I have been used to narrative games since childhood, and when I had the opportunity to review South Of The Circle, I was happy to revisit this genre.
I was intrigued for hours by the perspective of the characters that are complex and well constructed, but how well does a narrative stand alone in a game?
The game was developed by State Of Play (be careful not to get confused with Sony's event as they have the same name) and you may have already come across some of the games developed by the company such as Kami, Lumino City and Inks.
The company was throughout its history dedicated to puzzle games that for the first time decided to take a bigger step by developing a game with diversified personas and branched choices.
The game is available on the following platforms: PS4, PS5, XBox One, XBox X|S, Nintendo Switch, Steam & Apple Arcade
STORY
The central character of the story is Peter and the narrative revolves around the choices he has made or will make.
The plot is divided into two stages of Peter's life, the choices involving his academic/professional life and the decisions involving his romantic partner, Clara.
The game is set in the 1960s and deals with an important theme: prejudice against women in academia, specifically at Cambridge University.
The narrative begins with Peter facing a plane crash where he will have to find the strength to help the pilot whose leg was injured during the accident.
During the journey, the main character remembers situations and decisions in his life story that led him to that situation.
GRAPHICS
South of the Circle is a game with minimalist features and made entirely behind the Unity engine. It has very beautiful graphics for the proposal, being simple enough for us to think that "it's no big deal".
It is very easy to see the beauty of the game in its open and diverse settings.
If you compare it to any previous game from the developer, you will see a remarkable evolution and a jump out of the comfort zone.
GAMEPLAY
Everything we have involved in the gameplay of South of the Circle involves narrative choices and decisions that represent a type of emotion of your character.
Besides having little interaction with the scenery and goal pursuit during gameplay, there is no technical innovation or detail about the gameplay that is really impressive enough to make us consider it a Walking Simulator. Even though this nomenclature is
Even if this nomenclature is extremely negative, there is no gameplay involvement
during the game that would impress us.
ACHIEVEMENTS
In addition to basic achievements that you earn by finishing the story, unfortunately there are achievements that are lost as collectible documents along the way, so I recommend following an achievement guide while playing.
Some companies are still rushing this old mechanic without knowing what to actually do with the achievements and collectibles, making the situation related to achievements frustrating.
OFFICIAL TRAILER
CONCLUSION
South of the circle is a good game, but the lack of experience in presenting something that "ties you in" is very evident, which makes the game boring in some parts.
It is noteworthy the very striking characters of the narrative, which despite being short, perhaps even exceeds what is necessary for a game of this size and while playing I had the feeling that the game could be shorter and this would perhaps bring more dynamism to it.
Despite presenting a coherent story, it is predictable from beginning to end. You can know exactly what ending your choice will result in.
On the technical side, South of the circle does not have any innovations in the genre or any highlights.
If it does manage to stay in my memory, it will unfortunately be remembered as a game that failed to shine at all, being only average in all aspects.
Review conducted via Gamertag: Scoulz
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