Rebel Transmute is a sci-fi adventure presented as a modern Metroidvania, where Moon Mikono must discover her mother’s fate on Tera 6. Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if it’s worth getting for yourself!
Rebel Transmute Review Overview
What is Rebel Transmute?
Rebel Transmute is an indie 2D Metroidvania set to a sci-fi mystery story. You play as Moon Mikono, whose mother was residing on the research planet of Terra 6 when a great disaster struck its world. Although things look bleak, the fate of her mother remmains unconfirmed. Moon, a space scrapper, will stop at nothing to figure out her mother’s whereabouts. She ventures to Terra 6, crash-landing her ship in the process. She must now find her way through the dilapidated living planet and complete her search.
Rebel Transmute features:
⚫︎ Smooth and responsive controls for tight and precise 2D platforming
⚫︎ Different movement abilities pivotal to overcoming various obstacles in the world
⚫︎ 48 different augments/upgrades that change the way you play the game
⚫︎ Over 80 unique enemies and 10 challenging bosses to defeat!
⚫︎ Solid story with great fleshed-out side characters
⚫︎ A refined and classic hand-painted pixel art style
⚫︎ Solemn and bombastic soundtrack fit for various scenarios
For more gameplay details, read everything we know about Rebel Transmute's gameplay and story.
 Steam |
$19.99 |
 Xbox |
|
 Switch |
Rebel Transmute Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Smooth, Buttery, and Satisfying Controls Refined Pixel Art Great Ambience Impressively Polished |
Plays Too Safe as a Metroidvania Each Region Only Has One Continuous Music |
Rebel Transmute Overall - 82/100
Rebel Transmute is a definitive take of a classic Metroidvania with impressive levels of polish and care. From its carefully penned story, to its responsive controls that lends itself to achieving satisfying gameplay, classic pixel art aesthetics, and beautifully-apt soundtrack, Rebel Transmute is a must-play for all fans and newcomers to the genre.
Rebel Transmute Story - 8/10
Rebel Transmute tells a sci-fi mystery adventure story of a daughter seeking his mother’s whereabouts after a great disaster struck. The overall writing is good, with some witty and clever dialogue here, and funny but deprecating ones there. You would think the main shine would be on the relationship between the two, but the highlight are the side characters our protagonist Moon meets throughout her adventures.
Rebel Transmute Gameplay - 9/10
Rebel Transmute’s gameplay is very smooth and concise, allowing for very responsive movement and controls in and out of combat. Platforming is very tight and challenging, where accomplishing the most basic feats feels satisfying. The combat is well-balanced, with a good variety of enemies present to keep you on your toes throughout the game. Most importantly, you have a wide arsenal of augments to switch in and out to fit any kind of playstyle available.
Rebel Transmute Visuals - 8/10
The art in Rebel Transmute is by no means grand, intricate, or revolutionary. Rather, it’s all simple, basic, and rudimentary to the point it could be seen as a game from the 90s. However, that’s not to its detriment, as the aesthetics still feel modern enough to be distinguished as a current-day take of the visual formula. The art direction does well with all of its character portraits and sprites, the enemy designs, the environmental art, and the various visual effects strewn across the game.
Rebel Transmute Audio - 8/10
Rebel Transmute does a great job with its soundtrack where it manages to instill the appropriate atmosphere for each of its specific events. From the haunting but seemingly solemn echoes as you first start exploring the planet, to the adrenaline-rushing score as you encounter a boss. Not only in the soundtrack, but the sound design and effects are also precise, satisfying, and very prevalent throughout, where there is never a dull or ‘mute’ moment.
Rebel Transmute Value for Money - 8/10
Rebel Transmute sits at a respectable $19.99, and there is certainly no arguing that the game is very much worth the price. From its story, gameplay, visuals, and audio, all are solid and make for a great Metroidvania. The only reason why this isn’t a perfect score is due to how it feels like it plays too safe for the genre. It doesn’t offer anything astoundingly memorable or unique, just that it’s a very solid title derived from the formula.
Rebel Transmute Review: Stop Rebelling and Play This Metroidvania
Pros of Rebel Transmute
| Things Rebel Transmute Got Right |
|---|
|
Smooth, Buttery, and Satisfying Controls Refined Pixel Art Great Ambience Impressively Polished |
Smooth, Buttery, and Satisfying Controls
The first few seconds of gaining control over the character, I could immediately feel how great the controls felt. Running, jumping, and sliding felt very responsive and tight, where the character doesn’t do any other ‘filler’ actions or unnecessary clunky-ness. These precise core mechanics lend themselves to a good foundation of Rebel Transmute’s platforming and combat gameplay. As seen from the video above, utilizing and navigating the regenerating bubbles with precise movement from the established controls allowed me to platform up almost flawlessly(after a few tries off-camera). It’s a brief and simple thing, but was very satisfying to achieve, and it’s all thanks to the core controls.
Besides the platforming, it’s also useful in combat, where avoiding enemy attacks comes in handy with responsive jumping and attacking, as seen in the video above. Gracefully dodging by jumping, and sliding across the battlefield overall feels instinctive in Rebel Transmute.
Refined Pixel Art
Rebel Transmute has a very good pixel art aesthetic to it, wholly inspired by the classic Metroidvanias of old. The environments are basic but get the job done; the enemy designs are distinctive, with their attacks always visibly being telegraphed(which is a very appreciated plus!); the character sprites and portraits look very clean; and the visual effects are all bright and colorful. There is nothing grandiose with Rebel Transmute art, but each aspect works well with each other accordingly and as a whole gets their jobs done.
Great Ambience
Rebel Transmute does a fine job of setting its atmosphere of a strange alien LIVING planet, where the soundtrack hauntingly–but solemnly- rings off as soon as you crash land. It continues throughout your journey throughout, never letting go of that aura of mystique it wants to instill.
That is, until you’re met with either a room where several alien lifeforms spawn in quick succession or a grand boss battle. In these times of action, the score picks up and energizes you into the fight you have found yourself in. Rebel Transmute carefully chooses where and when the music should pick up, and they hit the mark appropriately almost always throughout the game.
Impressively Polished
Rebel Transmute, being a solo developer project, is impressively polished to its core. From the gameplay, to the map design, to the art, to the music, and to the story, all seem to be refined and polished to an extent that unimaginably cannot be from a single person. And yet, Evan Leibman succeeds in pouring love and care into this excellent game that it’s a very impressive sight to see. This feat, even if it’s ‘just’ another pixel-art Metroidvania, must be commended and praised.
Cons of Rebel Transmute
| Things Rebel Transmute Can Improve |
|---|
|
Plays Too Safe as a Metroidvania Each Region Only Has One Continuous Music |
Plays Too Safe as a Metroidvania
Rebel Transmute is no doubt very polished and refined for its genre, but it feels it plays too safe into the well-worn formula, only achieving to be a very good title instead of trying to innovate. Though it shouldn’t even be a responsibility for anyone creating any game from any genre to be revolutionary or to usher in the new ‘thing,’ it feels like Rebel Transmute lacks originality in its gameplay. The various movement and traversal skills can be excused, as all 2D platformers must have their Double Jump, Dash, Wall Climb etc., upgrades. The augment system as well is a modern take on equipping skills and such found in classic to modern Metroidvanias. However, some of the platforming, the exploration, the monster rushes, and the boss fights all feel too familiar, as very VERY inspired by previous games.
Going through the game, I never really felt ‘mind-blown’ or anything of the sort, but was rather feeling a sense of nostalgia and some familiarity from Castlevania, Metroid, and more recently Hollow Knight. No doubt these are the main cornerstones of the genre, and games are allowed to be inspired and have their own renditions, but it somewhat feels too familiar and safe.
Nevertheless, Rebel Transmute is still a good game– just that it feels too boxed in as a Metroidvania, doesn’t really try or do anything new, and is content with being a "just a good one." This is a very nitpicky negative, as it’s not exactly the fault of the game, but the limited capabilities of the developer.
Each Region Only Has One Continuous Music
Although it was previously mentioned that Rebel Transmute had a great atmosphere through the ambience it instills from its music, it must be said that there isn’t much variance in said music. For each region, there will be one default roaming music, one monster rush music, and then one boss music. The default roaming music will be what players will hear most of the time, and although they ARE well-composed and appropriately set the tone, when exploring at length it becomes too tiring listening to the same track on loop.
A little variance would’ve been appreciated to spice things up here and there. However, I must again still acknowledge that the soundtrack is still great and apt for all of their uses. The only downside is that it feels like the game could’ve used more of that great quality balanced throughout.
Is Rebel Transmute Worth It?
Yes, It’s A Very Solid Game
Rebel Transmute is a very solid game all throughout. All its facets, from the well-written story with fun side characters, satisfying controls that allow for great responsive gameplay, to the simple but fascinating pixel art, and to the apt and immersive music that provides an appropriate ambience. The game seems to be a perfect modern rendition of the classic Metroidvania.
However, that’s pretty much it has all to offer: being a great solid Metroidvania title. Fans of the genre will find tons to enjoy and be familiar with in Rebel Transmute, while those new will experience a solid entry to the formula, filled with various upgrades, expansive map, backtracking, platforming, and plenty of bosses.
Rebel Transmute FAQ
How do I Get More Health in Rebel Transmute?
To upgrade your health and be able to withstand more punishment, you must collect three Living Alloys scattered across the map, or buy some of them from Scavenger Clang’s shop. Once you have collected three fragments, you will gain one more health point.
How to Increase Augment Capacity in Rebel Transmute?
Augment capacity can be increased by acquiring power cells either from the map, or as a reward from Dr. Inaya as you retrieve a certain amount of former personnel’s consciousness from the pods you can interact with across the map.
How to Put Markers on the Map in Rebel Transmute?
You must first find the map merchant Mercal in the Quarry, where they will sell various-colored map markers for a relatively cheap price.
What are Rebel Transmute‘s System Requirements
| System Specs | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows Vista+ (x86/x64) | Windows 10+ |
| Processor | Dual Core, 1.5 GHZ | Quad Core, 2.0 GHZ |
| Memory | 4GB RAM | 8 GB RAM |
| Graphics | 1GB VRAM | 2GB VRAM |
| Direct X Version | Version 9.0 | Version 11 |
| Storage | 200 MB available space | |
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Rebel Transmute Product Information
 | |
| Title | REBEL TRANSMUTE |
|---|---|
| Release Date | March 11, 2024(PC), March 14 (Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch) |
| Developer | Evan Tor Games |
| Publisher | JanduSoft |
| Supported Platforms | PC(Steam), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch |
| Genre | Metroidvania, Action, Adventure |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| Rating | ESRB T |
| Official Website | Rebel Transmute Official Website |
