Monday, March 19, 2018

Subsurface Circular Review (Nintendo Switch)

Written by Kris Galvez


Title: Subsurface Circular
Developer: Bithell Games
Publisher: Ant Workshop
Price: $5.99
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
Also Available OniOS, Steam



When you think of visual novels, you usually think of anime-like games with a lot of readings and choices. The setting of these games usually has you, being a guy, doing all it takes to woo girls and achieve an ending with one or several of them. There are however some of these that try to elevate themselves from the others by either having exemplary story or just otherwise telling a unique story which tackles our problems in real life. Having played through Subsurface Circular for Switch, I can say that it is one unique and experimental visual novel from Thomas is Alone's Mike Bithell.




This techno detective noir story is told from the perspective of a Detective Tek (robotic slaves managed by humanity) who is tasked with investigating shady dealings on the subway's circular line. You basically spend the story of the game sitting through the train cart while dealing with a variety of other Teks while solving a mysterious missing Tek case. All of this is simply done by reading through lots and lots of texts and choosing responses to interact with the other passengers of the Subsurface Circular.




These Teks, rendered gloriously in the Switch screen and almost looking similarly, have a variety of personalities that make them almost human. Some are happy with what they do, some are ambitious, some are content with what they have, some are programmed to love and some are just sad due to their programming limiting their actions. All of this is quite metaphysical story wise, while Teks are advanced enough to feel human to the player, they still lack the agency or the real awareness that we humans have. They are still slaves to their human managers who control their day to day activities much like what we do in real life.




There is a lot to be said about the story but saying too much is better left experienced. The main game itself consists of making conversation to these Teks and although there are a lot of choices, you still basically arrive at the same outcome. What makes each of these interesting, is that each Tek is a puzzle that need to be unravelled. They have problems of their own that they are sometimes not keen on saying. You need to use “Focus Points”, basically code words, to solve a puzzle or problem that each Tek is experiencing. There is a lot of fun to be had with these puzzles and they are never repetitive. I myself recommend you jotting down notes for some of these.




Presentation wise, I believe that Subsurface Circular makes use of the Switch hardware well. The graphics are clean for what they are and everything runs well. The soundtrack consists of electronic that sets the mood for the story. What I love about the game on the Switch is that when played in handheld mode, you are basically peering into the Subsurface Circular's cart. The HD Rumble of the Joy-cons lends itself well as you can feel the train while it traverses the underground railway. Doors open and you can subtly feel them opening with the Joy-cons in your hands. It's like the Switch itself is the train cart and the feeling is all too glorious in your hands.




As of now, Mike Bithell's short experimental narrative is one of the best stories ever told available for the Switch. It is unique and ambitious while being short and cheap. It tells a lot about our lives and makes commentary on obsolescence in the face of an evolving world. As visual novels tend to succeed or fail in the player relating to the characters, I can say that Subsurface Circular is too effective for what it tries to bring to the table. For the price that it has on the Nintendo Switch eshop, I can definitely recommend this title to everyone wanting to read a great narrative tale over the weekend.



Pros:
  • Presentation wise, the graphics and soundtrack suits the game well.
  • The characters are very smartly written and they all feel too real even if they are man made Teks.
  • The story, while linear, is compelling.
  • This is one of the best uses of the HD Rumble for the Joy-cons in my opinion.
  • The price is great!! $6.00 is a cheap price for this masterpiece.
  • The puzzles are good and organically tied into the masterful dialoguea.

Cons:
  • Not for everyone as it requires lots and lots of reading.


Score: 9/10


Note: This review is based on the retail build provided by the publisher.

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