As you crisscross the map, you also invariably stumble on a seemingly endless array of optional sidequests, mysteries, and “fieldwork,” which you keep track of in a dynamically updated journal. While there’s an attempt at a plot justification for each of these optional fetch quests, the ones I tried ended up being much less compelling than the main plot, which seems to have taken most of the writers’ attention.
Indiana Jones, famous Vatican tourist.
Credit:
Bethesda / MachineGames
As you explore, a tiny icon in the corner of the screen will also alert you to photo opportunities, which can unlock important bits of lore or context for puzzles. I thoroughly enjoyed these quick excuses to appreciate the game’s well-designed architecture and environments, even as it made Indy feel a bit more like a random tourist than a badass archaeologist hero.
Quick, hide!
Unfortunately, your ability to freely explore The Great Circle‘s environments is often hampered by large groups of roaming Nazi and/or fascist soldiers. Sometimes, you can put on a disguise to walk among them unseen, but even then, certain enemies can pick you out of the crowd, something that was not clear to me until I had already been plucked out of obscurity more than a few times.
When undisguised, you’ll spend a lot of time kneeling and sneaking silently just outside the soldiers’ vision cones or patiently waiting for them to move so you can sneak through a newly safe path. Remaining unseen also lets you silently take out enemies from behind, which includes pushing unsuspected enemy sentries off of ledges in a hilarious move that never, ever gets old.
They’ll never find me up here.
Credit:
Bethesda / MachineGames
When your sneaking skills fail you amid a large group of enemies, the best and easiest thing to do is immediately run and hide. For the most part, the enemies are incredibly inept in their inevitable pursuit; dodge around a couple of corners and hide in a dark alley and they’ll usually quickly lose track of you. While I appreciated that being spotted wasn’t an instant death sentence, the ease with which I could outsmart these soldiers made the sneaking a lot less tense.