too and there is a good variety of creatures to go up against. I enjoyed it and there is a little more to it then may first appear.
I had been wanting to try Alisa so I am really happy we got this Developer’s Cut console release and after playing it I hope it goes on to be more successful and gets a wide physical release. I was almost going to skip reviewing Alisa just because writing a review for every game I touch would be pretty time consuming and might cause me to get burnt out on this. But I really wanted to for Alisa: Developer’s Cut because even if I only manage to briefly get a few pairs of eye balls on it, it is worth it for games like this. It’s a must play for survival/90s horror fans and still worth taking a look at even if you’re not.
8.1/10
