Wheels of Aurelia

Wheels of Aurelia is a visual novel and adventure video game that was developed and published by Santa Ragione, and was released worldwide on 20 September 2016 for Linux, Macintosh and Microsoft Windows, and later released on 4 October 2016 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and a mobile version on 19 October 2017 for iOS. The game was also released on 2 November 2017 for the Nintendo Switch. Its story is set in Italy in 1978 and tells the story of the player-character, a woman named Lella who drives along the Italian motorway Via Aurelia alongside one or many companions.

From a bird's-eye view, the player controls Lella's vehicle and dialogue choices; the game's narrative has a branching dialogue system. On her way across Via Aurelia, she meets hitchhikers who can alter the story's outcomes. While the game is fairly short, it offers 16 different endings. The game was inspired by the 1986 arcade game Out Run and the cult film Il Sorpasso. Wheels of Aurelia received mixed reviews from critics; while its atmosphere and aesthetics were praised, reviewers thought the gameplay was fitted into the narrative poorly.

Plot
The player controls Lella, a feminist woman driving a sports car who stops in a nightclub to "find someone to take her away", looking for a date to help her leave the country. She finds Olga, who later accompanies her for the journey to France, leaving behind the highly political and dangerous Italy. Lella and Olga want to leave the country for different reasons; Lella is attempting to re-convene with her former kidnapper and Olga is attempting to flee to France to abort her unborn child. The players' actions and their interactions with non-player characters in the form of hitchhikers, one of many different endings may be incurred.

When the characters reach new locations, a cutscene with the characters placed over a postcard of the area will play. The player can visit Rome, Civitavecchia, Bracciano, Piombino, Siena and Viareggio during the trip, but may visit a limited range of locations per playthrough. The player may change Lella's travel companions, dump hitchikers, and change the vehicle Lella is driving at these locations, purely on the players' choice of dialogue. Wheels of Aurelia explores many topics, including single parents, fascism and the Mafia. Experiences of the game can range from a car race against a stranger to robbing a bank.

Gameplay


Wheels of Aurelia follows a female couple in a 1978 road trip across Italy. Unusually for a traditionally story-based visual novel, the player is expected to drive the sports car in game. As the journey progresses, the player-character meets hitchhikers and, through interactions with them, can alter the game's endings. The game features 16 different endings. From start to finish, game playthroughs last around 15 minutes.

The game sees the player-character called Lella and a partner called Olga, who both want to leave Italy for initially unknown reasons. The two drive an Italian sports car, and attempt to drive the motorway Via Aurelia, where they learn more about themselves, Italy, and bystanders and villages along the way, The game features "Wheelspedia", where information discussed in dialogue is added and the player can read about the information being discussed. New cars and vehicles can be unlocked through different endings and circumstances can be changed through dialogue options. Despite having multiple endings and a branching story, the game only offers three dialogue options at a time.

Development
The game was designed and coded by Santa Ragione's Pietro Righi Riva and Nicolò Tedeschi, with help from Double Fine Productions' Anna Kipnis. Kipnis was responsible for the game's dialogue design, a role she worked on with Double Fine Productions. According to the game's creators, Wheels of Aurelia was developed with a "unique" system in place, with each line of dialogue tied treated as a separate topic, setting certain interactions to affect later events. Wheels of Aurelia was first released as a beta included in a release on Humble Bundle called "Humble Weekly Bundle: Fantastic Arcade". This version of the game would be referred to as the "Fantastic Arcade Beta Edition".

The game was inspired by the 1986 arcade game Out Run and 1962 cult film Il Sorpasso, featuring Commedia all'italiana which the developers attempted to attach to the release. During an interview with designer, producer, and programmer Pietro Riva, noted that Wheels "is the natural evolution" of the "driving game" mentality set out in the Out Run series. Riva also noted that Il Sorpasso was the "movie that single-handedly inspired [Wheels of Aurelia] — the main reference" Riva also mentions that other driving games were inspiration for the game including 1993's World Rally Championship, and 1994's Great 1000 Mile Rally as inspiration for the visual aspect of the game. Riva had spent some time discussing with co-developer Nicolò Sala regarding making a game set in Italy before working on the project. Along with this, Riva wanted to research how the country was in the generation before his, "because it always felt like we were living – as kids – in the aftermath of something important."

Wheels's artwork came from a variety of artists. The environment Italian artist Flaminia Grimaldi, who contributed over 200 assets for the game's Italien landscape, whereas the game's characters were created by New Yorker Patrick Leger; who worked closely with the game's writers to create the characters. Italian game designer couple "We Are Müesli" helped to create Wheels's dialogue; and provided the voice artist recordings for all of the game's characters.

The game was created using the Unity game engine, with pre-production starting in January 2014. The production was delayed until June 2015 for Santa Ragione to work on FOTONICA, an action first person runner, whilst still working on the imagery, movies, and music for Wheels. Shortly after, Wheels was placed on Steam Greenlight. The game was eventually greenlit and was released for Linux, Macintosh and Microsoft Windows on 20 September 2016. The PlayStation 4 version was released on 4 October 2016, and the Xbox One version was released on 18 November 2016. The first mobile version of the game was released for iOS on 19 October 2016, and after the release of the Nintendo Switch, the game was released exclusively via the Nintendo eShop the following year on 2 November 2017.

Reception
According to the review aggregator Metacritic, the Windows version of Wheels of Aurelia received "mixed or average reviews", while the Switch version received "generally unfavorable reviews". Italy's Eurogamer reviewed the PlayStation version, calling the game's soundtrack "captivating", and that the game was an "interesting product" but stated the game was only suitable for a "niche audience". IGN Italy reviewed the PlayStation version, calling it "a truly unique game that deserves to be played".

Critics praised the game's presentation and graphical interface. Kotaku was very positive about the game's graphics, saying, "Playing this game is like playing an Italian neorealist film." They praised the game's graphical representation of this type of film, despite it being a modern game "it still captures the naturalness and honesty of the films of that genre." Kotaku also praised the game's atmosphere, "Wheels of Aurelia captures a moment in time when conventions of Italian life were being challenged, and it’s worth getting a little insight into these struggles." Rosa Piermarco of IGN Italy also commented on the games' graphical representation, citing "mention of merit to the nice low poly graphics and two-dimensional portraits of the characters inspired by the seventies comics, such as those of Lanciostory and Skorpio"

Game Informer cited the games' "aesthetically flawless" graphics and the "accurate historical reconstruction"; however, it was less appreciative of the games' driving mechanics and lack of real interaction with the story. Review magazine Game Informer were also positive about the game, being particularly positive about the game's immersion, with the game being at its "best when it’s immersing you in the culture it came from".

However, some reviews questioned the game's substance. Edge reviewing the Windows version, said it is a "shame the journey itself can't match the poignancy of the final destination". When reviewing the Nintendo Switch release, Switch Player called it "too short to be engaging" and a "disappointing attempt at bringing the Visual Novel genre to the Switch". Switch Player also commented on the game's value for money, saying "Maybe if the game was longer I might’ve had more time to warm into the story and I may have been able to enjoy Wheels of Aurelia a little more." Nintendo Life also found the game lacking, saying, "As a visual novel, Wheels of Aurelia is a lacklustre experience. As a driving game, it’s even worse."