Environmental Station Alpha is an action adventure platformer with a retro aesthetic and heavy emphasis on exploration. In the game the player controls a robot sent to investigate a mysterious, abandoned space station with the mission to find out what exactly took place there.
Very Positive
1,599 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | — | — | Y |
十分经典但很小众的类银游戏，有微恐元素，对地图的利用率极为充分，即使到了游戏后期，地图里的绝大部分地方仍然需要，也值得重跑一趟。尤其是打隐藏结局的流程深得解谜与类银精髓。
难度方面，游戏里打小怪没有任何收益，中期之后更是难打，同时生命值给的也特别抠，（虽然空洞也这样，但是空洞打小怪没有这个难受）尤其是普通模式非常硬核。（这游戏就简单和普通两种难度）我是普通模式打红温了换简单模式才过全流程的，简单模式会轻松很多。但是到了游戏大后期，拿到了超级充能和超级冲刺后打小怪又成虐菜了，以至于隐藏结局流程的怪直接强制卡这两个超模能力。
BOSS方面，整体设置是符合游戏流程的，基本不会发生跨流程进图的情况，但是难度不小，即使是简单模式下也不轻松。不过如果预先拿到隐藏能力就轻松很多。（真可恶啊）值得注意的一点是，人物的移动方向和射击方向绑定在同一个键上，导致打水中的BOSS和小怪会极其难受。
跑图方面，游戏前期就已经拿到比较优质的跑图能力了。（指二段跳、钩爪、横向冲刺）这里点名表扬钩爪，人物释放的钩爪钩到墙上后人物就会向前荡一段距离，导致角色往往能借此进入一些后期才能到达的位置，而且钩到墙上的钩爪长度无限，所以位置好的话人物还能做空中飞人；但是钩爪的使用非常不方便，经常距离计算不好，我就在拿到钩爪后的试用房间里卡了快半个小时。大后期的超级冲刺更是离谱，几乎无视重力到处飞。
隐藏方面，非常建议有事没事四处打打逛逛，很有可能碰巧进入一些放着隐藏道具的地图。而且一些路径隐藏得非常好，管道长得和柱子一模一样。
总体而言，这款游戏地图设计非常好，而战斗难度设计比较差。偏好跑图的话还是建议简单模式，游戏成就不区分难度。
ESA navigates the delicate balance of being heavily inspired by Super Metroid while still being its own thing.
Sure, some upgrades can feel derivative, but most end up playing very differently, while the game also has some unique powerups of its own, like the x-booster.
The grappling hook is a highlight; it feels so good to control and master its momentum-based physics. Genuinely the most fun upgrade in the game.
The game taking place inside this multi-biome station is really well executed. The whole map is expertly designed and packed with secrets. I especially liked the various occasions where some areas changed permanently. I think that kind of element adds a lot to a game of this genre.
The minimalistic art style sometimes hurts readability and makes some discoveries harder than they should be, but I did get used to it.
The soundtrack also grew on me over time. I’ve got to say the whole atmosphere of the game is very well realized, and that’s an important aspect to nail in this kind of game. It has this sort of ominous feeling, like there are elements at play far beyond your comprehension. You may choose to ignore them in favor of the main objective, but it's always there in the background. Watching, lurking, taunting you. And when you do start to acknowledge it and try to follow its clues, well, it certainly goes well beyond your comprehension in the best way.
As for the gameplay itself, it plays well, but it had some frustrating moments. The starter weapon can feel very limited in range and damage, and it doesn’t change much throughout the playthrough, except for a few optional upgrades that make it very powerful.
Platforming is alright, with a lot of interesting challenges, but there were times where I felt the difficulty spike wildly and the game turned into a very punishing experience. Long stretches of precise platforming with some of the most annoying enemies you’ve ever seen, respawning each time you change rooms, and not a single way to heal.
Well, there are a few “healing stations,” but that’s it. No health pickups of any kind from defeating enemies, nothing. It ends up making you feel extremely frail. I guess it adds to the atmosphere and identity of ESA, but in some instances it felt like too much.
The bosses are another aspect I’m not that happy about. Some of them are genuinely good fights, with many patterns to learn and very satisfying once you finally beat them. At the same time, other bosses are the worst kind of frustrating, with a lot of random movement and too many “invincible phases.”
Personally, I don’t tend to like when bosses are only damageable at specific times and otherwise totally immune to your weapons. Hell, there is even a boss you can’t damage at all and you just have to wait for it to kill itself.
The main playthrough was alright, but something ESA excels at is its post-game content. Well after the first credits roll, I’m still doing things, discovering an iceberg of secrets that goes very deep. Finding new powerups, new bosses, new areas. I even think I might be too dumb for the level of puzzle-solving the game demands in certain post-game challenges.
Some things are extremely well hidden. At its worst it’s a little frustrating having to explore aimlessly, shooting at every wall. But at its best there are a lot of cool things you have to do to progress, and you feel very clever for connecting the dots. The cool cryptic elements are, at least, very interesting in how they are presented. I'm afraid the rabbit hole may go deeper than i intend to follow, but i can at least appreciate the commitment. Decoding the "language" was an incredibly satisfying experience by itself, i will say.
Anyways, ESA is a game with great ambition. In some aspects that ambition is well realized and executed, while in others it gets in its own way, resulting in very frustrating moments. In the end I’d say it’s totally worth it, but not without its sour spots.
I played this because it is suppoesed to get non linear and really creative in post game.
Reaching postgame can not possibly be worth suffering through a really repetetive unrewarding early game.
[h1][b]Environmental Station Alpha[/b][/h1]
[h3][b]Time Played:[/b][/h3]
23.7 Hours
[h3][b]Last Played:[/b][/h3]
19th of July, 2016
[hr][/hr]
Looking (and feeling) much like Metroid, I felt like snapping this up was a no-brainer, yet was still completely astonished by it not only delighting, but doing things I had never seen at the time of playing it, but have really only seen in Cavern of Dreams, and MacBat 64 since.
[h3][b]Yay:[/b][/h3]
+ Art charmed me
+ I liked the upgrades, you basically able to fly at the end of it.
+ Exploration delighted
+ The areas were also varied, and distinct, if memory serves.
+ Unlike Axion Verge, this game actually gets what made the Metroid series engaging, and facilitates player discovery, and mental connection.
+ A free area was added.
+ The game itself is rather long...
+ ...and has multiple endings...
+ ...but once you beat it, a very well-hidden area opens up, that sends you on a series of events that not only doubled the length of the game, but had you translating a new alphabet (which I did on pen and paper), then going down to the planet, whereupon you fight the real final boss, and get the best ending.
+ For those that did not read the Cavern of Dreams review, I absolutely love it when games give post-story content, and bring new aspects to areas you've been, allowing you to go behind the scenes to find things off-camera.
[h3][b]Meh:[/b][/h3]
~ Nothing remembered
[h3][b]Nay:[/b][/h3]
- Once again, nothing.
[hr][/hr]
[h3][b]Verdict:[/b][/h3]
This was absolutely one of those games held in the highest of esteems in my memory vault, and I both look forward to diving back in to get all the achievements, as well as playing its sequel, when that launches.
[h3][b]Placed in:[/b][/h3]
1: Fantastically-Favoured
its an all around.... ok experience
if i could give a rating in between positive and negative i would, but im leaning towards negative
i adore the game for what it is, theres a lot to love. the art is lovely and the visuals and ESPECIALLY the music are PHENOMINAL. i would go out of my way to listen to this game's soundtrack, 1000%
but, sometimes, what this game is is being absolutely awful
several bosses do not have checkpoints before them, often times in places where you have to go through an entire section to get to them again (im looking at you security class a guardian)
the game also tends to just expect you to know precisely what it wants you to do, and at the same time it likes to waste your time
it is a very very flawed experience
if you are a *diehard* metroidvania fan then maybe
the bosses are hard as hell
even the early ones were fairly difficult, even in a way where *multiple times* i thought that i wasn't supposed to fight a boss yet, and i was missing a tool i needed. nope. game just expects you to do it. at the very least that does cement that notion early on i guess
another note is that honestly, the story really isnt that compelling. its what you'd expect.
i *do* love this game. but at the same time i unfortunately cannot particularly recommend this game
if you like a challenge, its for you
but for 90% of metroidvania fans, i would really skip this one to be honest
All reviews say that "this is great for fans and veterans of metroidvanias." I am a fan and veteran of metroidvanias. I hate this game. It's too hard and in the worst possible ways. Oh you want to learn a boss's patterns to overcome it? Too bad, it's mostly RNG and you'll just have to rely on your reflexes. Combat feels awful, platforming is a chore, it's just a sadistic experience all around.
Only get this game if you're a masochist.
really cool
It was ok until I hit a serpent boss with some really stupid RNG movements and luckily checked the reviews to see that it's only gonna get worse. Asked for a refund. I liked a lot of it but the bad game design creeps in sure enough.
Разраб гений (баба)
Одна из лучших метроидваний что я играл. Жаль не так много даже купивших игру в нее играло, судя по достижениям
This is a surprising hidden gem. At first, it seemed like a standard metroidvania game, but then, after the first ending, the game continued to open up with a bunch of secrets and hidden bosses leading to multiple new endings.
The puzzles aren't terribly hard, but they do rely on translating the in-game alien language which requires you to take notes of every alien script you come across which is kind of annoying for me. I did end up relying on a translation key, but was otherwise able to finish it.
If you like the genre, check this one out.
A very solid, relatively short metroidvania. Exploration and combat was pretty fun. i stopped before the true rabbithole of secrets really began mainly because it seemed like a lot of testing every screen for hidden walls until you find something interesting (although I'll admit I ducked out pretty early so I might be wrong here). I might revisit at some point as I really liked Noita and Baba is You from the developer.
Game launched extremely loud. Went to the settings; it only let me turn the volume up. It wouldn't go down. Eventually it maxed out, where it is now stuck. Tried every resolution and fullscreen option. No dice, I only got the settings to bug out even worse. Subsequently uninstalled.
It took me a couple of tries before I got into it, but once you get a few powerups it's a pleasure to play. A good Metroid tribute.
Плюсы: Интересный мир и способности, разнообразные локации, многослойность
Минусы: Неудобное управление и много бэктрекинга
I decided to try ESA because I heard it was similar in depth to games like Fez, Tunic, or Animal Well, and while it is not as polished as those titles, with good music, tight controls, and well thought out puzzles, it still delivers a solid experience.
This game presents itself as a straightforward metroidvania but go off the beaten path and you'll find layers of secrets and puzzles that are well hidden and rewarding to figure out. The base game took me around 4-5 hours, and I'm 30 hours in, still finding secrets.
That said, for casual players, the game is a little rough around the edges at times, especially when it comes to level design. The map could be more interconnected and is sometimes frustrating to navigate, but it's size is fairly small and manageable, so it actually hasn't bothered me that much. The pacing of the difficulty can feel off, especially with certain bosses and rooms that are either too easy or a little too unforgiving, but overall it hasn't been frustratingly difficult. I'm excited to see what's in store for the sequel.
the puzzles were way beyond me for my little mind to comprehend but ♥♥♥♥ is gas.
[h1]Spectacular hidden gem[/h1][b]E[/b]environmental [b]S[/b]tation [b]A[/b]lpha kept surprising me with how well designed it is. The whole experience in one word could be described as [b] 'dense' [/b].
[h3] [b]ESA[/b] has two levels.[/h3] On the surface it's your run-of-the-mill metroidvania--really fun boss fights, fun movement and upgrades and some pretty backdrops. very decent.
Bubbling below is a sprawling web of mysteries and side content for you to discover--it does this so intricately in multiple ways. Really keeps you engaged and immersed for hours. Hats off to the devs.
IMO it's very hard though. A must play for fans of the genre if you don't mind dying a lot.
I'm going to start the review with a "spoiler" and I don't care, you just need to know this: Environmental Station Alpha has probably the best hookshot implementation of all time. The game would already be a must play just because of that but no, the creator also decided to craft an incredible isolated world filled with so many secrets he probably doesn't even remember them all himself. While this is all very reminiscent of old 2D Metroid games, ESA has this peculiar distinct style, a simple but cleverly implemented gameplay and absolute eerie vibe that ultimately put it aside from that series by quite a bit.
As far as I'm concerned ESA has become an instant classic for me.
Одна из лучших метроидваний. Если у Вас нет жёсткого неприятия такого визуального стиля, немедленно приступайте к прохождению.
This game's Metroidvania part is very simple but effective at its job: you run around pretty locations, collect generic Metroid-inspired upgrades, read text logs that point you to areas on the map and defeat challenging but unique, fair and interesting bosses. All in all, it's a pretty enjoyable walk, and that could be it, a 7/10 cute indie MV for a couple evenings.
However, if you wander around and stumble upon some hidden passages (or just try to paint all the squares on the map), you'll find out that this is actually a pretty sophisticated puzzle game. To get every other ending except for the first one, you'll have to decipher an alien language, solve numerous riddles, work your way through entirely new areas, and bump your head into a lot of walls looking for cracks. Every problem has a clever, sometimes unintuitive solution, and every hidden room has something pointing out its existence. Going into this, I certainly didn't expect that I'd need a whole mspaint canvas to store and decipher messages. It's not that the game overuses this though; everything you work for, you need to progress (or might have needed; you can stumble upon some stuff by yourself if you explore a little too hard, and find the message pointing to that secret later)
tl;dr Chill metroidvania with a great puzzle component. Heavily recommend!
Fun metroidvania. were less is more.
great stuff
Pretty fun boss fights and exploration. Nice art and music. However this game made me realize that I despise puzzle games. I also hate when Metroidvanias make me spend so long just finding where to go, or how to get there. It isn't fun in my opinion. I lose patience eventually, but maybe that's because I've spent so long doing the exact same thing recently with Metroid Prime, Dread, and Aria of Sorrow. If you don't mind the wandering in those games, you might enjoy this.
Not my favourite game.
So I'm currently at 18,7 hours into the game, I like to do mostly everything possible before continuing into a boss or possibly an ending in a game generally speaking. In this one, I just have no idea what I'm supposed to do, I'm mostly lost and I keep finding stuff in every possible places that this game has to offer. The worst part about this, is that I never stop finding stuff. There is just so much everywhere.
In case you were hesitant because of the visuals or something else, that is understandable.
However, if you do like games with tons of hidden stuff like Animal Well, Fez, Outer Wilds, look no further and try Environmental Station Alpha.
I'm pretty sure I'm somewhere close to the end of the game but I still feel that there is so much hidden near me.
I will update this review once I got 100% on it. Until then you should have tried this game.
👍
+1
I wanted to like this game, but my playing experience was too frustrating to recommend it. It's a really challenging metroidvania that will likely only be enjoyed by experts of the genre. Many of my problems with it have been brought up in others' reviews, but I'll go over them again, because most rang true for me too.
The station is very hard to navigate, especially while backtracking. There are teleport machines, but it's often hard to know which to teleport to when you're trying to get to a specific area, because so much of the map is hard to traverse, and gated with one-way systems, with a teleporter in the general vicinity of where you want to go not necessarily being the right choice.
Unlike other metroidvanias, progressing through the game does not make it easier to get around, for while there are powerups that help with your movement, as the story progresses, more enemies appear in the rooms, which balances things out. Enemies can really be a pain in some of the sectors, artificially inflating the playtime in an unfun way. Also, the really good powerups are hidden in secret spots, so finding them is far from easy.
Even when you do get a new powerup, it's often the case that on using it to get inside a new room, you're immediately confronted with another dead end, until you get the [i]next[/i] powerup. So you don't really feel that sense of progression that the best metroidvanias provide, the desire to keep playing, to explore further, in a gradually expanding map that continually rewards your curiosity. Everything just feels like too much of a slog.
There is at least a mildly interesting story here, if you can persevere, and the postgame content, while rather cryptic, was not as obtuse as what I experienced in games like [i]TUNIC[/i] or [i]Animal Well[/i]. The music is nice, and the graphics too, although in some rooms, it is unclear about what is a pathway or platform, and what are background details.
So to reiterate, veteran metroidvania fans might like this game, but casual players will probably find it too hard, and unrewarding for the effort you have to put in.
Deliberately low-fi, but highly polished. Does require absolute mastery of the movement mechanics at the endgame stages though.
there is some ridiculous postpostgame puzzle stuff that i unfortunately found way way way too obtuse and unsatisfying, to the point that i quit playing before seeing it all because even trying to get thru with a guide was frustrating and confusing. but i think ignoring that, if you just play thru the game normally, maybe getting a second ending and normal 100%, you will have a good time i think it is an enjoyable metroidvenia with cute presentation and only a few hiccups (like 2 annoying bosses)
Be an ALPHA and add this game to the ENVIRONMENT of your workSTATION!
Late to the party and it's just not worth the effort. I'm sure that the endgame puzzles are neat but the game is just a slog to get through.
So many instances of being excited to use a new ability only to find dead ends with zero rewards requiring other upgrades that you don't have yet. Then you realize that there isn't really any freedom, just one critical path that you can take to the next boss and a map trying to give you an illusion of choice, wasting your time.
The map is weird in that it automatically marks down too little and too much info. Why would I care that a room had an upgrade that I already picked up? Why doesn't the game have map markers that the player can put on the map instead? The game simply isn't good enough to bust out the notebook like with La-Mulana.
Bosses have way too many invulnerability phases and I got no sense of accomplishment after beating them. Difficulty curve is a rollercoaster. At least the hookshot feels nice.
Good game, but it's missing the obvious HORROR tag for the postgame stuff.
Recent reviews "Mixed"??? Smh. I should have recommended this game when I was obsessed with it years ago. I'm playing it again on Normal, and it's a completely different game. Highly recommended by me.
Solid metroidvania. Easy to start, but plenty of depth and difficulty. If you like the genre, you'll love this!
metroid style wall punching simulator 11/10
Офигенная игра! Всем поклонникам Animal Well обязательно к приобретению. Игра может отпугивать графическим стилем, но когда начинаешь играть, перестаешь замечать это, кому нравится пиксельная графика, вообще без вопросов. Игра построена на навыках, как раньше, ничего невозможного в ней нет, да бывает приходится помучаться, но не было у меня момента, чтоб я бесился и готов был бросить игру.
В общем, однозначно брать!!!
A great metroidvania. Lovely music. Made me fall in love with games again. Thank you Hempuli, waiting for ESA2
It;s an old game, but doesn't feel that dated..
Music is pretty top
bosses, i'm glad there werent many, felt sometimes a race will I die or he will, feels many got unavoidable things.
For how annoying the combat is in this game, they sure do have a lot of it. Went into this thinking it would be a platformer with puzzles and secrets and light shooting, but turns out its a platformer with enimies tickling your bum constantly with a side of "where was that thing i might be able to do something with" (spoiler alert, when you find said thing, you probably cant do anything with it still).
Got 97% at the end and never plan on doing whatever 200% is
Шикарна метроїдванія(тут правда без ванії, чисто метроїд). З дофіга величезним другим шаром гри,про котрий можна навіть не здогадуватись не зважаючи на проходження гри на 100%.
游戏6h的当下，体验是一款让人挫败，爽不起来的银河城。跨越一个能力锁往往看到的不是广阔的探索区域，而是另一个能力锁，告诉你此路不通。游戏怪物布置恶意满满，还特别喜欢在需要精细操作的位置放置怪物（甚至是无敌的），纯恶心人。流程设计对传送能力的滥用导致路线稀碎，没有逻辑，电脑的提示弥补了一点，但电脑提示本身就可以看作流程路线设计偷懒的一种体现。
As I slog through to the normal 100% completion boss im haunted by thoughts.
You'd think this is a normal metroid-like. But something always feels off.
That one swing point
Am i supposed to go that way? (yes)
Why are the enemies so unpredictable?
etc.
I reached the 100% completion boss till i understood.
This MFer is cheating.
The sprite hitboxes are made too fair. You get hit when "youre not supposed to". Normally the hitboxes are made in favour of the player, NOT THIS ONE.
So it frustrates you.
Then the enemy AI and movesets. They are programmed to trace your current position, instead of the old classic of "Where you were" so the enemy shoots a projectile, that decides AFTER BEING SHOT, to move towards you now.
This is especially frustrating with boss movesets, because they are inconsistent because of this. You may learn the moves. BUT you'll NEVER skip the intro sequences, and because the game is too strict with dodging and hitboxes, you better get used to seeing them.
In conclusion. A nice little minimalist Metroid clone with a somewhat present story given to you via THE BEST FORMAT! TEXT BLOCKS IN TERMINALS!
Nice little bitmix music, no anger there.
Good exploration path, BUT too many one way walls, especially when you get lost anyway.
Go play Axiom Verge games before getting this one?
My recommendation for the dev is to make a Metroid Zero Mission style remake that organically flows into the next game? And have the environment tell you the story instead of terminals.
6.5/10
Good Game.
Hard game. Having a good time with it though.
Great metroidvania/metroidbrainia. A nice balance between abilities and progression. Sometimes you walk into a room, analyze it, and come to the conclusion that you found something you can't access without an ability you don't yet have, but then, after 5 minutes of walking around, you come back to said room and realize that with the right movement and combination of abilities you CAN solve the puzzle/get to where you need to go. The game heavily promotes and awards experimentation and exploration and I LOVE that.
An absolute steal for the price. It was made with a lot of love.
This is a bad game.
Music is terrible, sound is whatever, visuals are great. Controls are good, but nothing feels good to do. Combat is a chore, traversal and backtracking are terrible and everything is kind of a mess.
I don't like it
Fun
É bom, roda no melhor chip gráfico do mundo: sua imaginação.
A stellar metroidvania, but an outstanding "game with secrets" and brimming withpost-game content.
If you like games like Tunic, this is a MUST.
Very fun
good metroidvania game. good music. good visuals. good level design. decent combat.
I HATE THE PLATFORMING IN THIS GAME. The rest can be pretty enjoyable.
A tightly designed map, satisfying movement, and challenging bosses are about all anyone could ask from a metrodvania, and ESA delivers on all counts with plenty to spare. Brilliant game.
Eväkäs発見！
I've had to search 3 times now on whether a thing that happened (or 2 that didn't) was intended game behavior or not, and I might have spent 45 minutes total playing. If you want the achievement of running a steam game on one of those room filling '70s computers you've only ever seen in a grainy textbook photograph, then I guess you've found your software, but if you want to enjoy playing a game, there are countless other options on sale right now, that will run just fine on your 10+ year old potato.
Unfair enemies and strange shooting controls
Fun game overall but my god is it tedious. Traversal is such a pain that I just can't recommend, even though I really want to. Eventually you get a few items that completely trivialize traversal, but that's unfun in a whole different way.
station
スーパーメトロイドに魂を囚われた人の為のゲーム。
Game is kinda fun, but boss AI tend to get glitchy, Scrapping Unit missiles sometimes got missaligned so countering them was up to RNG, Jellifish boss could sometimes start the laser when at a wall, so it was guaranteed damage on you, but the greatest example is if you don't stay in the middle of Serpent 5 arena, or even if you stay, the boss sometimes stops it's circle pattern and just balls up on top of you, so you die to contact damage completelly breaking the fight, due to you being unable to dodge, and it's all random.
It's not about difficulty, it's just unfair due to bad code, and unfair ain't fun.
Still exploring and plataforming was really fun.
gg
I love this game. It's Metroid but challenging. The game doesn't really get going until the second powerup you find, the grappling hook, but then the exploration and platforming go crazy. That thing is just so versatile. I can't count how many times I've seen a room where everything was out of reach, thought to myself, "oh, I must be missing some upgrades. I guess I'm meant to come back here later", then thought a bit harder and realized I could actually get up with some creative grappling. Half the time I'm not sure if I'm sequence breaking or following an intended solve. But that's the beauty of this game. It makes you think and try things, and rewards you for doing so.
This is touted as one of the best metroidvanias out there for some reason. I've tried to enjoy this game despite its quirkiness/flaws, but the fact that you can get stuck and ruin your save by exploring the map "the wrong way" is just terrible game design.
This one sat in my backlog for quite some time after losing my progress when Apple decided to kill 32 bit support years ago. I picked it back up again recently and had a blast with it. It has some very challenging platforming segments, which I love. This is the type of game that will expose whether your controller is working for you or against you (latency, ergonomics, d-pad quality will matter here).
密特罗德式的心流体验，就是画面过于马赛克以至于有点影响阅读文字了
This is my favorite game of all time. As a normal metroidvania, it's very fun. The bosses were challenging, but fun to learn and figure out strategies for, and the movement is really fun and unique.
The way that all meshes with the obscure secrets and puzzles, though, adds so much more to the experience. For the most part, even the deepest secrets of this game are things you can find on your own, but they're obscure enough for it to feel very rewarding. The game's secrets are deeply intertwined with the gameplay, rather than merely being tacked on to hide lore like with a lot of games.
The game has many layers, and even when you feel like there couldn't possibly be another, those last few loose ends lead you to a whole new layer of content and secrets.
Einfach nur mies. Es macht zwar eigentlich Spaß die Welt zu erkunden, aber es kommt zu viel Frust auf. Die Bosse basieren einfach nur auf Zufall. Die Steuerung ist wie 1989 auf dem NES.
Довольно хардкорная метроидвания которая раскрывается слой за слоем новые локации, боссов и концовки, но без гайдов последние не открыть
One of the best metroidvanias out there, especially minding how old it is
I don't hate the game, far from it, but there's just too much that I don't like that keeps from ever enjoying ESA. Exploration is tedious, combat is far too simplistic, and the map design just baffles me. Why make the player trudge through so many areas and get so little out of it? It's not all bad though. The music for this game is absolutely great! If you really want a minimalist Metroidvania, Gato Roboto exists.
原教旨中的原教旨，简直是FC版超级密特罗德…
在一众类银河战士游戏中，暂不论AM2R那样的同人性质衍生作，Environmental Station Alpha绝对是对超银致敬得最为彻底的那部作品。从故事背景框架到生态环境的设计，每一处的场景复刻都偏执到了无以复加的地步，甚至连流沙和破碎的玻璃管也全盘搬过来了，从这个角度讲，ESA在实际意义上已经成为了一部狂热的M3同人作品。唯一遗憾的是它居然没有再现Brinstar蹬墙跳名场面！！（指望几个像素点的小人做出蹬墙跳的动作也是为难作者了……）
这里使用的“同人”字眼绝不是在否定ESA创作理念的独立性。银河战士所历来强调的元素，无非箱庭探索体验及与之相匹配的地图设计。ESA在沿用相似素材的基础上，打造了一个更加完善、紧凑与高度连通的环保站生态系统，探索流程的适度解密化会使人联想到老塞尔达的地下部分，能将地图设计做到这种程度的游戏已经不多见了。
既然选择致敬银河战士，Bug和破序当然也要一块致敬。破序方面我还没开始折腾，但考虑到ESA四通八达的小道与藏比属性，里头显然能做不少文章。Bug也是有不少的，让我印象比较深刻的是，在水中使用钩锁，假如卡的位置与角度合适，在荡出水面后有可能实现悬浮的效果，无重力空中自由移动，不一定实用，但确实好玩。
隐藏、全收集与剧情解读，这三项理应放在一块谈。Arvi Teikari试图借用密特罗德式的皮囊讲述一个大相径庭的、透露着神秘主义气息的外星故事，精彩绝伦的地图设计与邪恶而诡异的叙事氛围完全是相辅相成的。关于这座环保站的一切，那些隐匿于近乎宗教仪式下的线索，支离破碎地散布在无数疯狂并看似为藏而藏的隐藏房间中。一场结局从来不是终点，因为你永远无法想象这个丧心病狂的作者还会在更多的结局中塞下其他什么东西。我想说这种将所有信息彻底隐匿的表现手法是些许病态的，可我也乐在其中，想到作者的另两部代表作叫《Baba is you》和《Noita》，有这种体验也就不奇怪了。
ESA的缺点也无法被忽视，甚至于严重到我不会将它推荐给任何一个刚上手同类型作品的玩家。如果某个新人傻乎乎地选了“Normal”难度，他前期的探图体验会和坐牢没什么差别。机动性孱弱的主角与罹患多动症的小怪，多么完美的一对组合啊（还得考虑到游戏刻意为之的复古风味手感）! 尽管后期主角已经开无双横着走了，但这依旧不影响前期举步维艰的苦痛。我不太理解为什么作者只给了两个难度选项，而更难的那个是以“Normal”来命名的!? 真是复古的恶趣味……在这一方面品尝“硬核”不是我所期望的。
此前浏览Steam的商店，有一位玩家的评价让我感触颇深，记得大概是这样说的吧：“环保站阿尔法是一款处处学习着超银的游戏，它学习了超银的地图设计、学习了超银的故事背景，学到了很多，唯独没有学到超银的宽容。” 或许真的是这样的，超银带给玩家的是无处不在的隐形引导、纯粹教学性质的Boss战、满溢的资源、洒洒水的道中与X-Ray探图爽，每一处地图的绝妙打磨都在对探索型玩家给予极致的回馈，生怕你不能完全沉浸在酣畅淋漓的探索之中。任系游戏大抵一向宽容至此，为何后世的许多“复古”游戏反而变了味呢？既然学习银河战士鼓励玩家放心大胆去探索，这方面的恶意似乎也无必要了……这是最让我感到遗憾的地方。
It's very rare for me to definitely drop a game and never plan to play it again later. What makes a metroidvania work or not is the map design. It says a lot about the map of Environmental Station Alpha when the intended path to progress at one point involves passing through a damaging area, which players would naturally think they should ignore until they get an item or equipment to bypass the environmental damage. You don't get this piece of equipment until much later.
There are other problems in the game, too. Way too simplistic combat, unclear foreground and background at some points, uninspired enemy design, and so on. It's incomprehensible how this steaming pile of dogsh1t has an approval rating of 83% at the time I'm writing this review. I don't remember how much I paid for it, but even for free it would have been too expensive. Avoid even if on sale.
小而精，隐藏收集要素很丰富的类银河城佳作，通关仅仅是开始，后面还有外星语解谜以及诸多彩蛋，附带赠送苦痛之路。同样给人一种“麻雀虽小五脏俱全”的感觉，喜欢《动物井》探索收集的也许也会喜欢这个。战斗和跑图都有一点难度，主线流程不长，12h左右，但想全收集需花费更多时间。
存档点分配挺合理的，有传送功能。能力获取都强而有力，前期缺少血量和关键能力时候探图会比较难受，但流程越往后越舒服，瞬间充能枪和无限冲刺跳注定了后期是全图横着走的形态。
新人开坑建议玩easy模式，相较于normal模式血量容错会多更多（easy模式血上限最多有50点，而normal模式只有30）。而且本作没有难度通关成就，成就党大可不必折磨自己了（
全收集完成度最高有203%，但我感觉里边有些水分掺杂，实际真完成度应该是100+%。因为大后期达成某个隐藏结局后，游戏进度会给你固定在148%，哪怕之前进度有200%，再打一遍这个结局就会瞬间掉回148%。完成度会降低你敢信？？！！气死了，又要重打一遍。
值得一提的是成就完成率，乍眼一看都是稀有成就，会给人一种这游戏特别难的错觉，实际上是因为成就系统是前不久作者在2024年10月更新才加入的，在这之前玩过的玩家都没有计入。
缺点是像素字体的英文字母初见比较难辨认，全是大写还糊作一团（A、M、W、H），英文水平不够，读起来有点吃力；隐藏够多，但还是避免不了重复跑流程，苦痛之路终点不给传送点，想全收集必须要多跑几趟。
名作 BABA IS YOUを作り出したクリエイター様の超高難易度メトロイドヴァニアです
終盤 特殊な謎解きがあるため日本語訳や PS5 Switchへの移植が不可能な作品ですが素晴らしい完成度です
自力クリアするには英語力が必須なのですが、有志の方が創ってくださった日本語ガイドを使っても楽しめます
ラムラーナのようにマップ隅々に張り廻らされた難解な謎、回復手段の無いボス戦、メトロイドヴァニア伝統のシーケンスブレイクなど すべて上質に創られており挑戦しがいのあるゲームに飢えているかたに うってつけです
他の方のレビューにあるように最初のエンディングまでは普通のメトロイドヴァニア、そこからが本領発揮なので是非楽しんでみてください
还是非常不错的，通关只是开始，后续的外星文和知识锁设计的很棒，就是怪物设计是有点恶心了，后期精英怪扎堆比boss难多了，所以为了大家的体验推图还是开ce锁血吧，另外那个巨大鬼魂一定要完成一个结局成就之后再杀，不然全成就会非常麻烦，要另外开一个档额外花8个小时左右才能做这个成就。以及一个通过即死黄色刺刺的方法，就是收集四个泡泡任务的泡泡穿上的时候可以让黄色即死刺刺的伤害变成4点，这样50血就可以抗很多下了，好像集齐四个泡泡也可以获得这个buff，但是以防我记忆错误最好还是穿着泡泡跳苦痛之路吧。二周目由于泡泡已经收集完毕所以就没有这个buff，可以用ce把血量改到99999这样就不会死了，感谢NP8告诉我这招，不然本手残要被这个苦痛之路折磨死。
Великолепная игра.
-Из интересных аспектов могу выделить то, как игра хорошо использует жанр метроидвании. Конкретно бектрекинг не становится таким нудным, просто благодаря тому что места где ты уже был, могут измениться. Т.е. в них могут появиться новые враги или ловушки.
-Музыка и саунддизайн хороши. Такие полу-эмбиентовые треки прекрасно ложатся на игру.
-Визуал, я уверен, не многим придётся по вкусу, но в нём есть какой-то свой шарм.
-Больше всего понравилось обилие секретов в игре, и цепочки пазлов связанных с этими секретами. Даже банально пришлось расшифровывать инопланетный язык, составлять его алфавит на бумаге, чтобы понять что говорят некоторые нпс и таблички в постгейме. Но всё таки на моменте загадки с часами автору надо было уже как по мне притормозить, потому что когда у тебя загадка в секрете ведёт к ещё одной, а потом ещё и ещё и ещё, ты начинаешь понимать что вместо чего-то крутого, получаешь просто новые загадки. Мне конечно подобное нравится, но понимаю что многих подобное может отпугнуть, кто захочет пройти игру на 100% (200%). В общем концепт объединения метроидвании и секретов-загадок выглядит крайне неплохо, но всё же его нужно отполировать.
В целом, крайне рекомендую к ознакомлению.
Even though the game is fun, it is very tedious.
it's beautiful!!
I will state this was my first Metriodvania style game and a great introduction into the genre.
Environmental Station Alpha is a retro-inspired Metroidvania that nails atmosphere and world-building. Set in a haunting, abandoned space station, the game immediately impresses with its NES style pixel art and ambient soundtrack. There’s a real sense of mystery here that keeps you pushing forward, wanting to know what happened. Exploration is at the heart of the experience, and the map is cleverly interconnected with lots of hidden paths and upgrades. The boss battles can be surprisingly tough often requiring precise movement and pattern recognition.
This became one of my favorite video games and it might have ruined most of the other metroidvanias from me.
I like the memorability of the level design, which feels like mandatory for metroidvanias, but I am not aware does any other metroidvania pull it off. The boss design is ambitious and it still works great.
I got this tip for the sequel: The bosses are about mastery through quick iteration. The least best bosses were the ones with waiting (in the first phases) or with first phase that can be mastered too fast, which makes the first phase feel like waiting. So I hope I will see in the sequel first phases where I do something else than wait that the phase is over.
A clever, atmospheric reimagining that captures Metroid’s challenge with modern precision.
ESA is a minimum-pixel-size maximum-adventure metroidvania of its own kind. Tough difficulty of mastering the hookshot and other jump mechanisms in order to traverse the labrinth of the station and the asteroid it is attached to make this a gameplay masterpiece, comparable to a micro version of Super Metroid. It best compares to Animal Well and Cave Story, partially to Sundered (Eldritch Edition) and occasionally, when you found a new difficult section to master, to Celeste.
The great atmosphere of the lonely robot exploring the space station which for some reason is not responding to signals any more as well as the gameplay and upgrades you can find make Environmental Station Alpha a must-have in your metroidvania collection.
Half metroidvania, half decrypting elaborate cryptograms!
Exploration and pacing feel very satisfying, and finding the game's MANY secrets is no easy feat. I highly recommend avoiding looking up solutions or guides to get the full experience, which may involve bringing out a pencil and paper. After having played the developer's other games, I say with confidence that Hempuli really excels at creating fun puzzles, and ESA embraces that through its cast of bosses, platforming challenges, and riddles!
Banger game. Postgame secrets are a bit too La-Mulana, but excellent game overall.
太难了
Eh honestly not that fun
bien trop dur pour le peu de plaisir de jeu proposé. Ce jeu, en mode facile, est le plus difficile des métroidvania auxquels j'ai joué - bien plus dur qu'un hollow knight, qu'un blasphemous, qu'un enders lily, qu'un axiom verge, etc. Je n'ose imaginer la difficulté de ce jeu en mode normal. Passé un certain point, chaque salle est un vortex de merdes, où vous devez faire des plate-forme précises pendant qu'un tourbillon de merdier vous fonce dessus de tous côtés avec des patterns qui partent dans tous les sens histoire de pas être touchable avec votre arme merdique (arme merdique qui prend une demi-douzaine de tir à tuer la moindre merde avec le tir chargé).
Comme en plus la maniabilité est... approximative, il n'y a pas vraiment de plaisir de jeu. On ajoute que le jeu décourage l'exploration : le principe de l'exploration ici, c'est de faire des plate-formes super dures tout en esquivant le vortex de merdes, pour... ben rien. pour atteindre un endroit inutile où il n'y a pas d'objet.
Au final, passé le tiers du jeu, à plus aucun moment on ne s'amuse. On avance en mode pilote automatique en cherchant à peine à explorer, en tombant parfois sur un cul-de-sac complètement inutile les rares fois où l'on se motive à explorer, on pianote le bouton d'attaque comme un automate pour tuer le moindre monstre, on bourre les bosses en espérant juste que le mode facile suffise à les vaincre sans avoir à comprendre leurs attaques tellement on est désinvesti, on récupère des pouvoir bateaux sans intérêt (double saut, dash mal configuré... Bref les trucs présent dans 100% des métroïdvania sans aucune inspiration, en moins bien)
A beautiful distillation of everything wonderful about Metroid with a depth of secrets to uncover for the patient and curious.
Gameplay, artstyle, music, etc. are all great. Satisfying exploration. Light spoilers: Tasteful nods. Fun hints. Words are good. Right from the start, the game is as hard as you let it be. ÷÷
Good music, good level of difficulty so far (not too easy not too hard). Fun!
Очень хорошая метроидвания с невероятно замороченным двойным дном, о котором узнать самому - сравнимо с встречей с бывшим одноклассником в другой стране
без гайдов будет очень тяжело
@this project is incredibly underrated
@this thing is obviously from finland
@this product is really good at knocking from below the bottom
@this bike riding simulator has really good movement mechanics
@this ultrakill elder sibling has surprisingly good bossfights for its combat system
@this story has a lot to tell you
@this puzzle has a solution, to which the road is blue
@this game makes me have an environ-MENTAL BREAKDOWN
phenomenal experience.
i dislike restless spirit
Arvi Teikari, better known by his professional alias Hempuli Oy, hit it big in 2019 with his innovative puzzle game Baba Is You. It was a big critical and commercial darling, garnering praise for its novel concept and innovative puzzle design. This review is not about Baba Is You, so that is all I will say on the subject of a game I never played. What I find more interesting is when you delve back into an indie developer's sleeper hits before their mainstream popularity, such as rose-engine's Ascend versus their later hit Signalis. Hempuli Oy's Environmental Station Alpha is unabashedly a Super Metroid clone. From game design, aesthetics, and musical score, it takes unfathomable amounts of DNA from Nintendo's masterpiece. This isn't a bad thing; hell, if you're going to take inspiration from anywhere, it should be one of the greatest video games of all time, no?
Environmental Station Alpha does attempt to differentiate itself from its obvious inspirations, despite the core fundamentals being the same. The most obvious difference is the vastly more complicated movement system. Whereas Super Metroid's movement tech was rather rigid (in a way that was fun and intelligently designed), Environmental Station Alpha gives you near unlimited freedom with its hookshot and dash maneuvers, leading to a game where momentum is very much part of the puzzle, a la Valve's Portal. This leads to a real sense of ingenuity regarding Environmental Station Alpha's Metroidvania exploration; the sense of "could I do this? Maybe..." that a great Metroidvania nails is done tenfold here. "Could I make that jump? Is that possible?" is a very fun question to ask a game of this ilk, and it is exploited to its extremes here. The core fundamentals are solid, too, generally speaking. There's nothing too terribly innovative here, but it's all executed with clear knowledge of what the genre is supposed to be. The upgrades are all incredibly useful, such as the charge shot and triple shot, in the vein of Mega Man 4 or Contra. Environmental Station Alpha's more compact world map does make progression slightly faster than other games, but it means there's a greater emphasis on secrets, to mixed effect. On one hand, they're all generally intelligently placed, and you'll see none of the insane expectations that the original Metroid placed on the player. On the other hand, getting at least most of the weapon upgrades feels borderline mandatory for the final boss due to how overly drawn out it is (it isn't literally mandatory, but hell, do it without them and tell me how it feels).
This leads me to my one big complaint about Environmental Station Alpha's design: the boss fights are excessive, like Oy saw some of the legendary fights Metroidvanias have had over the years and said "hold my beer". To be explicitly clear, they are largely very good fights! While not entirely consistent, I would say the majority of head-honchos you'll face are both fun and challenging. The problem is that they all go on for multiple phases, up to four in the case of the final boss, and it can often be fatiguing if you're slamming your head against the wall repeatedly trying to beat them. I have zero issues with the game being difficult; I enjoy difficult games, but there's something different about a game being downright exhausting at points. I had a literal blister on my middle finger by the time I was done with the game from how tightly I was gripping my DualShock 4 in tension.
The game's presentation is remarkably on point, though. This is perhaps where it is most derivative, yet it is still ultimately effective at what Oy is attempting to achieve. The locations are all extremely typical: the unassuming opening area, the scalding lava area that damages the unshielded, the abandoned ship, the ancient ruins, and the techbases littered with defense systems. If you can say Brinstar, Norfair, and Tourian, you know what to expect here. The pixel art, though, is remarkably detailed given its extremely low-fi art direction. There's great use of light and shadow, and the value-shading lends much of these areas depth and dimension. There are minor depth perception issues with the trees, but they're infrequent at best. Roope Mäkinen's original score is my favorite part: it's not quite the masterclass of horrifying yet atmospheric melodic joys of Super Metroid, but its "music for an imaginary soundchip" is nonetheless compelling and atmospheric. The bass in particular, on tracks such as "Valiant", conveys a similar atmosphere to a Sega Genesis title or Spelunky. Other tracks like "Spinning Dandelion" are what the friend who gifted me this game would refer to as "ocean music", i.e., ethereal music in which you can nearly float through the strings and synths as if a great body of water. It is largely great stuff, even if I like to joke that the (good) boss theme sounds like someone defecating on the microphone.
Environmental Station Alpha is unabashedly a Super Metroid clone, but unlike a lot of Metroidvanias, it understands what makes the genre classics tick. It may be extremely derivative and frankly rather overcooked in the difficulty department, but its satisfying mechanics, presentation, score, and comprehensive post-game (of which I did not cover, as I did not play it) do allow it the credence of its own identity. Highly recommended to Metroidvania fans.
Environmental Station Alpha es el ejemplo perfecto del clásico "no juzgar a un libro por su portada" en este caso un videojuego. Por fuera parece ser un "metroidvania" sencillo y ligero, 5 horas de gameplay y a por el siguiente juego. Pero dista mucho de ser así. Detrás de su bonito pixelart y mecánicas de juego convencionales se esconde una intrincada experiencia llena de misterios por resolver.
Como recomendación, tener papel y lápiz a mano. Es de esos juegos en que tendrás que anotar códigos raros o lugares sospechosos en el mapa, especialmente en el post-game, ¡el cual es una locura!
Um jogo de Ação Aventura/Exploração muito inspirado em METROID
Não deixe os graficos te subestimar dê uma chance pra esse jogo se você gosta de Metroid , em meia hora você estará dominado pela curiosidade e o senso aventureiro de explorar a estação, cada power-up cada chefe te inspira a chegar no fim e descobrir o que esta acontecendo nesta estação abandonada.
Na minha Tierlist de Metroidvania's esse jogo fica no Rank A facilmente.
