kek.
He misunderstood the tragedians...
A 2-3 hour experience that toys with you, waving futility in your face, taunting you, and daring you to persevere anyway... something Pathologic has always excelled at. Playing as the Bachelor is never not a treat, his dialogue is as funny as ever while still managing to be unsettling in context. The gameplay is a nice way to get used to mechanics before diving into Pathologic 2, and the story it has to tell deviates enough from what we have come to expect from previous Pathologic entries that it feels like a fresh experience.
If you love Pathologic, or want to explore something a little bit different in the survival horror genre that prioritises storytelling over mechanics, then The Marble Nest is definitely worth playing. Just expect a difficulty hike if you go from The Marble Nest to Pathologic 2!
A 2-3 hour experience that toys with you, waving futility in your face, taunting you, and daring you to persevere anyway... something Pathologic has always excelled at. Playing as the Bachelor is never not a treat, his dialogue is as funny as ever while still managing to be unsettling in context. The gameplay is a nice way to get used to mechanics before diving into Pathologic 2, and the story it has to tell deviates enough from what we have come to expect from previous Pathologic entries that it feels like a fresh experience.
If you love Pathologic, or want to explore something a little bit different in the survival horror genre that prioritises storytelling over mechanics, then The Marble Nest is definitely worth playing. Just expect a difficulty hike if you go from The Marble Nest to Pathologic 2!
You know when you're at an ice cream shop and you ask to try a flavor before buying a scoop of it? Marble Nest is pretty much that. Well, it was originally a demo, but my point is that Marble Nest is this tiny bit of flavor that to some will be enough to decide whether they want to fully play/buy Pathologic 2 or not.
I played it before jumping into the main game and I think it's a good bridge between Classic and 2. Short little piece, perfect for easing Classic players into 2's system, you get to watch the personification of death terrorize Daniil Dankovsky, what's not to love?
I'll keep this review short and sweet, very similar to this DLC. As a huge fan of the base game, I was really looking forward to getting to experience The Marble Nest. In many ways, the DLC was exactly what I wanted it to be, and in other ways it disappointed me.
The best part of this DLC was how it gave me a taste of playing as the Bachelor. I haven't played Pathologic Classic HD yet (I think I need some time to mentally prepare for that one), so I didn't know much about what I could expect to experience when playing as Bachelor. The game's incredible writing allows for the game to make him feel so much different than the Haruspex. I felt like I was an entirely different character, not just experiencing a different storyline but maintaining the type of character I wanted to be.
I also loved the opening of this DLC and how it has its own self-contained story. I have no clue if the events of this DLC happen in the Bachelor's route in the original Pathologic, but this premise was incredibly dark and interesting to experience. While it isn't as perfect as the base game by any stretch of the imagination, I was intrigued the entire way through.
As for the cons, this DLC is incredibly short. It will take a veteran player only around an hour to complete, maybe even less if you know what to do. The DLC has 4 different endings to achieve, so that is a plus. But the DLC just lacks any kind of challenge or threat. Bachelor's bars simply never deplete. I think I only had to eat once in the entire DLC, let alone drink water or worry about my immunity. There are a handful of required texts throughout the DLC, all of which were engaging and interesting. But there's a tooooooon of interesting side missions that you can easily miss. Some of this content was pretty cool, and maybe should've been required in the main quests of the DLC.
All in all, this is a good DLC for Pathologic 2 that sort of acts as a demo for the Bachelor route. I have absolutely no clue if we're ever going to get the other two routes from the original Pathologic in this game, but at the very least I can say that this DLC was a great time playing through. Will I ever revisit it? No, I don't see that happening. But a good time and a good reminder of why I adore this game.
The best part of this DLC was how it gave me a taste of playing as the Bachelor. I haven't played Pathologic Classic HD yet (I think I need some time to mentally prepare for that one), so I didn't know much about what I could expect to experience when playing as Bachelor. The game's incredible writing allows for the game to make him feel so much different than the Haruspex. I felt like I was an entirely different character, not just experiencing a different storyline but maintaining the type of character I wanted to be.
I also loved the opening of this DLC and how it has its own self-contained story. I have no clue if the events of this DLC happen in the Bachelor's route in the original Pathologic, but this premise was incredibly dark and interesting to experience. While it isn't as perfect as the base game by any stretch of the imagination, I was intrigued the entire way through.
As for the cons, this DLC is incredibly short. It will take a veteran player only around an hour to complete, maybe even less if you know what to do. The DLC has 4 different endings to achieve, so that is a plus. But the DLC just lacks any kind of challenge or threat. Bachelor's bars simply never deplete. I think I only had to eat once in the entire DLC, let alone drink water or worry about my immunity. There are a handful of required texts throughout the DLC, all of which were engaging and interesting. But there's a tooooooon of interesting side missions that you can easily miss. Some of this content was pretty cool, and maybe should've been required in the main quests of the DLC.
All in all, this is a good DLC for Pathologic 2 that sort of acts as a demo for the Bachelor route. I have absolutely no clue if we're ever going to get the other two routes from the original Pathologic in this game, but at the very least I can say that this DLC was a great time playing through. Will I ever revisit it? No, I don't see that happening. But a good time and a good reminder of why I adore this game.
daniil dankovsky: "if death came for me in the night, clad in the clothes of those that attempt to ward Him off, so morbid is His sense of humour, and beckoned for me to follow Him into the endless dreary oblivion that is His promise, I would simply Not Die. rip to the fundamentally animalistic nature of man but i'm built different."
artemy burakh: "ohhh i can't not fuck him"
artemy burakh: "ohhh i can't not fuck him"
Any play, game or performance is a cage.
More emotion. Less words. They are all obsolete.
It's all different now.
More emotion. Less words. They are all obsolete.
It's all different now.
"Are you ready to die, Bachelor?"
très cool
Danill's funny ass fate and more love to Artemy
2/4 endings, can be a wonderful insight into the world and introduction before attempting the game proper. It gives a much more open look at an idea of the Bachelor's route than either Pathologic 2 or Pathologic 1 allowed - the variance is stark compared to what we know to happen in either, and I found it very intriguing exploring that. Overall, I loved it - what I wouldn't give to spend another minute with the smell of twyrine and the earth biting my heels - but at points it didn't feel like I was the Bachelor; there was no distinguishing feature outside of being set in the Stone Yard from this to the base game, and taking it as something in its own right (not just a thing in attachment to the Main Performance), it feels as if it fails to allow the personality of Dankovsky to really drip through. It's probably simply a matter of the length, but again, this is me taking it as a full product In Itself - not the free DLC it is presented as. As that, it is wonderful; a small snippet into a way that could be, a day that never ends, a few hours of eternity.
this is a daniil-suffering fanservice game. u want to see him feel very bad and stressed? play it. also regular suffering game. very good.
twas interesting