52.2 hours played
Written 1 month and 4 days ago
I must admit, when I first tried the original "Pathologic," it struck me as a strange indie project, and I quickly abandoned it. Later, after reading enthusiastic reviews, I promised myself I'd revisit it but never found the time. Now I've had the opportunity to play "Pathologic 2," which is presented as a full reimagining of one of the original game's three storylines. Having completed it fully, I'd eagerly dive into the remaining two-thirds if they become available.
It's no big spoiler to reveal that the game unfolds in a remote steppe town gripped by a terrifying pandemic. The disease is unknown, spreads through airborne droplets, ravages the body swiftly, and proves fatal within a day. Although the town supposedly houses tens of thousands of residents, this is visually understated—just one of many gaming conventions. Among the population are dozens of significant characters with whom you interact extensively.
The protagonist must constantly manage hunger, thirst, immunity, exhaustion, and health. The core gameplay revolves around survival amidst extreme resource scarcity, especially time. Time moves inexorably forward, compelling you to make painful decisions since completing everything you wish is physically impossible. The town itself is a maze that changes daily, with barricades and obstacles emerging regularly. Losing precious time by taking a wrong turn is frustrating, often prompting a reload, though saving is restricted to specific locations. The narrative spans eleven in-game days (excluding the twelfth day), and with each passing day, time moves faster! This relentless pace ensures you're never truly at ease. Interestingly, the game allows you to bypass plot tasks entirely—provided you have sufficient food and water, you could theoretically sleep through to the ending. This isn't an oversight but another intentional design choice, reminding players they aren't always the central hero capable of saving everyone.
The game's atmosphere is intensely grim. Your character, a surgeon, must practically apply his skills—saving lives through operations, dissecting bodies to study the disease, or selling organs on the black market to afford basic sustenance. The agonizing infected are visually and audibly disturbing, and townsfolk gradually descend into madness, escalating from knife fights to burning people alive in desperate attempts to halt the epidemic.
Additional immersive elements include crafting items, repairing mechanisms, sewing clothes, sharpening weapons, and brewing medicines. There's also a distinctive mini-game for diagnosing illnesses and prescribing treatments. Though depicted simplistically, these elements add artistic charm.
However, not all mechanics were to my liking. Inventory management is particularly cumbersome. The game features nearly a hundred items, initially seeming like useless junk, yet each can become crucial for repairs or trading. The limited inventory size necessitates meticulous planning and creating stashes near save points to avoid unnecessary losses.
Additionally, the artificial limitations on item durability are frustrating. Clothing logically offers disease protection, but it deteriorates far too rapidly, as does weaponry, breaking after a few uses.
Combat is disappointing as well, particularly enemy AI. Bandits stubbornly continue to attack bare-handed despite being shot at with a shotgun, lacking any instinct for self-preservation.
Story-wise, however, the game is genuinely captivating, blending detective elements with mysticism and surrealism. Merely surviving becomes secondary to understanding unfolding events, unraveling mysteries, and attempting to rescue beloved characters. Yet no one is safe: any narrative character can contract the disease, and medicines are scarce, particularly since the protagonist also requires treatment. The developers deliberately instill a sense of fatalism—for instance, achieving one specific accomplishment necessitates allowing a particularly cherished character to die.
Game rules change daily. Neighborhoods become infected, risking contamination upon any contact; starvation drives locals to violence; barricades arise, water sources vanish, and shops close, replaced by illegal stalls. Prices and even currency fluctuate abruptly, rendering accumulated wealth worthless. Children, the primary source of medicine trades, eventually disappear from the streets. These perpetual changes maintain continuous engagement.
Notably, the death mechanic uniquely complicates gameplay: each protagonist's demise applies various debuffs, making subsequent survival harder. After repeated deaths, the game offers a "deal with the devil" to remove all negative effects—at a significant and irreversible cost, even if you reload a save. My advice: avoid this deal until you've completed the game at least once.
The standout feature remains the narrative itself. Explicit explanations are rare, and nearly every dialogue introduces new mysteries and enigmas. Its atmosphere somewhat evokes "Twin Peaks," rich in metaphors and allusions found in texts, imagery, and environment design. Unfortunately, there’s hardly time for contemplation due to the constant urgency. Occasionally, the protagonist's thoughts manifest as dialogues with shadowy versions of other characters. The developers also daringly break the fourth wall, portraying events alternately as dreams or theatrical performances, casting the player as an actor playing the protagonist.
"Pathologic 2" is undoubtedly not for everyone. It's challenging, tense, and occasionally irritating, yet its profound intrigue and depth firmly hold your attention until the very end.
