Monsters are running rampant through the lab and you as a janitor are only armed with a mop… and a transmogrify gun that turns monsters into puzzle solutions. Transmogrify is a sci-fi puzzle platformer by Odyssey Entertainment, where you transform alien creatures into platforms and other useful tools that will allow you to escape the infested facility.

One small puzzle for a slime...

The transmogrify gun is rather a device than a weapon. You cannot kill the monsters, only transform them into an object for a limited time. In the first few levels, there will be mostly slimes that transform into a cube, which will allow you to reach higher places or activate pressure switches to open some doors. The slimes move slowly along a set path so you have all the time in the world to think about the puzzle solutions. The only thing you have to avoid is touching the slimes directly, that means instant death. But soon the game starts to throw at you more enemy types that will actively attack you, more moving parts, and hazardous surfaces that you have to avoid. Each new enemy can be transformed into some other object, from flying platforms to trampolines or a sort of canon that can shoot you over an obstacle, or exploding eye that can demolish walls. The puzzle part of the game is not too challenging, though sometimes it requires a bit of backtracking because you opened the door on one side of the map by pressing a button on the other side of the map. But I never got stuck on figuring out the puzzle part. Overall, I found the puzzles fun to solve and I enjoyed the idea of a non-violent approach to monster infestation. I really liked the puzzles where you have to utilize two forms of one monster in different ways because in these moments Transmogrify stands out from the crowd of “push the box to jump over the obstacle” games.

One giant leap for the janitor

What I struggled with though was the platforming part and sometimes I felt like the game was sabotaging me a little with its rather strange design choices. For example, certain types of enemies try to evade the first shot from the transmogrify gun by moving in a random direction. It happens every time, just with the first shot. When this creature is alone it’s just annoying, but when it’s one part of several elements that have to meet at one point in one time, it effectively hinders your progress. The evasive maneuver changes the starting point of the creature to a random spot while other parts of the puzzle move along their set path and do not adapt to the position of the evading creature. So many times I had to change the creatures to their “tool” form and back, therefore resetting the puzzle, hoping that this time they would get into a position that would work with others to get over the obstacle.

Another problematic area is that the game does not have clearly distinguishable foreground and background. I enjoy the comic-book art style of the game, the silly, cute, yet somehow also dangerous look of the monsters, but with platformers it all comes down to visual clarity, especially if you can get killed with a single touch. And mainly in the first world, it’s really hard to distinguish which objects you can stand on and which are just a decoration in the background. A big part of what makes platformer games like Ori or Hollow Knight so great is that they have beautiful visuals often with a high level of detail in the background, yet you always know where you can and cannot jump in a tough spot.

There are also some instances where the game does not communicate its rules properly, like when you collect a power-up, but the game does not explain what exactly you picked up, how it works, and for how long. Or you can encounter lines, which show borders behind which the monsters will get despawned, but sometimes these borders apply only for certain creatures, sometimes they are not visible at all and the creature still gets respawned.

Teenage GLaDOS

The main hero is a typical silent type. Apart from occasional “ugh” when jumping, or moaning when he dies and respawns, he is completely mute. The narrative exposition is being handled by the AI Grace that follows your journey through the alien-infested facilities. The AI is fully voice acted and the voice actor did a great job, but I have to admit that I was not a fan of how the dialogue for the AI was written. The AI is either nagging you to be careful with specimens, the gun, etc. or acts like a teenage girl that is disgusted by something. And with how the save system in Transmogrify works, you can find yourself listening to the same annoying line over and over again. These moments made me really want to play Portal again. The similarities between these two titles are obvious since the main theme of the game is to think your way through a testing facility of an evil scientific research corporation that is falling apart. But where GLaDOS in Portal served as a mysterious, unreliable, and menacing companion that enriched the gameplay, Grace in Transmogrify only vaguely comments on your surroundings or tells some jokes that just did not land with me and I would be completely fine if it wasn’t there and I could just focus on the puzzles.

The game offers over 70 levels in four different environments. At the end of each level, your progress is evaluated and you can get up to three stars in three categories – specimens collected, time spent on the level and shots fired. You can replay the levels to get a perfect score, the game even allows you to turn on the speedrun timer, so there is a potential for replayability if you are a completionist. Otherwise, you’re looking at approximately 5 to 7 hours of playtime.

Even though I struggled with multiple aspects of Transmogrify and it definitely needs some more work, I found the core idea of the game interesting and fun. Hopefully, the devs will continue improving the game to make it a truly enjoyable title. The game has a demo available so if you’re looking for a unique puzzle platformer but you’re not sure if this is worth your money, I recommend starting with the demo.