If I'd looked into The Alters when the opportunity to review it landed in my inbox, I wouldn't have taken it on. I assumed it was a much shorter game than it was. Luckily, it's the best game I've reviewed all year, with an inventive and introspective sci-fi story. But that's not why passing it by would have been a blunder. It's because the lesson it taught me has completely changed the way I play video games.
Who among us can hold their hand on their heart and say, honestly, that they've never reloaded a save file because something didn't go their way? Never retried an unsuccessful pickpocket in Skyrim. Never reverted to an older save when a guard spotted them in Dishonored, or they lost a battle in Total War. I know I certainly can't.
