The Alighieri Circle: Dante's Bloodline

A common criticism I have seen regarding this game is that it's not really *about* Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy, the *lore*. And that is a valid point. If you were hoping for that (and I will admit, I was too to a certain extent), you will be disappointed. The Alighieri family, Dante's vision of Hell are - apart from the occasional, brief deep-dive - window dressing. It is, however, extremely beautiful window dressing. The Alighieri Circle is an extremely beautiful artpiece, garnished with surprisingly challenging puzzles - that were on occasion bordering on frustrating without overstepping that fine line - and a vibe, an atmosphere you want to drown in. As for the story, well, the game does manage to keep the mystery and the suspense up for a good long while, I will give it that, but in the end - for me at least - the narrative fell a bit flat. Not horribly so that it made me regret playing the game - far from it - but enough for me to have a slightly stale aftertaste in my mouth when staring somewhat blankly at the ending credits. So, what I tell you is this: Get this game and play it to experience an interactive artpiece that will touch you, your soul, and your brain. I…

The Alighieri Circle: Dante's Bloodline, is visualy amazing I enjoyed the story and the puzzels were decent make you think a bit without being overly hard, I played the game in full and the atmosphere the sound design there is nothing not to like here.

[h2]A haunting descent worth taking, once you get past the opening[/h2] Two playthroughs in, and I'm still tempted to go back for a third. You play Gabriele Alighieri, a descendant of Dante, called home to the family villa every 33 years to reseal the gates of Hell. No combat, no health bar. Just you, the house, and whatever is behind the next door. [b]What works[/b] [list] [*] Atmosphere is dialed in perfectly. Tense enough to feel, never exhausting. It's less "don't die" dread and more "what happened to this family" dread. [*] Stunning painterly art direction. Even the paintings on the walls have real brushwork, and every room feels built to be lived in, not just to hold a puzzle. [*] Pacing trusts you. The game nudges instead of pushing you to objective markers. [*] Excellent voice acting that makes the house feel inhabited, down to the background whispers. [*] Diary pages and bookmarks reward thorough exploration. [/list] [b]What needs work[/b] [list] [*] Early puzzles don't always play fair. The statue hunt near the start is the worst offender, and it may lose players before the game hits its stride. [*] Puzzle quality improves sharply once you reach the Dive, but first imp…

First things first - the visuals are amazing, truly. I enjoyed what I saw immensely; such eye candy. However, the puzzles were tedious. And since they ARE the gameplay, I can not say it was exactly fun to play. First, we just walk around collecting statues, then we need to figure out the antonyms to the names of sins? I'm sorry, but since English is not my first language, matching was not obvious for me. The puzzle with the clock and moaning figures was fine, hovewer I do not understand why I need to go from one end of the location to another multiple times as I am trying to figure it out. It is not fun. The last puzzle with doors was so unbearably tedious that it honestly ruins my whole impression of the game. It was horrible. Disgusting. I did not see logic (maybe I am stupid idk) - it was just trial and error for me. I can not say I particularly enjoyed the plot. Perhaps I am not intellectually advanced enough to grasp it, but to me it seemed too vague. Some philosophical bs that you are supposed to judge based on your own experience.

wish you had hints some of these puzzles were really hard

As a fan of the Divine Comedy, I really wanted to see where the Alighieri Circle took me, and I have to say that, while a rather short game (lasting only a scant few hours), this is an experience that left me speechless. The bloodline of Dante being forced to perform a ritual every generation had me intrigued, and Gabriele's personal journey is most definitely worth the play time. The puzzles are rather tricky, and I definitely had to look up a walkthrough, but getting past those this was a tale that had me gripped from beginning to end.