ESA is a criminally underrated Metroidvania packed full of great gameplay and secrets to find.

ESA starts out as a relatively simple Metroid-like game with challenging but fair bosses, and having to persevere treks between them and acquiring a selection of items. But beyond the game's first ending and acquiring peak player mobility, it does a bait-and-switch into something vaguely La-Mulana; the gameplay largely shifts to solving the station's cryptic and esoteric mysteries. And there are many of them.

While not entirely unexpected today (as the developer had especially worked Baba Is You and Noita later), it's worth mentioning because those effectively become ESA's meat and bones on the grand scale, and the real reason why anyone would want to play it. Conversely, those interested only in the Metroidvania part will probably be left unsatisfied. ESA's mysteries can be legitimately compelling at times and feel rewarding in themselves, but it also involves going back-and-forth all over the game map a ton regardless of the player's excellent movement by that point, scouring it for every fake wall and feature that may or may not be relevant to the current mystery you're trying to solve. Text hints may be minimal, easy to overlook or miss with no logbook reference feature, or involves some deciphering on your part.

It is still a well-put together game that stands out from the sub-genre because of this. Its transformation into a cluster♥♥♥♥ of cryptography is simply not for every Metroidvania fan, be it blind or even with help - ESA will ask for a lot of patience.

Completing this game: this is a pretty standard metroidvania, very classic.
100% this game: ▶☈◿☉☉☋☤☦☷☷☙☕

good

This game is fantastic. While sometimes figuring out what to do next can be a bit obtuse, exploration is amazing. The bosses are quite difficult and pose some unique concepts. Presentation is great. The game is beautiful audio, video, and gameplay-wise. This is one of the all time best Metroidvanias in my eyes; Right up there with Hollow Knight, AM2R, and Animal Well.

P.S. I have yet to complete the post game. It's super esoteric. I would love to complete it one day, but it's very difficult and obtuse. Way more so than the main campaign. But, rest assured, this game, despite its short playtime to get to the credits, has way more hours to get all the collectibles and find all the secrets.

I give this game a rank B+ (80-85%)
Cool game - definitely worth a try!
See my profile for more details about my reviews.

Although I think Environmental Station Alpha is a great little game that deserves almost 85% in rating, I hesitated giving this game a A-, as I believe there are some flaws here and there that prevent it from being better than it is.
This is probably due to some factors like being developed by one guy, wanting to do a bit too many things in a tiny game, etc.
But let's be real: it is still a really cool game! I was really surprised by ESA, but now that I know this is the work from Teikari, the man behind the amazing Baba Is You, I understand why it hooked me after only a few minutes. Despite being a Metroidvania, a genre that I really enjoy, if ESA had been developed by someone else with less talent and skill, I probably would have given up quickly: 4:3 sized window, fat pixels game, basic setting and gameplay... It actually even has some flaws in my opinion, like some weird and quirky things in the level design: sometimes it is very confusing to know as to where you should go next, or even how. Some things that look like a secret, or a fluke in your progression, end up being the mandatory path... The overall thing feels very indie, in the sense of a low budget, cheap looking piece of a game... if looked at quickly. So yeah I could have tested it for 30 minutes and given it a C for good effort, if it was another game. But after 10 minutes I quickly noticed all the remarkable traits of Teikari and his style: very deep and rich pixel art, eerie and mesmerizing atmosphere and mood, serious and more-worked-than-it-looks dialogues and story plot, many bosses dialogues, amazing music (not him, fair enough, but he chose the right composer!), a gameplay that, if not innovative, feels VERY right and good in your hands - the platformer side of it has nothing to envy from games like Hollow Knight etc. And finally, if you enjoy doing some back and forth in metroidvania games, looking for the next upgrade that will unlock some new parts, this game is all about that. Same if you love looking for secrets ala Faze and the like, you will love this one, it is full of stuff to discover also.

All in all, I doubt Environmental Station Alpha will be remembered as a big game, it is quite indie and underground, but in that very specific, underground genre, it is for sure one of the best, exactly like Cave Story or The Messenger have been in the past. I really recommend you try if you are interested to discover that genre, and if you are a fan of Metroidvania you should do it for sure!

Hem & Watch is live on Twitch[www.twitch.tv]
Reviews on Steam
Chat on Discord[discord.gg]

The postgame and secrets in this game are some of the best I've ever played

Very interesting game. I loved the visual design, as even though it sometimes makes hazards a little hard to distinguish, every location was distinct and beautiful. The combat and movement are very elegant, especially the grappling mechanic. However, partway through the game becomes extremely unforgiving and almost comically punishing. After beating some of the toughest bosses I almost never felt relief, but dread, as the game had taught me that I was never safe until I found a save point, and if I slipped up it would not hesitate to make me fight that boss again. I think the intention (aside from building that sense of dread) was to force players to improve at certain aspects of the game, and it eventually worked on me, but it was tough to find motivation to continue and I suspect many may drop it because of this.

I may have finished the game, but I suspect I'm nowhere near done. A few secrets remain on the map for me, and I have heard they quickly multiply to the point that the game completely shifts from metroidvania to puzzle game (like Fez and Tunic). Having not reached this part yet, I can still pretty confidently say this is a very fun and intriguing game for those not looking for that sort of experience, but it easily has the biggest difficulty curve of any MV I have played yet.

hor hor hor hor hor hor hor hor hor hor hor
good game excellent metroidvania

One of the best games of all time. If you like a challenge, just beat the game (even with all health upgrades it's pretty hard to beat the final boss)

If you like platforming, then go for the 100% ending (the spike maze is really cool)

If you like a puzzle, then this game is a must play. there are many things that are super cool that you'll need to do, but the ultimate final NG+ ending is worth it. it could even be called the good ending... kinda

If you're looking for a good ending, you shouldn't play this game, as it doesn't have one.

If you are looking for a horrifying decent into madness, go for 200% on the hard mode (hint, hold right when selecting an empty save file)