Wheels of Aurelia

On the one hand, this is presented well. The graphical style brings the baking heat and style of Italy to your screen., the music is bold and enjoyable but for me, that was about it. Perhaps if I was more interested in late-70's Italian cultural movements, there might have been more for me here, but I'm not and there isn't. Also that there is no control (that I know of) to confirm your dialogue choice instead of letting it time out, seems a curious choice and lets the conversations drift slowly instead of happen naturally. Worth a try though.

[i]There are some [b]good ideas[/b] here, but I [b]can't really recommend[/b] this game as a whole experience.[/i] [b]{+}[/b]: [list][*]Solid atmosphere and music with a very specific time and place in mind. [*]Combining the driving with the speech mechanics is a cool concept, and I liked how it forces the player to divide their attention, kind of how a more realistic driving scenario does. [*]You can choose to pick up hitchhikers and whether or not you want to talk to them (or even whether or not to take them to their destination, lol).[/list] [b]{0}[/b]: [list][*]Lots of cool historic facts to discover if you're into that. [*]The writing is okay, there are once again some cool ideas there, but the execution definitely could have used some work. It's also possible that some things just got lost in translation. [*]A single gameplay is incredibly short (~15 minutes), which means that it doesn't overstay its welcome, but it unfortunately also works as a detractor in other aspects (see the negatives). [*]There thankfully isn't any degradation system or the like for when you hit something with your car, etc.[/list] [b]{-}[/b]: [list][*]You can accelarate but not decelerate, which becomes pretty frustrating when you do get to a section where you're supposed to avoid crashes (which is pretty impossible, given that you're on a two-way road where your default speed is faster than the cars in front of you) [*]The game's design rests upon repeat plays (there are supposedly 16 different endings you can get), but there's not enough variety or clear directions to incentivize or guide you to do much of that. I got 4 endings, but I kept having the same conversations, and often repeat the same endings, even when I tried to deviate. After a while, I just couldn't bother to keep going.[/list] One thing I will say, that I imagine that games like this struggle with Steam's refund policy, so I'd recommend getting it on a sale if you're curious instead of buying it with a refund already in mind. Not that I can tell you what to do, it's your money, just a food for thought in case you want to support some indie devs.

The concept is interesting, but the gameplay is so annoying.

It's very repetitive and the story branches are not all that worthwhile. Was hoping for an experience like Kentucky Route Zero but was very disappointed

I have some mix feelings about Wheels of Aurelia. On one hand I truly love the setting, the concept, and the artstile of the game; a visual novel mixed with a driving game set in 70s Italy. The game portraits the time are well, allowing the player to jump fifty years in the past and learn a lot about the old country. On the other hand, the sixteen different endings feel a bit rushed and arbitrary, leading to some half-baked runs. I would still recommend buying Wheels of Aurelia, perhaps during sales when the title is often sold for peanuts.

An interesting art style, but otherwise pointless game. The gameplay is tediously simple, which might be fine if it wasn't also clunky and unforgiving. The characters are flat and one-dimensional (Lella is the worst). The dialogue/story reads like a debate between teenage Redditors. Can't imagine how anyone could stick this out to the end. Not worth playing - this would have made a better indie movie than a game, and even then, the audience would be small.

Lo acabo de jugar una vez y no entendí nada xd al parecer hay que tener nociones de historia italiana y política para entender algo, la verdad no me gustó.