Journey of the Broken Circle

Genre: Platformer

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Nakana Bundle #2 (Mythic Ocean + Journey of the Broken Circle + Cosmic Top Secret), along with Cosmic Top Secret and Mythic Ocean. This game is also included in Nakana Bundle #4, along with Lydia, Mythic Ocean, Soul Searching, and Stilstand. Additionally, this game is also in Nakana Bundle #6 (10 games), along with A Night at the Races, Cosmic Top Secret, Eqqo, Infini, Lydia, Mythic Ocean, Please Touch The Artwork, Soul Searching, and Stilstand.)

Journey of the Broken Circle is a story-focused Platformer, a game where the platforming is mostly the medium used to tell a story, not necessarily the focus of the game itself. If you think of games like Thomas Was Alone, you’ll have a rough idea of what I’m talking about. In this game, you play as a Pac-Man-shaped circle with a piece missing from it, on a journey to try to find its peace, er, piece.

Yeah, about that… so the story here aims to be symbolic about relationships, breakups, dependence and independence. At times it does this very well, showing in abstract gameplay mechanics the struggles two people in a relationship might go through, and it’s times like these where the game is at its strongest. However, there are other times when characters spout cliches at you, and it’s times like these where the game comes off as a bit pretentious. This isn’t to say that this game’s story is bad, in fact, the times when it works, it really works, and more than most games this year this game’s story had me contemplative and introspective… but I am saying that there are definitely times when it doesn’t work, too.

This story is supported by pretty simple visuals that work well enough with the abstract nature of the way this game approaches its topic matter. Everything is in simple shapes with flat colors, and it looks pleasant but not in any way impressive. This is joined by a light synthesized soundtrack which again works well for the game without being especially memorable. However, while none of the presentation is bad, it’s so simple that it’s mind-boggling that this game requires over 1GB of space on your Nintendo Switch… just what is it about basic geometric shapes that calls for that much space?

While the story takes the center stage here, the gameplay does at times jump to the forefront, and it’s often these times that I thought the game was at its weakest, as the platforming in this game isn’t especially nuanced or fun, and it suffers from some nasty difficulty spikes. Often you’ll be playing through areas completely devoid of anything resembling a challenge, only to be met soon after with a section that you’ll have to play through a dozen times before getting it right. It’s a shame because I do like how the game incorporates its mechanics into the story, but if it’s going to be asking players to focus on that story, it shouldn’t be frustrating them with difficulty spikes.

Overall, I enjoyed my time with Journey of the Broken Circle, but I found the entire thing to be very uneven, both in the way it tells its story and in its gameplay, with brilliant and subtle interspersed with eye-rollingly cliché, sleep-inducing easy interspersed with controller-throwing difficult. Players looking for an interesting abstract story about relationships should definitely give this game some consideration, but be aware that the game, as with its protagonist, ain’t perfect.

tl;dr – Journey of the Broken Circle is a story-focused Platformer that tells an abstract tale about relationships through its gameplay starring a circle missing a piece. This game has some good story dealing with its central topic, and uses gameplay mechanics in some clever ways to deliver that story, but both the story and the gameplay are uneven, with thoughtful examinations injected with cringe-worthy cliches, and good use of gameplay mechanics brought down by sections that are snoozefests and others with sharp difficulty spikes. Overall it’s still a good experience, but a very uneven one.

Grade: C+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2020 Game Awards:

Winner:

The “Why is this taking so much space on my memory card!?” Award – Simple geometric shapes. No voiceover, nothing especially novel going on with the soundtrack, and a run time that lasts just a few hours… so why does this game take up over 1GB of space on my MicroSD card?

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