South of the Circle starts out very slowly but unravels very beautifully.
Set immediately within the cold and harsh atmosphere of the Arctic, South of the Circle tells the story of an aspiring Cambridge academic named Peter Hamilton. His trip to the Arctic comes with consequences, however, for he and his colleague experience a plane crash while trying to find their way in the snow. But this is not merely a survival story.
The players travel in the memories of Peter in order to understand the real reason why he finds himself in the Arctic. What does he study? Is he truly an accomplished academic? What makes Peter, Peter? The players find out the answers to all these and more.
South of the Circle is a story-driven game that follows the formula of a visual novel. As the player, you are expected not to dwell on the game’s mechanics and just pay attention to the story. The player does get to have a say in the situations; the answers Peter gives to questions are based on what the player thinks he would have felt in the situation. The answer options vary from panicked to loving, seemingly.
I say seemingly here because this is not always the case. Sometimes the game wants the player just to press the button to answer the prompt. One would expect there to be more than one answer to choose from- Yet, as mentioned above, this is not always the case. Then, why are we choosing? As the player, merely pressing a button rather than progressing through the story the way that I want makes me feel disconnected from the story.
The emotion-based options also do not change the outcome of your actions in the long run. You are still going through a pre-written story, and although this might have been a drawback for other games, it works in South of the Circle. Peter’s emotions allow the player to feel a sort of catharsis; it helps to establish the connection between the player and the protagonist.
Another reason for the emotion-based options not affecting the experience negatively might be that the story is immersive and well-written enough. South of the Circle does not tell a big story where the protagonist is expected to save the world, though it does deal with prominent themes like patriotism, gender roles, and war. South of the Circle never goes out of its way to offer a solution to complicated problems, and Peter is a somewhat insignificant man in the greater state of affairs. Thus, it feels like there do not have to be different options that produce different outcomes. We are content with the story, and enough is enough.
Throughout the game, the player travels through two different timelines: The past and the present. It is imperative to talk about the art direction here because they did an absolutely phenomenal job. The transition between the two timelines happens so seamlessly that it never feels out of place or in the middle of things. It highlights the contrast between the two different events and conditions. It adds to the story, rather than taking away from it by cutting off the player in the middle of things to transfer them into somewhere/sometime else.
The gameplay mainly consists of interacting with things like toys and notes left by other people or interacting with other people through the radio. Again, this might not be the game for people who emphasize gameplay over story, for there is nothing much to do. Mostly you are just pushing the left analog button forward or choosing a dialogue option from three different emotions, which adds virtually nothing to the story. The game only works if you care enough about the themes explored and people interact with- And if you do, it is an incredible experience. To avoid spoiling the story in this review, I choose my words very carefully. This means that if you are interested in the story of South of the Circle, you should expect there to be twists and turns.
There is not much going on musically- And this, by no means, is a bad thing. Although it would be preferable if the music supported the story emotionally, the soundtrack and the sound direction are not bad. They could be a lot better, but they are just enough. There is not one showstopping tune that you’d want to listen to after the game ends, and there is not something that I stopped playing to listen more closely.
South of the Circle runs for about three or four hours, and that is the completionist time. This means that you can do pretty much anything there is to be done in this game in only four hours. So it is an experience you can get through in one sitting, which is something that we all need sometimes. If you want to experience something short and sweet at the same time, South of the Circle is the game you must check out.
