The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline review

After loving One-o-One Games’ The Suicide of Rachel Foster way back in 2020, I was excited to get my hands on The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline. This is altogether a different beast to Rachel Foster; instead of exploring a closed-down hotel, you’re traversing the layers of hell. And while some parts of the game take part in the real world, it’s based around Dante’s Inferno and The Divine Comedy.

That’s quite a departure, then, but The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline packs in just as much atmosphere and exploration – and this time puts a greater emphasis on puzzles. Indeed, most of your time with the game will be spent either walking towards a puzzle or scratching your head as you try to solve one. They are tricky, and this isn’t the type of game that wants to throw any type of hint at you.

It’s a very short game, though. Without getting stuck on any of the puzzles, you can run through The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline in less than two hours, with your gameplay time only eked out as you puzzle over its numerous conundrums. Granted, the puzzle design is, for the most part, excellent. One particular puzzle was more frustrating than it was satisfying, but the rest of them are a joy to work out and leave you feeling rather proud of yourself when you do land on the right conclusion. Still, an in-game hint system wouldn’t go amiss (I had to puzzle it out myself, but you’ve got the benefit of online walkthroughs to help you…).

But given that this is a narrative-driven game, the story left me feeling rather flat. I didn’t really care for protagonist Gabriele or his family – whom we really only connect with over the phone – and while his plight is a noble one, there’s so little time spent on exposition and character-building that I felt pretty detached from the whole thing. It’s a stark contrast to The Suicide of Rachel Foster, whose characters and story left a big impression on me.

It doesn’t really matter, as long as you go into The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline knowing what to expect. There’s enough atmosphere and puzzling here to carry the game, and while a more engrossing story would have been nice, it’s not the be-all and end-all.

There are essentially two halves to The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline: for part of the game you’ll be exploring Gabriele’s familial home, and the rest will have you making your way through hell. I found exploring the house much more satisfying, even if it is fairly limited as to where you can go and what you can explore. It’s unsettling to find a large house that seemingly doesn’t have a single bedroom – but maybe Gabriele simply doesn’t want us snooping through his smalls. Some of it feels wasted, too: there’s a huge basement that serves no purpose other than housing a couple of collectibles. More reason to explore and more puzzles based in the house would have been nice.

For the segments you’re in hell – or The Dive, as Gabriele refers to it – you’ll largely be walking down a path. Much of the environment is a little repetitive, which is a shame, although there are a few nice moments of the environment being played with, such as belongings of Gabriele’s woven into the hellscape. There are also one or two jump scares as you explore which might catch you out if you’re not on your guard…

Your time in hell will largely be spent solving puzzles, as this is where the biggest brainteasers of the game take place. There are three main ‘trials’ to complete, but a number of smaller puzzles accompany these. There’s a good mixture of puzzle styles, so each one will require you to approach it in a new way. My favourite involved a musical melody, a clock, and a series of statues that all connected in some way. With no hints, it seemed far too obtuse to begin with. But when it all came together, it left me feeling very satisfied indeed.

The Alighieri Circle: Dante’s Bloodline isn’t the best narrative-driven puzzle game out there, then. Its story is lacklustre, it’s a little on the short side, and its environments aren’t always the most diverse. But it’s loaded with atmosphere and, for the most part, its puzzles are very well designed. It’s a few hours well spent, even if it’s ultimately rather forgettable.