Quarantine Circular

Игра от создателей неплохой Thomas Was Alone. Собственно, именно это и привлекло моё к ней внимание когда-то и по этой причине она оказалась в моей библиотеке. Представляет собой текстовый квест, оформленный в виде группового чата в каком-нибудь мессенджере. На фоне стоят и шевелятся персонажи, участвующие в беседе, летают чайки, шумит океан. Ну, т.е. это, по сути, визуальная новелла. По какой-то странной традиции (возможно, у автора даже есть объяснение, зачем он так делает), текст только на английском. Мне, в принципе, обычно всё равно, но как бы... игра, в которой весь геймплей это читать текст. Соответственно, для меня отсутствие локализации в такой игре равносильно корявой стрельбе в каком-нибудь шутере или там кривым хитбоксам в каком-нибудь соулслайке. Ну да бог с ним, с текстом. История: её трудно описать, чтобы сильно не наспойлерить, но я попробую, используя максимально общие понятия. Происходит первый контакт человечества с инопланетной расой, инопланетная раса может оказать некое влияние на судьбу человечества, в зависимости от непродолжительного общения представителя инопланетной расы с несколькими представителями расы человеческой. В принципе, почти всё тут просто и линейно, да и сама история сводится к поверить/не поверить рассказам пришельца. В общем и целом, некоторый интерес есть - персонажи не безликие, диалоги местами неплохие. Но тронула ли меня эта история? Нет, не особо.

Muy bueno, aunque me sigue gustando más Subsurface Circular (por poco). Impecable desde lo técnico, como suele entregar Bithell. Las interfaces, bien trabajadas en conjunto con todo un fondo animado en 3D, hacen que se sienta más como un cortometraje que como una novela visual. Muy recomendado si te gusta la ciencia ficción. Eso sí, el precio regional en LATAM y MENA está desactualizado, por lo que diría que esperen a que entre en oferta.

It’s a tight, thought-provoking sci-fi game where you play as part of a team communicating with an alien in a tense, isolated setting. The game focuses on dialogue and decisions, making you think about ethics, communication, and what it really means to understand something completely alien. It’s a little on the short side, but the writing is top-notch, making it a solid pick for anyone who loves story-driven games. Definitely worth checking out if you’re into deep, reflective narratives.

my biggest issue with quarantine circular is similar to my issue i had with subsurface circular, the previous game from this developer: it's just too damn short. both games are relatively simple but very memorable nonetheless. the UI and storytelling both felt more fluid in this game and the art style/animation gave more life to the characters in this story. overall, this is a pleasant experience, exploring an interesting concept about aliens, and humanity banding together to overcome adversity. i feel that this is a much better implementation than the predecessor in this series.

Interesting visual novel with quite a few endings! ~2 hours per playthrough.

Criminally underrated Text adventure that tackles what the world would do in a global pandemic. Too bad we know now. Still, well worth a play for the brilliant writing alone. Project Pantheon 17/275

Not as good as subsurface but still a good narrative game with a spin that I hadn't seen before, it's short but still really worth it if you enjoy narrative games.

I wish I could recommend this game but I cannot. After my second playthrough, it immediately become clear that this game has too many poor points despite an otherwise okay initial visual novel experience. * The UI is stylish but has very poor feedback. On my first playthrough I missed several moments to ask questions because topics to talk about that you unlock are kept separate from actual dialogue options and are only usable in certain moments, indicated by them lighting up slightly. Furthermore, a particular character has dark grey dialogue options, which just ends up looking like the buttons are disabled. * While the general writing is okay, too many dialogue options amount to be polite or be cruel while pretending there's moral or political nuance to these choices. This is made worse by the fact you are often given the option to take a 180 turn on your current stance in the worst way, which doesn't really feel like player agency so much as a bizarre self-destruct button. * As mentioned, the game doesn't hold up well with multiple playthroughs. Mostly the game just doesn't feel like it has much to offer despite its seemingly large amount of choices to make. The reason I played the game twice was because the first felt like a "bad" ending, and after I corrected my one mistake for a "good" ending. Past that, I didn't feel like I missed anything special or hidden. I certainly don't find the game entertaining enough to scour for secret routes. * A particularly frustrating part of the game is code puzzles. For some reason at a couple (at least maybe there is more) of points in the game you are expected to look at your character notes (which is fine its just more reading which is what the game is comprised of) and then solve a puzzle. The very first puzzle you get is literally just reading the answer in the notes and that's fine, but depending on your choices later you have to solve some odd ones that destroyed all the flow I had with the story. Both of the puzzles require knowledge that the game doesn't provide you, or the use of an internet search. There is a "hint" system which is also extremely unhelpful, since it literally just tells you to read the notes. * Some of the character interactions feel a bit strange and unbelievable, and sometimes it feels like characters have just forgotten things that were already covered, though this is somewhat forgivable.

I liked the story in the first one better. I really don't care about invading aliens when I've only seen the face of one. In this one I "feel" like there's no stakes, no danger, no stress, i'm good. The story of a robot revolution works better IMO. And the plot twist in the 1st game was amazing. That said, I do like this game style in-comparison to the first game, where instead of sitting in 1 location, you see yourself walk off, control multiple characters, day/night, a different location(even though its on the same boat, but different room). You can't do that in the first game, in fact the first game is so limited. If there are future games, don't do anymore games like this. Let us walk around and interact with stuff for God sakes.

A nice short 3d visual novel in a sci/fi setting with multiple endings and good character development. Recommended for the price.