My personal experience about the alters (no spoilers)
I saw this game in a recommendation youtube video last year by a YouTuber whose gaming opinions I trust. I wasn't overly excited, but the story and the YouTuber's strong recommendation made me add it to my list. Since I'm in the MENA region, the price seemed quite reasonable. I already had a soft spot for 11-bit Studios games because of Frostpunk. Their Turkish localization of their games was a bonus. But I wasn't a huge, fanatical 11-bit Studios fan, so I couldn't predict how the game would be. I even thought it was an RPG, meaning I could create any character I wanted, not just Jan.
I didn't go into the game with high expectations, but I was seriously surprised by the graphics. Because of the good price and the fact that 11-bit Studios isn't a big company like Rockstar, I thought the graphics wouldn't be great, but they looked really good. Then I moved on to the story section, and seeing how Jan life story was told with visuals similar to Disco Elysium, using DNA code, made me warm up to it. Because I loved finishing Disco Elysium. Honestly, when you factor in the base-building mechanics and the depth of the science fiction story, I didn't stop until I finished it. I felt like I was living my own life while dealing with Jan. I saw the scientist Jan as a close friend when I sought his advice. The game pulled me in.
I really don't understand why this game didn't win an award at the Game Awards in 2025. Forget the Best Sim Strategy award; for me, it was one of the top 3 games of last year. And I'm not someone who only plays 5-10 games a year. In my Steam retrospective, I played 152 games last year and bought over 100 games in total. The Alters stood out from all those games.
Maybe some of you will think I'm exaggerating, but I'm being completely honest. For me, the two best games of last year were The Alters and Kingdom Come Deliverance 2. For me, Expedition is behind those two. I advice the game all my friends. Now I'm eagerly awaiting the DLC.