South of the Circle Reviews
With a short run time, South of the Circle isn't meant to be for someone looking to stretch their gaming dollar.
Like most of the games with the same style and gimmicks, South of the Circle fails to end its story in a satisfying way and bets all its chips on a twist ending that betrays the 3 to 4 hours of the experience that came before it. Also with the great audio-visual presentation here, one wonders why they didn’t just cut some of the unnecessary scenes and flashbacks and just release this as an animated feature.
Review in Persian | Read full review
While it is a walking simulator at its core, South of the Circle contains great performances, beautiful visuals, and strong themes and commentary. It is worth experiencing at least once
South of the Circle is a great narrative experience, with a lovely visual style that delivers a heartfelt story in an impactful way.
While not every part of the story hits the mark – we didn’t quite gel with the ending, for example – it’s still very easy to recommend South of the Circle. If you’re the type of person who enjoys interactive dramas, like the recent As Dusk Falls or Gone Home, you’ll likely find yourself engrossed in the narrative that unfolds here. It’s interesting, cleverly told and very intelligent – and, if nothing else, it’ll likely encourage you to learn more about the Cold War and the Antarctic Treaty. Any game that inspires us to educate ourselves more about the world around us is a win in our book.
South of Circle is a well written intense short adventure about life, love, choices an politics. The narration is brilliant and convey a very emotional trip through different timelines, even if the interaction is limited to dialogs and a very few other moments.
Review in Italian | Read full review
South of the Circle is a bold title that deals with mature themes. Its approach to storytelling is refreshing as it interweaves flashbacks to assemble a larger narrative. In addition to this, State of Play also respects its audience. They don’t oversimplify elements and allow you to interpret aspects. While the gameplay lacks substance and can cause some passive moments, the lovely design and spectacular score help make this a memorable experience.
South of the Circle is a must play for people who love story-driven games.
Review in Italian | Read full review
South of the Circle is barely a video game and would have probably worked better as a movie. Players who don’t quickly become engaged with the story will have a tough time finding reasons to push on. And even for those who want to see how the narrative ends, some sequences drag on with limited payoff.
South of the Circle is not visually interesting like the developer's previous work, and the poverty in its scenarios, the character animations that are not valued in that art even with motion capture, as well as the enjoyment of its gameplay, hamper the appreciation of its good history, which is still not without its flaws. On the other hand, the new game from State of Play Games has a competent musical and acting work and art direction, and brings good ideas in its narrative design, both in form and mechanics, approaching the academic environment with sensitivity in a way not much explored in video games and with an appropriate context of historical fiction in a cinematic tone. The game is recommended for adventure fans looking for a more mature narrative experience in romance, post-war historical fiction and academic life.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
South of the Circle is a fantastic exploration of a complex and realistic character. The engaging and multi-layered story kept me engaged and definitely helped me forget I wasn't actually doing much playing. Unfortunately, the ending rather takes the shine off the rest of the game's eminent achievements. Just like the drunken pilot crashing his plane in the opening scene, South of the Circle fails to stick the landing.
Without spoiling the finer details, the game's final sequence is filled with tension and emotion as Peter recollects the final moments of the past that lead up to his trip to Antarctica. In it, the game reflects on the key decisions made along the way and rather than respect them, seemed to ignore the work put in by players in a way that made it seem like some of the choices didn't actually matter. It may be possible that this was meant to be a narrative twist on how Peter remembers the past versus how it was, but it's entirely unclear if that's the case, which makes it all the more confusing when it happens. Despite this, the ending sequence of South of the Circle is still packed with emotional catharsis and an ambiguous ending the leaves the player wanting more, and that alone makes this game a must-play for narrative-driven players.
With wonderful acting. writing, and striking visuals, South of the Circle is an experience worth seeking out, even if the dialogue options and movement are lacking.
South of the Circle is a fascinating and engaging adventure that will succeed in captivating lovers of narrative and emotionally charged experiences, as long as it's seen as "just" an interactive movie whose path cannot be altered, but in which we can alter the emotional nuances and small details. This and the excellent art compartment definitely make it recommendable for those looking for a good story to experience and relax in front of the screen.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Perhaps, if you’re a bit more easy-going than me and don’t mind the one-note characters and multiple plot points that never really go anywhere, you’ll have a much better time playing this than I did. It’s also worth mentioning that the game itself is rather short, so despite how frustrating it can feel, you aren’t exactly wasting a ton of time making your way through it. All in all, I wouldn’t completely label this game as not worth playing, but I do suggest tempering your expectations so that there is minimal disappointment as you progress through the story. That isn’t to say I regret playing it, but I don’t think I would’ve missed much if I hadn’t.
A beautifully paced and emotive narrative adventure with some standout vocal performances, what South of the Circle lacks in terms of substantive gaming meat it more than makes up with an intelligently curated, heart-tugging tale that remains long in the memory after you've put the controller down. Holding up a mirror to our own era of social, political and economic turmoil, South of the Circle provides the sort of expertly crafted and keenly felt warm emotional storytelling that we could all perhaps do with right now.
An engaging interactive novel. Gameplay-wise it's not that amazing, but the story and the atmosphere are really great.
Review in Russian | Read full review
It's a narrative game from start to finish with very little interaction required of you. And when they do come, the various choices will not change the result at all. However, the story is intriguing and will keep you hooked until the end and the visual style is sublime. It would be nice to say a lot more about the game but in all honesty, there is not much to add. The game ends rather quickly (about 3 hours) and whether it's your time of game or not, is entirely up to you. As for me, I recommend it for fans of the genre.
Review in French | Read full review
South of the Circle is the equivalent of a good book. It's fun to sit down, experience, relax, and have the story drift over you. It isn't particularly interactive, and the ending feels a little unsatisfying, but beyond that, it's well told and well executed. You shouldn't pick it up if you're looking to decide who lives or who dies. You get to experience the story as it is told, with a few button prompts for flavor. If that sounds good to you, then you'll enjoy South of the Circle.
South of the Circle is an emotionally driven interactive drama about love, passion, ambitions and survival. All of that very well executed with the backdrop of Cold War getting hot on frozen Antarctica.
Review in Slovak | Read full review