Transmogrify is a sci-fi puzzle with action and platforming components that converts alien abominations into helpful gear and structures in an amusing manner.
Developed and published by Odyssey Entertainment, Transmogrify is a simple 2D Platformer that puts players in the role of a janitor who gets caught up in a mess that will take more than a mop to clean. With 4 different worlds full of levels to traverse with a multitude of puzzles and a scoring system based on performance and collecting hidden items, there is a lot to take on here.
Challenging platforming and adorable creatures await us in the dark hallways of this destroyed laboratory so let’s grab a broom and a hazmat suit and jump right into it. Oh and don’t forget the transmogrifying gun so we can get over some tricky terrain.
The story of Transmogrify is a very basic sci-fi story about a lone survivor making their way through a lab full of monsters and slime in order to reach safety. The main character isn’t a super soldier or some kind of scientist but instead, is a janitor who happens to be at the right place at the wrong time. When things start to go downhill, a prototype gun falls out of its display cases and knocks our protagonist out.
Upon waking up, he is treated to a wrecked lab and an assortment of puzzles to overcome. Tagging along for the ride is an A.I named Grace who makes constant remarks about the environment surrounding the two. For those familiar with Valve’s Portal series, Grace will have a similar presence where she is there to add a bit of humor to an otherwise disturbing situation.
The Gun that Chris, our protagonist is equipped with in Transmogrify has the ability to turn living matter into platforms and tools that we can utilize to reach the end of the level. Each enemy takes a different shape when hit with the gun and it is up to you to determine how the monster’s shape can help solve the puzzle ahead of you. Some of the enemies turn into stationary blocks that can be utilized to press down buttons while others may take the shape of a moving platform that can be used to navigate some of the tough terrain.
The first few levels are spent getting you acquainted with the controls and understanding how Chris can utilize the monsters to move forward but by the 10th level in the first world, I was at my wits end. You see, there are also environmental hazards that will cause you to start from your last checkpoint and the 10th level has an absurd learning curve. It took me multiple tries to realize that Transmogrify expected me to freeze a slug, push them off a ledge, and freeze them again to create a stepping stone.
This would have been fine if there were prior examples of utilizing the enemies in this manner but this felt like a random spike in difficulty with no explanation behind it. The jump looked like it was wide enough for Chris to clear it but that’s where another issue I was having comes in.
While the environments in Transmogrify are designed in a way for you to just move through them, there are some hazards and triggers that you will come across that can set you back. The red fungus, for example, is scattered haphazardly throughout the levels in the first world and since Chris is killed with one hit, it can be frustrating to accidentally land on one just to get sent back to the last checkpoint. There were multiple times where I couldn’t even tell if I actually touched one of these spots until I sat down and really started watching what was going on.
Sure enough, there were times when Chris would rag-doll across the room and I could see that I never touched the fungus. There was also an instance where you were required to launch a slime up onto a ledge and then launch yourself right after so that you could push the slime box onto a button. This kept falling apart for me though since the button would send me right after the slime box and knock it back down. That’s when I noticed that Chris was being sent through the air without me even stepping onto the button.
These frustrating hitboxes are worsened when looking at the way Transmogrify handles player progression. Chris has no health and will die after one hit. This can be from an enemy or from an environmental hazard but touching either of these things will result in his early demise. The game could have definitely benefited from a minor health system that way, you are able to learn from the mistake without getting sent back to the previous checkpoint.
Once again, level ten in world one was where my patience began to wear thin due to this. Not only was I fighting a frustrating level design and horrendous hazard placement but there was also the fact that the checkpoint would not reset after solving the puzzle. This meant that even though I had solved the puzzle, one mistake would send me right back to the beginning. This felt like a punishment for something that I couldn’t quite understand and by the time I finished the level, I was ready to put the game down for good.
Now there are some good things to be found here and I would like to take a moment to look at some of the positive things that can be found in this game. Grace is a wonderful companion and I often found myself chuckling at her commentary as Chris risked his life to get from point A to point B without any major harm coming his way.
There is an instance in Transmogrify where he hops onto a conveyor belt in order to progress and Grace proceeds to scold him for utilizing the conveyor belt in such a way and that it is only to be used to transport cargo around the facility. Since Chris doesn’t respond to her comments, it’s funny to listen to her continue to tell him these kinds of things knowing that it is going in one ear and right out the other.
The design of the creatures found in Transmogrify is also something that caught my eye right away. Grace makes it seem as if these things are going to be the end of it all, but it is hard to feel that weight when the slimes are moving around with plungers and office material inside of them. The monsters are done in this super cute style that makes it hard to take their presence seriously but just know that one wrong move can set you back.
At the end of each level of Transmogrify, you are judged based on how long it took you to complete the level, how many of the secret items you found, and how many shots you fired. This was to be expected from a puzzle platformer such as this and while it doesn’t do much to add to the game, there was a sense of accomplishment to see I grabbed all the collectibles in a level. I could do without my shots counting against my score but that is only impactful if a score is something you care about.
Transmogrify is a puzzle game that doesn’t take itself too seriously and is not afraid to have you fail multiple times in order to understand what to do next. While there were moments of fun to be found, I was struggling to maintain that momentum and often found myself wanting to switch over to another game.
Although I switched between a controller and a keyboard, I could not find the sweet spot to narrow down these frustrations either. Watching Chris get sent back to the last checkpoint with the knowledge that I would have to redo the puzzles made it hard to want to continue and his little grunts of frustration began to echo mine with each redo that I had to endure.
There were so many points of frustration that it was really hard for me to enjoy Transmogrify for what it was. A simple fix that would have made the overall experience a lot better would be to simply add a health system to help negate some of the frustration that comes from some of the level designs. I wouldn’t mind the option to redo a level and shoot for a better score if I had a health meter in play. This small fix alone would have made my experience a lot more enjoyable.
If you are looking for a 2D Platformer with an interesting take on level progression, this would definitely be a title to keep an eye on. If the idea of an extremely frustrating experience due to level design, a frustrating checkpoint system, and a lack of a health system is enough to put you off of a title then this is a hard one to recommend. With it still being a newer title there is always the chance that Odyssey Entertainment, the developers, will look into some quality of life changes that will make this a more enjoyable experience overall.
