In 2024, developers like Capcom are outdoing themselves to provide survival horror titles with the highest fidelity graphics and up-to-date gameplay through remakes like Resident Evil. Yet Alisa’s mastermind, Casper Croes, and trusty collaborator, ARISA, take us back in time… for all the right reasons.
Alisa is a great homage to the PS1-era survival horror subgenre through its campy story, low-polygon presentation, exceptionally eerie original score, and accurately outdated gameplay. It pays respects to the strange and clunky classics of Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark, although it takes things further by tweaking the formula to include weapon loadouts, dresses as equipment with actual stats, multiple endings depending on player choices, and more.
Yet, Alisa’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. Genre fans will immediately understand what Casper Croes is attempting with the game. However, newcomers may be scratching their heads as to why outdated gameplay and mechanics are still present in 2024. Indeed, Alisa can be an acquired taste if you are not a throwback horror fan. That’s because the gameplay jankiness is present here, alongside several other challenges, including disorienting fixed camera angles, iffy auto-aim implementation, and a reliance on accepting a campy story.
Ultimately, it comes down to a single question — Can Alisa make me believe it was released in 1996? I believe so, down to the authentic 4:3 aspect ratio and its black bars. However, once you are sucked into this world, you will take that for granted anyway.
Story
The plot is set during the 1920s. Alisa is an Elite Royal Agent chasing a criminal wanted for stealing “blueprints.” After a series of unfortunate and peculiar events, Alisa finds herself trapped in an old Victorian mansion inhabited by less-than-friendly mechanized dolls and clowns. What is the story of this place? Why is Alisa suddenly in a blue dress? Can she find a way out? Can you survive the Dollhouse?
The plot is engaging and has several twists and turns that are not apparent. I got genuinely surprised when one of my supposed “allies” turned on me. However, don’t expect gravitas or plot complexity here. The game features a five to seven-hour campy story with tongue-in-cheek comical reflections. In this sense, you will be less likely to be terrorized and more surprised and amused by it all. The voice acting reflects this campy tone. The actors are clearly committed and having a blast by awkwardly inflexing accents and the volume of their voice. Nonetheless, you have to be in on the fun to fully appreciate it. Unfamiliar players may find this strange and even annoying. However, this brings authenticity to the performances. It’s a blast from the past for sure, but a welcome one.
The mansion is excellently designed to provide that much-needed environmental eeriness through its pre-rendered backgrounds. There are a few different levels within it, ranging from a flooded basement to a cathedral, a funhouse, and my personal floral favorite horror setting — the gardens. Players will have fun (and get occasionally frustrated) navigating these levels as they battle murderous dolls around tight corners, solve fair but challenging puzzles, and collect keys and objects to progress the story. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that player choices mattered to how the ending played out. That’s because there are three endings and an alternative one, depending on how you choose to approach the gameplay. Fear not, you can always go back and experience them, because the Developer’s Cut includes a New Game+ mode alongside new dresses, enemies, and weapons to keep this dollhouse going.
If you are willing to embrace the silliness and fun of campy nostalgia, Alisa has you covered. If you like to take yourself more seriously, you may want to look away now.
Gameplay
Alisa plays like a retro survival horror, to a fault, that is. The frustrating tank controls are clearly intentional and used to great measure to instill claustrophobic combat. Aiming is also purposely challenging. Luckily, Casper Croes included a “modern” variation of the controls where traversing becomes easier. This is how I played the game. Nonetheless, aiming is still challenging and unreliable, and this is despite the inclusion of an auto-aim option for the Developer’s Cut. The auto-aim option is partially implemented. That’s because it will work the very first instance you press the button to target the enemy. However, the auto-aim no longer locks on as the enemy moves. This means you have to press the aim button again. This auto-aim option also punishes the player as dolls you defeat will drop fewer tooth-wheels, which is the in-game currency. And a word of caution — starting the game with auto-aim on will affect the ending you receive.
Aiming is essential in Alisa. You simply cannot run and gun. Rather, you will run, carefully adjust your aim, run again, adjust your aim again, then fire at the enemy a few times. You will be challenged, but not just by the retro gameplay. The great enemy variety present in the game will also keep you on your toes. There are spider-like dolls, large baby dolls, tall ballerina dolls, and my favorite — the lady in the black dress that randomly stalks you and is invincible (similar to the Nemesis from Resident Evil 3). All of these have a specific strategy for dealing with them, which almost always includes being patient and outmaneuvering the enemy. To this, you can add the ammo management system to round-out the challenge that this gameplay poses. Ammo is often limited and you can buy more of this using the tooth-wheels currency. However, this also means you must manage your ammo, and sometimes that includes avoiding unnecessary fights.
The movement and aiming are highly dependent on the fixed camera angles. For the most part, these are well-chosen to maximize maneuvering and fights. Nonetheless, the camera becomes more of a nuisance where claustrophobic battles ensue, and camera positioning prioritizes dramatic moments over functionality. This involves quick camera cuts that temporarily disturbs player orientation and controls. Due to their frequency, the awkward fixed camera angles can feel like another enemy Alisa has to brave.
Yet, the game does not simply retread the classics. Alisa also adds weapon loadouts, dresses with stats that can provide much-needed buffs, and engaging puzzles. There is also a melee component to the combat where Alisa can equip swords and katanas for close-range damage, besides carrying guns like the pistol, blunderbuss, Tommy gun, and more. Various dresses provide offensive, defensive, movement, and gun reload buffs. The puzzles are fair and sometimes challenging. These include picking up keys, moving objects, and cog and tile puzzles. They provide a much-needed breather from the action. In this sense, Alisa offers more variety and choice than expected, encouraging further experimentation over multiple New Game+ playthroughs.
Simply put, the gameplay of Alisa is like returning home after several years and having your favorite meal. You will still like it and be transported back in time as nostalgia and the good old days will suddenly hit you.
Presentation
One word describes the presentation of Alisa — “authentic.” The game is a masterclass of retro presentation done outstandingly right. The low-polygon models and pre-rendered backgrounds take us back to the late 1990s. The presentation here is very effective at creating the eerie atmosphere and the sense of dread and loneliness that Alisa is feeling. You will wander dimly lit corridors and basements as well as brightly lit cathedral halls and colorful funhouse environments. Yet that feeling of throwback survival horror cannot be shaken. The enemy designs contribute to this as well. The enemies are not grotesque, although they share an unnerving depiction of inorganic body horror. As you make your way through the story, these designs get even more twisted. It is clear Casper Croes gave these designs the proper attention as they don’t seem out of place within the story or environment.
The sound design complements the visuals. The reverberating steps, the occasional ghost notes, and the muted noises make you doubt Alisa’s sanity. The original score by ARISA is masterful. It perfectly engulfs the experience with unsettling overtones and catchy motifs. I caught myself humming some of these unwillingly throughout my day.
As for the Switch version, the game runs great in handheld and docked. It is generally very polished, and I did not encounter any game-breaking issues or major bugs. However, Alisa does not use the rumble capabilities of the Switch to provide an additional layer of player interactivity. I think this is a missed opportunity, especially as Alisa shoots guns, fights, and receives damage from enemies.
Summary
Alisa Developer’s Cut is a tribute to a bygone era of survival horror classics like Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark. Casper Croes and company deliver a great throwback with Alisa through its campy story, low-polygon presentation, exceptionally eerie original score, and retro gameplay. However, its greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. That’s because the gameplay jankiness is still present for accuracy reasons, alongside several smaller challenges, including disorienting fixed camera angles, iffy auto-aim implementation, and a reliance on accepting a campy story.
Alisa asks its audience to believe in that PS1-era nostalgia, with its good and bad. It is true, however, that newcomers may be surprised or puzzled by this game, to some extent. With that said, I think everyone should give Alisa a try and answer that question for themselves.
Alisa Developer’s Cut is available now on the Switch, PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, and Xbox One. It can be purchased on the Nintendo eShop.
The Review
Great
