Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Alternate Reality: The City delivers a deep first-person RPG experience rooted in classic mechanics. You build your character from the ground up, allocating points to attributes like Strength, Agility, and Intelligence, then watch as those stats sway every encounter. Gaining experience feels meaningful: each level unlocks new skills, unlocks access to tougher shops or quests, and opens further reaches of the city’s sprawling districts.

What sets the gameplay apart is its moral evaluation system. Every action—whether you help an injured passerby, pickpocket a merchant, or negotiate a bribe—pushes your alignment toward good or evil. As your reputation shifts, NPCs greet you differently, prices in shops fluctuate, and even the ambient music subtly changes, reinforcing the sense that your choices reverberate throughout the environment.

Combat encounters are handled in a turn-based mode that’s deceptively simple at first glance. Rather than simply swinging weapons, you can attempt to charm or trick opponents, leveraging dialogue trees as strategically as you wield swords or staves. If brawling isn’t your style, you might bribe a guard to look the other way or use a skilful distraction to slip past a dangerous gang, lending each playthrough a fresh tactical layer.

Graphics

For a game released in the mid-80s, Alternate Reality: The City’s visuals remain strikingly atmospheric. The cityscape is rendered in moody, often muted tones that hint at an otherworldly twilight. Buildings have a slightly blocky, pixel-style charm, yet the play of light and shadow across cobblestone streets conveys a tangible sense of place.

Character portraits and shop icons carry a surprising amount of detail given the era’s hardware constraints. Townsfolk display subtle facial expressions when you interact with them, and weapons and armor each have distinctive sprites so you can instantly recognize gear by look alone. Though you won’t mistake this for modern 3D, the painterly aesthetic adds personality that helps you forgive technical limitations.

Audio design ties the visuals together. Ambient city noises—distant conversations, the clatter of hooves on stone, dripping water in dark alleys—immerse you in a living environment. Simple melodic cues accompany key events, changing tone if you become notorious or saintly. While the soundtrack loops occasionally, it reinforces mood better than many contemporaries.

Story

The narrative thrust of Alternate Reality: The City is compelling in its simplicity: you awaken in a place that feels oddly familiar yet utterly alien, cast there by mysterious abductors. Clues to your captors’ identity are scattered throughout the city, hidden in cryptic journal entries, whispered rumors, and the notes you piece together from NPCs.

Rather than funnel you through a linear plot, the game lets you forge your own path. You might dive directly into a conspiracy by infiltrating a secret society, or take on menial jobs—hauling crates for a warehouse or delivering messages—to hone skills and build contacts. Every decision branches the storyline, giving you a real stake in determining how events unfold.

The moral alignment system doesn’t just affect combat and dialogue; it reshapes narrative arcs. A benevolent character might rally citizens to your cause, unlocking hidden alliances, whereas an evil legend could turn the city’s underworld into your willing army. Multiple endings and side-quest permutations encourage replay, each run promising new reveals about your alien captors and the city’s hidden history.

Overall Experience

Alternate Reality: The City remains a landmark title for players craving rich RPG depth over cinematic polish. Exploration is richly rewarded: tucked-away vendors sell rare spells, underground tunnels harbor forgotten artifacts, and side characters spin mini-quests that flesh out the city’s lore. The world feels coherent and reactive, drawing you in for hours of investigation and discovery.

This is a game for seasoned role-players who appreciate strategic choice and moral nuance. It requires patience—managing resources, experimenting with dialogue tactics, and mapping every district can feel daunting. Yet that very complexity becomes its reward, offering a sense of ownership over your unique story and character progression.

For anyone building a retro RPG collection or seeking the roots of modern moral-choice systems, Alternate Reality: The City is a must-explore. Its combination of turn-based tactics, non-linear storyline, and adaptive world response still resonates today, inviting players to lose themselves in a city where every action changes the course of your adventure.

Retro Replay Score

7.3/10