Quarantine Circular (2018)

As the title states: in terms of character, this was, for me, a more satisfying experience than Subsurface Circular, but the former, overall, had a far stronger plot. And with that plot, more complex layering with respect to player input. Additionally, while the endings of both are rather abrupt, Quarantine's is especially jarring, very much a "Poochy died on the way back to his home planet" sort of thing.

Not bad, just not that great. A mostly charming hour and a half with unfortunately one-dimensional characters that cuts itself off far too abruptly. If curious about either of these Bithell shorts, Subsurface is the way to go. Quarantine just doesn't offer enough to make it feel like anything more than a disposable snack.

Much like the predecessor Subsurface Circular, Quarantine works similarly with its dialogue-driven narrative to keep the plot moving forward. Instead of AI-driven robots interacting with each other, it's now about humans who are on the brink of extinction due to a lethal infection spreading wide and quickly. Things would take a turn when an alien being has been found and contained on a medical vessel, who could decide the fate of humanity depending on the player's choices. The immersion of the plot is easy thanks to game's focus on dialogue and the distinctive personalities of each character involved, so I'll give props to the writer.

At first playthrough, I was on the fence with replaying and trying all the options but I gotta thank the completionist within me for giving it new runs. With each replay, I felt more engaged with the story and different character's development. There are certainly moments I wished I could skip familiar dialogues but over that,

I am pleased once again by the developers for delivering once again. This interactive story game can be finished in barely an hour but opens for many options to explore, touching upon different situations where it gets light-hearted, tense and at times philosophical. Recommended for most people who like to play for the story!

The Circular games are pretty barebones as far as visual novels go. There aren't many "important" decisions, and the graphic renderings of your characters can leave a lot to be desired. However, they are so well written, so particular in their subject matter- it is hard to not overlook their issues. I'm not a visual novel guy either. I would say my enjoyment to the genre is pretty limited to these games and Doki Doki Literature Club. And Doki Doki is more of a twist on the genre than a proper visual novel.

I digress. The Circular games are insightful, smart, immediately engaging, philosophical, humorous, and sobering. I follow Mike Bithell on twitter just waiting for him to give us updates on the third Circular game. Apparently, he is too busy working on John Wick (hey, I'll play that too).

Feel free to treat this as my review for both Circular games. Subsurface is a bit longer and linear while Quarantine is shorter and coiled. Both are great and both deserve your money. Hope you have fun chatting with robots and aliens.