Alisa

About Alisa

Alisa is a horror action adventure by the solo developer Casper Croes, released on Steam in October 2021. It sets out to recreate the survival horror games of the late 1990s: real pre-rendered backgrounds, fixed camera angles and low-polygon characters that look like they came off a PlayStation disc.

You play Alisa, an Elite Royal Agent in a fantasy world that echoes the 1920s. While chasing a wanted criminal she ends up inside an old Victorian mansion, and the house is not empty. Its inhabitants are materialized, mechanized humanoids that look like dolls, from thin green figures in the corridors to a spider-limbed thing in a top hat and ruff.

The store page describes classic survival horror play with an eccentric currency and item shop, dresses and armours that change Alisa's stats, weapon load-outs and a wide variety of enemies and places. It also warns of Soulsborne-like difficulty, so expect to die and learn rooms rather than stroll through them. The maker also promises a weird sense of humour alongside the horror.

On PlayStation, Xbox and Switch the game is sold as Alisa Developer's Cut, published by Top Hat Studios. A free demo is on Steam. Alisa suits players who grew up on the original Resident Evil and want something that looks and feels like it, and who do not mind a stiff challenge.

How to play Alisa

1. Start a new game and get used to the fixed camera angles: the view changes as Alisa walks from one area of a room to the next.
2. Search each room of the mansion for items, ammunition and the currency the game uses in its shop.
3. Fight or avoid the doll-like enemies; equip weapons from your load-out and watch your ammunition on screen.
4. Spend your currency on gear, and change Alisa's dress or armour to alter her stats.
5. Solve the locks and puzzles that bar the way, such as sliding block boxes, to open new parts of the house and find a way out.

Tips

• Try the free Steam demo first to see whether the fixed cameras and old-school controls suit you.
• The store warns of Soulsborne-like difficulty: treat each new room carefully and back off when you are low on health.
• Compare dresses and armour before a hard area; their stat changes matter.
• Look at the shop before you spend: weapons, ammunition and outfits all draw on the same currency.

Questions