Planet Laika is an adventure RPG from Quintet, following dog-headed astronauts in a search across Mars for a vanished colonel. Its defining mechanic is the personality system, in which three selves are switched at mirrors and each carries distinct abilities.
Each personality doubles as a puzzle-solving tool, with Earnest wrenching items loose and Spacer perceiving what others cannot. Over-collecting one personality’s colour pushes the run toward a game over, keeping the switching between selves tense throughout.
Beneath the cute dog faces sits a strikingly grim story, touching abuse, suicide and hidden tragedy among the colony’s secrets. The narrative handles these heavy themes with a frankness that runs far darker than the game’s surface ever suggests.
Combat is a volleying duel in which a floating mind core deflects incoming pulses back at enemies. The system is weird but grows more enjoyable with use, though it feels awkward early and leans on timing in the boss fights.
Progression depends on working out which personality to bring where, and the game stays vague about how to move forward. The small world of roughly twenty screens keeps the confusion contained, yet choosing which self to bring remains the hardest part.
Frequent full-motion videos impress for a 1999 release that fits in around 300MB. The strangeness itself, a bizarre and vague ending included, becomes the game’s identity, with the whole trip landing as one of the strangest adventures in the medium.
Overall, the personality system carries the experience, with the grim story and the era-defying presentation in support. It remains one of the strangest games of its era, and an enjoyable one despite the vague progression throughout.