The Blood of Dawnwalker
The Blood of Dawnwalker
Game
Game2015
Environmental Station Alpha
Developer Arvi Teikari, Roope Mäkinen
Environmental Station Alpha is a 2015 Metroidvania created by Finnish independent developer Arvi Teikari (known professionally as Hempuli). From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
237 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 3, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
66
Fresh
124 positive · 64 negative
95% range 59–72%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 124 | 64 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 18 | 1 | 24 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
1,107 of 1,345 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
67% recommend · 125 yes, 61 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 186 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (1,372 of 1,663 positive).
Players praise the game's excellent hookshot and deep secrets, calling it a must-play metroidvania. [1][2][3] Some reviewers find the game overly difficult and frustrating, with tedious backtracking and punishing design. [4][5][6] The post-game content is widely lauded as stellar and extensive, though some find it too cryptic. [2][3][7]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
It's a very well-crafted game with cool mechanics like the use-anywhere hookshot and great pixel art, but I enjoyed little of it due to its masochistic bend. The game is hostile to the player in ways that never feel fun: you can sometimes die before reaching a checkpoint after beating a boss (no autosaves), you can unlock an ability that lets you unlock an area only to find that you need another ability to progress …
- [6]
I wanted to like this game, but my playing experience was too frustrating to recommend it. It's a really challenging metroidvania that will likely only be enjoyed by experts of the genre. Many of my problems with it have been brought up in others' reviews, but I'll go over them again, because most rang true for me too. The station is very hard to navigate, especially while backtracking. There are teleport machines, …
- [1]
I'm going to start the review with a "spoiler" and I don't care, you just need to know this: Environmental Station Alpha has probably the best hookshot implementation of all time. The game would already be a must play just because of that but no, the creator also decided to craft an incredible isolated world filled with so many secrets he probably doesn't even remember them all himself. While this is all very …
- [13]
One of my all-time favorite Metroidvanias! It absolutely nails the atmosphere - the graphics are low res, but all of the environments still look unique and detailed, and the music is excellent. The combat is tough, but the boss fights are really fun and very fair for the most part - you can almost always avoid damage once you learn their patterns. The level design feels really great - it's often tough to find the …
- [2]
A stellar metroidvania, but an outstanding "game with secrets" and brimming withpost-game content. If you like games like Tunic, this is a MUST.
Summarised from 34 of the 235 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
67% of the 186 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Environmental Station Alpha. The complaint that keeps coming up: extremely high difficulty can be frustrating. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Jed Whitaker of Destructoid scored the game 7/10 and said, "[o]verall, Environmental Station Alpha didn't reinvent the wheel when it comes to Metroidvania games, but it certainly helped satisfy my appetite." He praised the game's pixel art aesthetic and bosses, writing that "[t]hese confrontations are some of the most satisfying boss battles I've had in a game in some time"; however, he was less enthusiastic toward the game's mandatory backtracking to find new pathways, which he said could be either "rewarding, or tedious depending on the amount of time needed." John Walker of Rock Paper Shotgun also gave the game a positive review, calling it a "Metroid-alike pixel platformer that I've…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 237 · most liked firstDecided to write a second part to my previous blogpost, discussing an unfinished 2010 platformer building on the game I abandoned earlier, and containing some precursor material for Environmental Station Alpha: www.hempuli.com/blog/index.p...
neutral · AI labelView post →It's a very well-crafted game with cool mechanics like the use-anywhere hookshot and great pixel art, but I enjoyed little of it due to its masochistic bend. The game is hostile to the player in ways that never feel fun: you can sometimes die before reaching a checkpoint after beating a boss (no autosaves), you can unlock an ability that lets you unlock an area only to find that you need another ability to progress further (sometimes you find this out multiple rooms in the area!!), enemies…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yay! Environmental Station Alpha has received an important update - the game has been ported to C++, fixing a whole bunch of issues and adding support to e.g. Mac, Linux & Steam Deck. Trailer link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bsv... #esagame Port by @mp2games.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →SATURDAY JULY 10 i will be running Environmental Station Alpha Any% (Inbounds) at @gamesdonequick.com !! i'm so so excited this is my first ever mainline run and one of my most beloved speed games. be there!!
neutral · AI labelView post →ohhhhh huge W for Environmental Station Alpha devs adding proper steam deck & Linux support years after the game came out
positive · AI labelView post →The creators of this game clearly based themselves of the cream of the crop of classic metroidvanias and wear their influences on their sleeve. That being said, it seems that they missed the finer points of game design and how to discreetly nudge the player in the right direction. If you are looking for a challenge and do not mind missing out on pretty much all the quality of life that are staples of the genre, give this game a try. Be warned that on occasion the game will not tell you a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Hey if you are one of those Indie Game people who has spent a lot of time Thinking about The Metroidvania: Did you play Environmental Station Alpha? If you missed it there's a good opportunity to pick it up now cuz it just got a tech revamp for Mac/Steam Deck mastodon.gamedev.place/@Hempuli/113...
neutral · AI labelView post →I'm going to start the review with a "spoiler" and I don't care, you just need to know this: Environmental Station Alpha has probably the best hookshot implementation of all time. The game would already be a must play just because of that but no, the creator also decided to craft an incredible isolated world filled with so many secrets he probably doesn't even remember them all himself. While this is all very reminiscent of old 2D Metroid games, ESA has this peculiar distinct style, a simple…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm just writing a review because this game doesn't deserve the mixed rating it has. There's nothing wrong or terrible in this game that isn't a staple of the genre. Sure, it has an exception: its extremely tedious post-game, but none of the people who wrote negative reviews even came close to getting there. I think almost everything in this game was designed on the premise that you would sit and think before tackling a challenge, be it a boss, puzzle or just traversal in general. So in that…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game starts off as an innocent metroidvania. However, it quickly makes it's clear it is going to be brutal. It punishes you for everything, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The movement is smooth and fairly precise, the graphics of course dated but they do have a charm and style that works for it. At first, it feels fun and engaging to explore and bosses feel fair with patterns that are not too difficult to distinguish. It doesn't hold your hand at all, outside of a few terminals that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A stellar metroidvania, but an outstanding "game with secrets" and brimming withpost-game content. If you like games like Tunic, this is a MUST.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →FYI: THE SPEED OF THE GAME IS TIED TO FRAME RATE. This applies to everything (player movement speed, etc.). I've been playing at 40FPS on the steam deck because that's what I always do. You can't really tell the difference and it's way better for battery life. But I just found out I've been playing this game at 2/3 speed the entire time. Was already in the postgame before I realized. Honestly, pretty hilarious but there's no way that should be happening. And if it does the game should make it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like this game, but my playing experience was too frustrating to recommend it. It's a really challenging metroidvania that will likely only be enjoyed by experts of the genre. Many of my problems with it have been brought up in others' reviews, but I'll go over them again, because most rang true for me too. The station is very hard to navigate, especially while backtracking. There are teleport machines, but it's often hard to know which to teleport to when you're trying to get to a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok enough for today, i had such a blast doing this. These are sprites from the following classic indie Metroidvanias: Cat Planet Treasure Adventure Game An Untitled Story Environmental Station Alpha Knytt Stories Within a deep forest Vagante La Mulana Snailiad Go play em, most are free.
neutral · AI labelView post →Be prepared: This game is difficult, but one of the greatest metroidvania games, even compared to recent masterpieces. Control is difficult but solid and reliable. Nothing is unfair. What's difficult but possible is possible (and often really difficult ! ) and you often have to do it. Then it rewards you. The developer understands incredibly well what makes games fun. # One review says grappling is unreliable, but no, it's the reviewer's fault. I confess it took me 10 min or so to understand…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Late to the party and it's just not worth the effort. I'm sure that the endgame puzzles are neat but the game is just a slog to get through. So many instances of being excited to use a new ability only to find dead ends with zero rewards requiring other upgrades that you don't have yet. Then you realize that there isn't really any freedom, just one critical path that you can take to the next boss and a map trying to give you an illusion of choice, wasting your time. The map is weird in that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Arvi Teikari, better known by his professional alias Hempuli Oy, hit it big in 2019 with his innovative puzzle game Baba Is You. It was a big critical and commercial darling, garnering praise for its novel concept and innovative puzzle design. This review is not about Baba Is You, so that is all I will say on the subject of a game I never played. What I find more interesting is when you delve back into an indie developer's sleeper hits before their mainstream popularity, such as rose-engine's…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beyond Sekiro, I tried FFIX PC which ran beautifully (and the small screen really does that game huge favors in the art department), Axiom Verge, Environmental Station Alpha, Silksong, and Darkest Dungeon. All ran great. Indie PC gaming and retro emulation with ARM battery life? Yes please.
neutral · AI labelView post →extremely underrated metroidvania with a super solid core game and stellar postgame secrets so deep it basically constitutes a whole other game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I give Environmental Station Alpha a lukewarm thumbs-up. If you like difficult metroidvania games, then you may like this one. The game starts off simple. You have a character who can walk, jump, and shoot a short laser to all four cardinal directions. While the enemies aren't that bad in the beginning, you may notice a pattern: Very often they attack you from directions you can't shoot at. These enemies start appearing right from the start. So you can imagine what will happen when the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I'm currently at 18,7 hours into the game, I like to do mostly everything possible before continuing into a boss or possibly an ending in a game generally speaking. In this one, I just have no idea what I'm supposed to do, I'm mostly lost and I keep finding stuff in every possible places that this game has to offer. The worst part about this, is that I never stop finding stuff. There is just so much everywhere. In case you were hesitant because of the visuals or something else, that is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I need to go back and finish it, but I loved what I played of Environmental Station Alpha. The atmosphere is incredible, and I really enjoyed the set of power ups that it had. The best one is the grappling hook, which really lets you break the game open store.steampowered.com/app/350070/E...
positive · AI labelView post →this game is sooooo underrated. definitely worth the price and your time
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a hard one. The game shows some brilliant aspects, but also terrible ones. *Note that I did not play 100+h, I just left the game running/forgot to close it. The good: The gameplay is nice and responsive. Controls feel tight. The music is pretty nice. The sound effects will get on your nerves, such as the loud plinking when you hit something immune to your shots. The game is relatively vast, with a lot to explore, and multiple unique bosses. The bad: The difficulty: I rarely complain…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a huge Metroid fan, I was overjoyed to see how much this game takes inspiration from the series. Unfortunately, they've ramped up the difficulty to the point I'm no longer enjoying it at 40% complete. Even using a walkthrough to get more of the energy tanks, my last boss battle was agonizingly difficult, long, with three punishing phases to learn and projectiles from every direction, often from off screen. A critical weapon upgrade to make the fight just a little easier was "optional",…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Given Hempuli's fame as an experimental game developer, I expected some experimental stuff, but I would say this is a rather typical metroidvania. The two atypical things I have noticed were that the player character was smaller than usual, and while typically in metroidvanias the world opens up as you get new abilities, here, it sometimes closes: after you activate some systems, some of the pathways become closed for the rest of the game. The story feels very lackluster for a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm sure this game was stellar in 2015, when Metroidvania fans were absolutely starved for content and the bar wasn't set so high. Playing this for the first time in 2025 is an incredibly frustrating experience. It's a retro-visual banger and is clearly a love letter to the NES Metroid, but I enjoy looking and listening to it more than I did playing it. It's just a game where acquiring abilities isn't empowering, which is a catastrophic fail in this sub genre. The sense of progression is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ENVIRONMENTAL STATION ALPHA I'm a fan of La Mulanas, Fezi, Animal Wells as much as anyone with the proper brainworms but i feel this game gets often overlooked despite being an absolute masterpiece. Nolla games is working on a sequel, from what ive heard, so definitely give this a spin!
positive · AI labelView post →It's SO GOOD. I reached... An ending, but there's clearly more to do. There are at least two puzzles I'm aware of that I know I don't have all the clues for, and there are several interesting things beyond that which I don't even understand the purpose of yet. Environmental Station Alpha tier game.
neutral · AI labelView post →So many. Hollow Knight, Celeste, Outer Wilds, Subnautica, Stardew Valley, Slay the Spire and Zachtronics games likely need no introduction. Then there's also... Bug Fables. Incredibly satisfying Paper Mario-like which has thrived into its own thing. Baba is You/Environmental Station Alpha, hempuli games. The former you've likely heard of, a logic Sokobon with truly mindbending puzzles deeper within (and a level editor!! god, I could gush about level editors for hours). ESA is an older…
neutral · AI labelView post →This is touted as one of the best metroidvanias out there for some reason. I've tried to enjoy this game despite its quirkiness/flaws, but the fact that you can get stuck and ruin your save by exploring the map "the wrong way" is just terrible game design.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Banger game. Postgame secrets are a bit too La-Mulana, but excellent game overall.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I pushed through to finish it (at least the basic ending), but I get the feeling the devs don't understand metroidvanias or what players in the genre are looking for. First of all, exploration is highly discouraged in the early and mid-game. So many times I was excited to have found a powerup and nothing came of it. "Oh I can destroy blue blocks now, I know a spot with some around the starting area". Well immediately after those blue blocks, on a different screen, are red blocks and you can't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →12.4%, 9.2%, 7.8%, 5.3%. At the time of writing, these are the total percentage of players who have cleared the first four bosses and you can see the pattern here. That means out of over 1300 reviewers, roughly fewer than 160 players enjoyed the game enough to play past the first boss and less than 65 played beyond the first 1/4 of the game. Alpha is a title with serious problems and I only heard about it because I was told it was a good example of an adventure/metroidbrainia. Perhaps it is,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of my all-time favorite Metroidvanias! It absolutely nails the atmosphere - the graphics are low res, but all of the environments still look unique and detailed, and the music is excellent. The combat is tough, but the boss fights are really fun and very fair for the most part - you can almost always avoid damage once you learn their patterns. The level design feels really great - it's often tough to find the way forward, but it's never random or overly obscure. There is also a pretty…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely this. If we're going to take a Metroidvania as an example of this lesson, let's take Environmental Station Alpha. The game has a ton of potential as a good Metroidvania that is buried in a thick armor of speedrunner-level difficulty. I have never seen a Metroidvania be so stingy about health tanks, and this game desperately needs all of the health tanks you can get. It stinks of a developer team playtesting the hell out of their own game, and making difficulty decisions based on…
negative · AI labelView post →Didn't enjoy this one. I was hoping for an old school look with modern conveniences but instead received old school frustrations too. I don't recommend this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Base game was 7/10. Simple metroidvania but sometimes frustrating due to the prevalence of one-way passages in the map design. Without maxed out upgrades, the world traversal is often a chore, especially when chasing up secrets. Post game is 3.5/10. I enjoy puzzles and did manage to get quite far into the post-game but some of the post-game puzzles are just so esoteric that they end up sucking out any sort of fun I originally had with it. Once I started resorting to a guide, the game lost…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely one of my favorite MV games! I just finished La Mulana and wanted a slight change of pace before tackling 2, and this absolutely filled that void. Combat is a bit less intense here, though you'll likely die a couple times at each boss sans the early ones. Bosses all telegraph clearly, so learning patterns is rather quick. The grappling hook and dash movement is extremely smooth, and if you take the time to master the grappling hook, you can do some crazy things. The level design was…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The gameplay itself is nothing revolutionary but it's a pretty good classical metroidvania, the game is reasonably difficult, the controls, movement, map and boss design overal feels pretty retro, which has its ups and downs. The best part of the game are the secrets, for those who are interested in things such as secret languages to translate, messages on the walls and such, you will enjoy what this game has to offer. A charming experience overal, for a very reasonable price.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve been playing 15-30 minutes a day of both Celeste and Environmental Station Alpha so I don’t get too frustrated and I’m consistently making progress in both kinda wild that when “game piss off” I can take a break and come back ??
neutral · AI labelView post →It's clear from some parts that the devs have some knowledge of good game design but there is too much frustration for me to find the game enjoyable. There is lots of backtracking and it's pretty cryptic where to go next after finding an upgrade - in the end, I just started reading guides because I don't want to draw a map by hand marking what kind of obstacle is at every dead end I reached. The game isn't too difficult per se, but the controls aren't great and the combat/action doesn't feel…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Solid metroidvania with a focus on the metroid end. Competent throughout with solid controls and fun power ups, good initial exploration and solid sound design and music. Difficulty is mostly well balanced with a couple bosses as slight outliers but nothing with inappropriate runbacks or similar. There's no life drops from enemies which is certainly something that I could see people taking issue with but it never felt out of place in my playthrouugh. The issues I had only kicked in in the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →♥♥♥♥ serpent five. ♥♥♥♥ serpent five. I wanted to pick up this game again but holy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♥♥♥♥ serpent five is such a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ boss. Water-level worm boss where you can only attack the tail, it's resistant to attacks most of the time, two phases, can only be hit with charge attacks, and it spams projectiles. Also sometimes it just camps ontop of you and kills you with the way to get out being really unintuitive. Urgh.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At first, the game seemed like a NES masterpiece. I thought its progression was great, the items, the enemies, music, the interesting story. Then I got 53% through when the difficulty had become too annoying. (Annoying is the keyword.) So, I started a new game on easy. I got 57% through and the "honeymoon was over". I lost interest in it. I might come back to it later, but for now this game is going to my "I Quit" collection. What I mean by "annoying". There is challenge that is difficult,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's almost time for my Environmental Station Alpha run for #WildRideRaidTrain!! First time playing this in several years but I did PB so let's see how I do www.twitch.tv/nardy20_
neutral · AI labelView post →As I slog through to the normal 100% completion boss im haunted by thoughts. You'd think this is a normal metroid-like. But something always feels off. That one swing point Am i supposed to go that way? (yes) Why are the enemies so unpredictable? etc. I reached the 100% completion boss till i understood. This MFer is cheating. The sprite hitboxes are made too fair. You get hit when "youre not supposed to". Normally the hitboxes are made in favour of the player, NOT THIS ONE. So it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't hate the game, far from it, but there's just too much that I don't like that keeps from ever enjoying ESA. Exploration is tedious, combat is far too simplistic, and the map design just baffles me. Why make the player trudge through so many areas and get so little out of it? It's not all bad though. The music for this game is absolutely great! If you really want a minimalist Metroidvania, Gato Roboto exists.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Even though the game is fun, it is very tedious.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Let's get back to Environmental Station Alpha, I've barely scratched the surface of this game last week! www.twitch.tv/combine_kegan #Stream
neutral · AI labelView post →This game is so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ good. I thought it was just going to be a simple metroidvania that was kinda good, I only originally bought it because I heard it recommended a few times. I was not at all aware of all of the extra postgame content this game had, and while I beat the main game relatively quickly, I had so much fun searching and digging for every new piece of postgame content. The journey to fully finishing the game was extremely fun and I really love this game :) play it. P.S. Play…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recommending this game would be dishonest. It's a game that copies a lot from 2D Metroid, you can smell the inspiration from Metroid I, Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion from miles away but it fails to replicate what made these games fun and engaging. The game simply lacks anything that makes it engaging. Visually it's minimalist, while some could call it a style, it feels low effort to me. The gameplay is "Metroid but with the bare minimum", you only have a gun you'll upgrade a few times and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →as a mulana sicko i enjoyed this lots. im not allergic to being challenged by games so i didnt find it punishing or overbearing. the map size and amount of teleporters make backtrack-exploration not a hassle. you cant grind enemies for health but i find that to be a positive. the grapple was super weird at the start but i came around to it. lategame powerups are mondo cool. many ah-ha moments when solving smartypants stuff. if your only interest is the metroidvania part it does that dang…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For full disclosure I think I mostly chose a horrible mental health arc to play this game. For the most part I just found this to be deeply aggravating, overly demanding, and with little to no payoff. I'm a La-Mulana lover, there's every possibility I'm just not meeting this partway. But for the moment, I think I should have just immediately earned the "Clear the game in under 1 hour" achievement by watching the credits from the main menu (lol) and tapping out there. It should really be…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →should i submit an incentive for Environmental Station Alpha that randomly changes tiles slowly over the course of the game and makes it almost unintelligible
neutral · AI labelView post →This game has such a unique style and so much cool lore but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ its just too hard to be enjoyable and the map never quite opens up enough that your not needing to do one way loops even in the endgame its a great game that i think if you play on easy is much more manageable but not having a healing system was a mistake
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think you're thinking of Environmental Station Alpha, which is also a great game!
positive · AI labelView post →Environmental Station Alpha is a really good game and I'm kind of shocked it isn't better-known. I'll make a more detailed review in my games thread later once I get more endings but for an indie metroidvania (by the same guy behind Baba Is You, no less) it's very robust
positive · AI labelView post →its an all around.... ok experience if i could give a rating in between positive and negative i would, but im leaning towards negative i adore the game for what it is, theres a lot to love. the art is lovely and the visuals and ESPECIALLY the music are PHENOMINAL. i would go out of my way to listen to this game's soundtrack, 1000% but, sometimes, what this game is is being absolutely awful several bosses do not have checkpoints before them, often times in places where you have to go through an…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Spectacular hidden gemEenvironmental Station Alpha kept surprising me with how well designed it is. The whole experience in one word could be described as 'dense' . ESA has two levels. On the surface it's your run-of-the-mill metroidvania--really fun boss fights, fun movement and upgrades and some pretty backdrops. very decent. Bubbling below is a sprawling web of mysteries and side content for you to discover--it does this so intricately in multiple ways. Really keeps you engaged and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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