The Alighieri Circle: Dante's Bloodline is a first-person psychological mystery thriller developed by the Italian studio One O One Games and published by Entalto Publishing. It focuses on a cinematic experience inspired by Dante's Inferno, woven throughout with thematic environmental puzzles. Players get the chance to explore two distinct worlds and, through them, discover the story of the game's main character, Gabriele Alighieri.
The Alighieri Circle at a Glance
The Alighieri Circle uses a mixture of dialogue and puzzles to tell a story , that of the man Gabriele, as well as the legacy of the Alighieri family. The game takes place across two notable environments. The Alighieri family manor acts as a base for Gabriele, a place he regularly returns to while preparing and performing his family's ritual. This allows him to enter The Dive, a journey into Hell shaped by his own mind. By solving puzzles in both the manor and The Dive, players learn more about Gabriele and help him on his journey to save the world.
Story
The Alighieri Family Manor
Gabriele Alighieri is the newest Guardian of the Alighieri bloodline. As a descendant of the poet Dante, it is Gabriele's responsibility to enter The Dive and maintain the seal between Hell and the real world. Both the manor and The Dive tell Gabriele's story, each in their own way.
The manor focuses on the past of the Alighieri family , their shared history and how the family's sworn duty has affected the Guardians who came before. Throughout the manor, Gabriele finds items like diary entries and firsthand accounts from ancestors of centuries past, giving players a sense of why he might be apprehensive about the legacy he must live up to.
The twisted world of The Dive
In The Dive, Gabriele faces challenges designed to test his mental fortitude, confronting his fears about the responsibilities he carries. He is guided by The Ancestor, a member of the Alighieri family from the past who undertook the same journey. The Ancestor explains how The Dive works, revealing what Gabriele must do to complete his mission and how The Dive has functioned historically. Because The Dive takes form based on the current Guardian's psyche, its environment becomes a tool for showing Gabriele's story rather than simply telling it.
The Alighieri Circle also features many cinematics to bring the world to life. These cutscenes keep Gabriele a faceless protagonist , he is always either out of frame or serving as the point of view. This reinforces his place in the world: not as a hero, but as a simple human being. His role is important not because he himself is extraordinary, but because the world is relying on him. Gabriele is not destined for greatness and does not feel called to adventure like the typical video game protagonist. He is doing this because he has to.
Gameplay
The gameplay of The Alighieri Circle centers on environmental puzzles that encourage exploration. Solving puzzles requires finding important clues and items scattered throughout each environment, giving the game ample opportunity to showcase its environmental design. The puzzles reference elements of Dante's Inferno directly, helping tie the game firmly to its source material.
These puzzles serve as the primary motivation for environmental exploration, which in turn surfaces additional layers of the story. By exploring, players stumble upon collectible story items and cutscenes. The puzzles also tie into Gabriele's personal trauma and the Alighieri legacy, doing an excellent job of weaving together the cinematic narrative with the interactive gameplay to create a cohesive experience.
First Impressions
The Alighieri Circle gets off to a strong start with a beautifully stylized opening cutscene that sets the tone and draws players into Gabriele's mindset. From there, it balances aspects of his story by using the separation of distinct environments to deliver a unique narrative experience.
Pulling on Dante's Inferno as both inspiration and the origin of the Alighieri bloodline works in the game's favor , it gives players a reason to invest in the story while providing a reference point for the strange, hellish visuals of The Dive. Crucially, the game does not use Dante's Inferno as a crutch; it is still willing to forge its own path.
The puzzles are structured to be thematically relevant and lead to additional story content, making them feel meaningful rather than incidental. Everything melds together to form a cohesive experience that keeps players engaged and invested. The Alighieri Circle takes advantage of what it does well and leans into it as much as possible, delivering a full cinematic experience with strong interactive elements.
The Alighieri Circle is available on September 10 on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox.
