A mixture of exciting and unique with the sapped and exhausted—in the indie gaming scene this is a story as familiar as they come. Rebel Transmute is another in the line of successes that could have been so much more but finished tied down by the preconceptions of the genre they chose to inhabit. It is the definitive uncritical metroidvania.
My intent here is not to downplay the elements that make up the genre. The formula of free exploration, combat, and ability unlocks consistently produces hits, that is without question. Yet those are not the only commonalities that people think of when it comes to metroidvanias, are they? What about the map, the kinds of abilities, the visual style?
Rebel Transmute seems to take from the common perception of the genre in spades without much of a second thought. Everything mentioned above (and more) feels like a collection of necessary evils, an unwavering dedication to the genre dragging down what is an otherwise clever and enjoyable collection of mechanics and ideas. These thankfully prevail, making for an enjoyable, though bumpy ride.
Whatever complaints I may have down the line, it is important to note how excellent the core mechanics of Rebel Transmute are. It is obvious from the get-go that the game wants the player to think about the way they move, starting them out with a slide they can jump out of to gain distance and speed at the cost of height. An early movement option like that goes a long way as Rebel Transmute unravels a satisfyingly rich and complex movement system with each new upgrade.
Many of them interact in unexpected ways, ones not always explained through any pop-up or the surrounding level design due to the nonlinear nature of metroidvanias. Here, already, an issue that arose from the nature of Rebel Transmute pops up. While discovering interactions through gameplay is an aspect that enhanced my experience, it will undoubtedly leave many frustrated. This, however, is just the tip of the iceberg.
Undoubtedly the most frustrating design aspect is the lack of communication with the player on important things. I will not bemoan Rebel Transmute for some of its choices, be that the vagueness that encourages experimentation or even its art style, but there are undoubtedly gaps here that only exist because the game refuses to recognize that its issues stem from the way its systems interact with genre standards.
Rebel Transmute’s audiovisuals do a very poor job of expressing ideas, communicating the path forward, drawing the player’s attention and even translating the purpose of any given object. Sometimes things that allowed me to progress were so tiny that upon my first time seeing them I had assumed they were part of the background. Other times I may have completely ignored a path because I was taught that my new ability only works on pink balls and enemies, but turns out it also works on blue squares!
The map does little to help alleviate this, with only the missable, colored markers available at a shop not long into Rebel Transmute. They do not help because, at best, you can only mark a “something.” You do not know what is required to interact with it, so you may keep coming back to see whether your new ability can. If it does not, you just wasted a few minutes on a useless trip, because in metroidvanias fast travel is only available at specific spots. Obviously.
But how were you supposed to know what interacts with what? Not like objects related to abilities are ever color-coded. There is nothing to indicate connections. Pink crystal (not to be confused with the pink ball which requires a completely different ability) in your way? Oh, you know, just use an unexplained combination of four different mechanics that you may or may not stumble upon on your own, and an item only used in a puzzle once. You did not bring the item? Oh, sorry, you need to go back to the respawn station to equip it. That is what metroidvanias do. Clearly.
Realistically, what is stopping Rebel Transmute from providing the player with easier access to teleportation or equipment changing? Is the game not all about experimentation with vaguely explained mechanics after all? Is the minimal currency penalty supposed to detract me from intentional deaths that teleport me back? It does not, said currency is overabundant, without much to spend it on. I also never felt like all the backtracking helped me familiarize myself with my surroundings, because Rebel Transmute lacks strong visuals when it comes to its areas.
Aside from a general theme (fire, nature, sci-fi), it never feels like Rebel Transmute has much of an identity that isn’t mechanical. Except for one or two screens, they never have any unique touches. It never feels like they tell any meaningful story or even exist in the same world. They are fun to traverse, with many distinctive platforming challenges, but in all the mess of designs and new options, it is near impossible to remember when they can be traversed.
Combat also suffers due to the audiovisuals. Player’s actions lack weight and bosses tend to have short, minimalistic tells such as small ground particles shaking. I can only imagine how hard they are to see on other screens, and how frustrating that may be. The sound effects are also all incredibly weak and consistently get lost in the action. Hitting things and getting hit is sometimes non-noticeable, as the player’s short-range space gun hits more like a starter pistol rather than the big shotgun it seems to be. You can pogo using it, so it should probably sound a lot stronger than a slight “pew.”
Which, again, why is the gun so short range? I can only assume that it is because other metroidvanias are usually focused on melee. Whenever I ask myself why a certain thing exists, the answer typically seems to be “because it is a metroidvania” rather than “it fits this game.” Some stellar things about it stem from genre conventions, and stuff like the weak visuals could work should the game work around that with something like an increased focus on ease of access, but it instead chooses to be overly faithful to a formula that does it no favors.
The basic, unintrusive story does little to build up interest, so it is ultimately all up to the smooth movement, clever secrets, and the player’s sheer goodwill to carry the experience. There is plenty here to satisfy any fan of the genre for a couple of days, with a refreshing focus on experimentation, but the number of elements ripped from other games, yet executed in a worse manner, might also throw veterans off.
Rebel Transmute has an interesting enough collection of mechanics that I can safely say I enjoyed my 20 hours with it, but it is the kind of indie success that feels a bit unsatisfying when all is said and done (part of it is the weak and sudden ending). A lot of it feels like trying to fit a circle into a triangle hole when, with a focus on its own identity, it could have been a whole lot more.
Mateusz played Rebel Transmute on PC with a review code.
