While we’ve seen a few varied examples of what I’d call cinematic adventures on the Switch, they’ve at least tended to all have their own sort of vibe. On the darker end of the spectrum you’ve got the likes of Limbo and Inside in particular, but on the other end there aren’t any that are quite as notable. More recently I’d found Saviorless to be compelling, but the title that this reminds me of the most is Planet Alpha which came to the Switch some time ago.

You play the game as Lana, a young girl who feels like she’s living quite well in a village on the beautiful waters of a lush alien planet. You’ll start out having a playful race with your big sister Ilo, with the game following a pretty solid textbook method of teaching you the game’s most critical mechanics along the way. Of course, the playfulness and fun can’t last for long as a swarm of robots arrive, capturing Ilo and leaving Lana alone to try to save her sister as well as the people of her village. What follows is a pretty wide variety of scenarios where you’ll need to use a combination of skillful jumps, learning how to work with new tools and elements, and puzzle solving to survive.

The team behind the game has obviously invested a good deal of time in refining just about every area of play to make it compelling. The backgrounds are lush and often colorful, character animations tend to be fluid and well-implemented, and the music often does an excellent job of helping to reinforce what’s going on in any given scene. All of this, paired with the emotional element of Lana working desperately to save her sister, really helps to suck you in. Mechanically there can be some hiccups you’ll run into, and some scenarios lean further into trial and error territory than being intuitive, but on the whole the flaws take a back seat to a pretty compelling experience.

While perhaps the game’s overall format and themes aren’t terribly original, there’s no question that its execution is top-notch. While it may lack the darker tone and morbid flair of the likes of titles like Inside, there’s something to be said for games that are more focused on feel-good vibes as well. While the gameplay is absolutely the star, there’s no question that there are additionally cinematic moments interspersed throughout, allowing the quality of work from the artistic side of the development team to shine as well. If you’re looking to embark on an action and puzzle-oriented epic adventure, this is a terrific choice.