Journey of the Broken Circle

An affecting story and dazzling presentation is marred by a series of frustrating gameplay mechanics.

A meaningful and short adventure, capable of sensibly touching complex topics like loneliness and depression, in a colorful 2D world. Suggested to everyone who likes thought-provoking narrative games.

Roll all the way to your destiny in Journey of the Broken Circle. Join Circle in its search for its missing piece, all while marveling at a beautiful minimalistic world filled with fun-loving characters ready to wax philosophical.

If you’re looking for a platforming experience that won’t push you to your limits but instead engage you in a thoughtful, sometimes meditative journey, then you won’t go far wrong with Journey of the Broken Circle. There are a few issues with its writing and translation, but there’s nothing to detract from its beautiful art and sumptuous soundtrack. Slow down, enjoy the scenery, and take heed of its message.

Journey of the Broken Circle is a story about friendship, loss, love and beauty. Most of all though it’s a story about a little circle who likes to stick random things in his mouth. How does he still talk when his mouth is holding a random object? Who knows, all I know is that this game hits some narrative tones that I was perhaps not expecting and perhaps are unheard of for a game of its ilk.

In any case, Journey of the Broken Circle seems to be more interested in outlining the deeply earthly, universally human part of its history, than offering a satisfying platformer.

Journey of the Broken Circle has a nice and deep story with existential values. Amazing images. Very well constructed surreal characters. It has an unstable gameplay with highs and lows and the story trying to be deep falls into somewhat childish clichés.

Journey of the Broken Circle is a short experience that is worth playing at least once in your life. Featuring an adventure meticulously built to make the player reflect on himself, this little indie stands out among the rest despite its shallow gameplay.

The development team has crafted an experience that shows how while life can be filled with anxiety, worrying often proves to be a waste of time because the worst case scenario does not come true, even when an enemy gives chase. Journey of the Broken Circle on Nintendo is a mental journey through conquering fears, pieced together with impressive attention to detail, showing that just by trying hard - dozens of times if needs be - moving forward can happen and positive results can occur despite the person's apprehensiveness. The perfect mix of platform-puzzling goodness, and deep, profound story-telling.

What influences my opinion is that this is, after all, a platformer at heart. The challenges got more difficult the farther I went in, to a point where I despaired of ever progressing. But, it doesn’t seem fair to reflect the fact that I’m awful at platforming gameplay in the final verdict. So I will say: if you like platformers and like a bit of food for thought, this is a great game. If you are bad at platforming, then you may have to find someone in your family to help you along in tight spots to enjoy the entire story.