god give me strength to finish this
there really is just no story nor game that even holds a candle to pathologic. one of the best written narratives ive ever had the honor of witnessing whilst also deserving the title of an 'anti-game'. i dont say that as a slight against it.
personally, i enjoyed the gameplay a lot, but, i recognize i am an exception and not the rule. cause of that, i cannot really recommend this game in good conscience, but, if you do feel determined enough to play it yourself, good luck.
make sure to get used to dodging plague clouds!
personally, i enjoyed the gameplay a lot, but, i recognize i am an exception and not the rule. cause of that, i cannot really recommend this game in good conscience, but, if you do feel determined enough to play it yourself, good luck.
make sure to get used to dodging plague clouds!
Very stressful game, but I loved it. Played it while home with a bad flu during university, super immersive.
Really bad gameplay (like actually terrible) with a 10/10 story. I'm torn.
another unique game i loved
I can't really rate this game it is simultaneously one of the best games ever made and trash.
Man I wanna get into this, but it's so... jank.
An anti-game, one that stands against ever conceivable convention of the medium in the ultimate test of patience. An unforgettable experience and one of my favorites of all time.
Weird game. I love it.
This review contains spoilers
It's a little funny that I feel as relieved as I do about finally finishing Pathologic considering I didn't even play the game myself--I watched a playthrough. And some of that is probably why I can't give Pathologic 5 stars; I know the game would frustrate me to no end. I'm not someone who likes the grind in video games (except for in Lob Corp, for some reason), I'm not someone who likes to feel frustrated when I'm trying to get through the story, I hate sidequests in games, I hate feeling distracted by things external from the main plot, etc. and this is literally all Pathologic does for its entire gameplay loop across every route. You pick a character who is bogged down with the tedium of meaningless requests from side characters--characters who, in some cases, softlock you into losing the route if you deny them their whims.
So yeah. I didn't play Pathologic myself. And that meant I couldn't sit and pick through the letters the characters receive, that meant I couldn't decide which lore I thought was interesting and pursue that further--all for the sake of watching the LPer, who has played Pathologic Classic more than a handful of times, say, "Oh, I know where this is," and steamroll her way to the next quest point so I could see the route carried out to completion. Sort of an antithesis to what Pathologic asks of its player, but at least I got to experience the whole thing like this!! But it also meant some things just didn't fully hit for me in the way the devs probably intended, or the way I wanted them to, even if I could rationally understand everything or follow the train of thought--I just didn't have the same emotional connection someone would have if they struggled through those 12 days themselves.
Anyway, Pathologic is good. It's weird and uncanny and things don't always make sense and characters will go out of their way to interfere. "Why do you care?" Pathologic asks when it throws your fifth plague cloud in your face. "None of these people are grateful for your help," Pathologic says when you complete a quest and take a hit to your Reputation and get attacked in the street even while you're doing everything you can to help the townsfolk, "The town's probably doomed anyway," Pathologic chides you when you're trying to juggle your healer's survival as well as your Bound's.
Pathologic INSISTS to you that nothing in its world matters. The town is doomed. The game is a play put on for your, the player's--not your character's--entertainment. Your healer, a mere avatar, doesn't matter. But that's not true, either. Because your healer does matter. Why would they tell you that the Bachelor is named Daniil--or name any of the healers if the Powers That Be simply refer to them as their archetypes?
This game is a paradox. The Town-on-Gorkhon is not an inhabited world; it's a children's sandbox for us to play in. But it, in equal fervor, demands that you care about it anyways. And to ask yourself, "Why am I fighting so hard in a game that wants me to lose so bad?" What does that say about a person?
The healers all have different answers to that question. It's why routes work so well in this game. To understand their own answers in the face of futility, and encourage the players to understand those answers and see how the ending of their paths were the only decision each character could come to respectively. I remember feeling baffled at Artemy's insistence of preserving the town when I finished Daniil's route, but as I got further through Artemy's route, it was so apparent that there was simply no other choice for him. This is also why certain things land in routes but don't land in others. The Powers That Be hit much harder in the Bachelor's route than the Haruspex's, for example.
But this facetedness is what makes Pathologic so god damn brilliant, even if the game is definitely not for everyone. Even if the game is punishing and relentless in its cruelty (said the guy who didn't even play the game himself). You care. Or you want to care. But why? What do you want to fight for? What do you want to preserve? Find that, and hold onto it forever, no matter how much people berate you for it, no matter how much the world kicks you for it. Because if it matters to you enough in a video game, it should matter to you enough in real life, too.
There's still some stilted stuff to the game, and not all of it ended up fully meshing for me, and I was often confused or baffled by the dialogue choices or certain phrasings being used but overall this barely mattered to me.
I wish that there were a better way to translate Pathologic's Russian title, More. Utopia, into English, because "Plague Utopia" seems far more fitting. A fake world with a fake plague that you want to save despite it all. That's Pathologic, babey!!!
So yeah. I didn't play Pathologic myself. And that meant I couldn't sit and pick through the letters the characters receive, that meant I couldn't decide which lore I thought was interesting and pursue that further--all for the sake of watching the LPer, who has played Pathologic Classic more than a handful of times, say, "Oh, I know where this is," and steamroll her way to the next quest point so I could see the route carried out to completion. Sort of an antithesis to what Pathologic asks of its player, but at least I got to experience the whole thing like this!! But it also meant some things just didn't fully hit for me in the way the devs probably intended, or the way I wanted them to, even if I could rationally understand everything or follow the train of thought--I just didn't have the same emotional connection someone would have if they struggled through those 12 days themselves.
Anyway, Pathologic is good. It's weird and uncanny and things don't always make sense and characters will go out of their way to interfere. "Why do you care?" Pathologic asks when it throws your fifth plague cloud in your face. "None of these people are grateful for your help," Pathologic says when you complete a quest and take a hit to your Reputation and get attacked in the street even while you're doing everything you can to help the townsfolk, "The town's probably doomed anyway," Pathologic chides you when you're trying to juggle your healer's survival as well as your Bound's.
Pathologic INSISTS to you that nothing in its world matters. The town is doomed. The game is a play put on for your, the player's--not your character's--entertainment. Your healer, a mere avatar, doesn't matter. But that's not true, either. Because your healer does matter. Why would they tell you that the Bachelor is named Daniil--or name any of the healers if the Powers That Be simply refer to them as their archetypes?
This game is a paradox. The Town-on-Gorkhon is not an inhabited world; it's a children's sandbox for us to play in. But it, in equal fervor, demands that you care about it anyways. And to ask yourself, "Why am I fighting so hard in a game that wants me to lose so bad?" What does that say about a person?
The healers all have different answers to that question. It's why routes work so well in this game. To understand their own answers in the face of futility, and encourage the players to understand those answers and see how the ending of their paths were the only decision each character could come to respectively. I remember feeling baffled at Artemy's insistence of preserving the town when I finished Daniil's route, but as I got further through Artemy's route, it was so apparent that there was simply no other choice for him. This is also why certain things land in routes but don't land in others. The Powers That Be hit much harder in the Bachelor's route than the Haruspex's, for example.
But this facetedness is what makes Pathologic so god damn brilliant, even if the game is definitely not for everyone. Even if the game is punishing and relentless in its cruelty (said the guy who didn't even play the game himself). You care. Or you want to care. But why? What do you want to fight for? What do you want to preserve? Find that, and hold onto it forever, no matter how much people berate you for it, no matter how much the world kicks you for it. Because if it matters to you enough in a video game, it should matter to you enough in real life, too.
There's still some stilted stuff to the game, and not all of it ended up fully meshing for me, and I was often confused or baffled by the dialogue choices or certain phrasings being used but overall this barely mattered to me.
I wish that there were a better way to translate Pathologic's Russian title, More. Utopia, into English, because "Plague Utopia" seems far more fitting. A fake world with a fake plague that you want to save despite it all. That's Pathologic, babey!!!
i would rather kill myself than play this
i played over 120+ hours of this game so its sufficed to say that its a normal game and i dont feel special about it at all
a melhor parte do jogo é comprar droga de criança
i first played it in... 2009...? when i got my first computer that could only maybe successfully run Word 2003 lmao. well it was enough to play it, but i didnt get far because i was just a pretentious kid who was bad at videogames, but i was already captivated by the world of the game. i read everything about it i could get my hands on, and i still vividly remember the igromania walkthrough for it - that miraculously still is preserved on their website: https://www.igromania.ru/article/2097/Rukovodstvo_i_prohozhdenie_po_'Mor._Utopiya'.html
i played it again as an adult after the series experienced a minor boom after the release of pathologic 2. and i feel like it really came to me at a right time. artemy's story in particular, being an outsider to your own culture yet still closer than someone completely foreign, trying to save what you have, breaking through the absurdity of life and accepting that even if nothing is real, as long as a choice is willed it is real... it really resonated with me in a way nothing else quite had since. the metafiction layers, the way different characters' stories intersect with each other, how their abilities recontextualize how they view the town... it's a fantastic little game that could have been even better if they had more time, but i already love what they had with it
i do not mind the graphics and if anything i feel like the uncanny valley-dness and shabbiness of it all adds to the presentation, and i get that the combat is meant to be frustrating on purpose, but it's still frequently janky in a way that does not add to the experience and of course there is all the Walking................. the haruspex and changeling routes are also obviously less finished than bachelor's, so i can't in good conscience give this full 5 stars but it definitely is one of my most favorite games of all time
i played it again as an adult after the series experienced a minor boom after the release of pathologic 2. and i feel like it really came to me at a right time. artemy's story in particular, being an outsider to your own culture yet still closer than someone completely foreign, trying to save what you have, breaking through the absurdity of life and accepting that even if nothing is real, as long as a choice is willed it is real... it really resonated with me in a way nothing else quite had since. the metafiction layers, the way different characters' stories intersect with each other, how their abilities recontextualize how they view the town... it's a fantastic little game that could have been even better if they had more time, but i already love what they had with it
i do not mind the graphics and if anything i feel like the uncanny valley-dness and shabbiness of it all adds to the presentation, and i get that the combat is meant to be frustrating on purpose, but it's still frequently janky in a way that does not add to the experience and of course there is all the Walking................. the haruspex and changeling routes are also obviously less finished than bachelor's, so i can't in good conscience give this full 5 stars but it definitely is one of my most favorite games of all time
probably pretty good, but oof...
Walking Simulator mut jos jaksaa sellast niin yks parhaist tarina peleist.
shelved in 40 mins lmfao. grates on my brain. will check out pathologic 2
for the majority of people, this game will be much better experienced as a video essay. it is absolutely worth playing, but i can't really recommend that anyone do so.
play pathologic 2.
play pathologic 2.
better watched than played yourself because that way you get to experience the fantastic story without having to slog through the gameplay
crazy game with an even crazier fandom
crazy game with an even crazier fandom
The fog is coming
A deep piece of art and a Janky ass Game. My favourite types of videogames combined together.
Not recommended to people who value their lifetime
Not recommended to people who value their lifetime
I first got this game in the Halloween 2012 or 2013 GOG sale on a bit of a whim, I think you had to buy 5 games from the selection of 15 or so horror games and there was 4 others I wanted and I had one left so I picked this one having seen its name on this old PC Gamer list of horror games that described it as being really unique if not the best looking (I disagree but whatever).
I managed to get through the Bachelor scenario with the help of a walkthrough and was absolutely blown away by it and it quickly became my favourite game and I wouldn't shut up about it for people. Struggled with the Haruspex and Changeling (or Devotress as it was known in the original translation) scenarios though.
Then when this re-translation came out it blew the other 2 playthroughs wide open for me too, have played through all 3 scenarios at least twice now. (I think Haruspex x2, Changeling x4 and Bachelor x3 from memory though not 100% sure of that?) and it still remains my favourite game overall. Even though Pathologic 2 has improved some parts and is likely more accessible for the newer player, this is still a bigger beast, at least while P2 only has 1 of its 3 scenarios complete (and it looks less and less like we'll ever see Bachelor and Changeling scenarios on P2) and I do miss the soundtrack and some of the wilder story parts that were cut out of the original.
Anyway, this is one of those games that was originally quite obscure at least outside of its home country of Russia, but seems to grow more and more in popularity as every year goes by. Back in 2012 its wikipedia page was a stub and there was one famous article on it from RockPaperShotgun, but that was about it. All the 2 hour long video essays on this game were still years away
A lot has been written about this game, a lot of it is misleading though and I do think there's a bit of gatekeeping going on sometimes when it comes to this game, like people almost want to say how good the game is but similtanously talk other people out of playing it so it feels more like "their" game (maybe I was even guilty of that in the past too), and it's a shame that some of it is actually quite off putting (I'm not at all a fan of HBomberguy's video of this game for example as it really tries to make the game look quite unplayable when it really isn't for the cred points).
Truth is, this is actually not a particularly difficult game once you know what you're doing and neither is it really that buggy or janky, oh and it's plenty fun too despite the moniker being "it's not fun but still great", I feel like people saying this are using a very strict definition of fun that would mean that virtually all games aren't fun. This is fun in exactly the same way Dungeons and Dragons is fun or how Dark Souls, Silent Hill, Thief, Dwarf Fortress or RimWorld are fun i.e. it's not a game you "play to win" but it's a game which has an incredibly engaging world which draws you in and the mechanics really add to the sense of wonder in this game.
The game does have a slow build though, there's a much quoted stat showing how hard the game supposedly is about how few steam players get past the achievement for beating day 2, but this is not about difficulty, it's about the game's slow opening reveal. The plague doesn't even properly break out in the town until day 3 and so you don't have to deal with the plague mechanics until day 3, the first 2 days do have a bit of slow burn, which personally for me really add weight to the town and make you feel like you've been on a huge changing journey within the town by the end, but I say this as someone very au faix with the game and knows what they're getting, not someone who is playing for the first time.
Anyway, this still remains my favourite game, it has a narrative that I've only found Planescape Torment has ever been on the same level as in terms of ambition at least from the games I've played (and Pathologic is still the more ambitious of the 2 over the 3 scenarios) and the mechanics really tie in into it in an incredibly engaging way.
Just ignore the people saying this game is incredibly hard and punishing and unfun and ones who say "I love this game but can't recommend playing it", it's none of these things once you know what you're doing and in fact it's incredibly playable and fun and you should absolutely play it and not just watch a lets play of it, just appreciate the game can be slow for the first couple of days (but once you finish it if you're like me, you'll appreciate that in the end) and just enjoy the ride. There's still no other game like before or since.
I managed to get through the Bachelor scenario with the help of a walkthrough and was absolutely blown away by it and it quickly became my favourite game and I wouldn't shut up about it for people. Struggled with the Haruspex and Changeling (or Devotress as it was known in the original translation) scenarios though.
Then when this re-translation came out it blew the other 2 playthroughs wide open for me too, have played through all 3 scenarios at least twice now. (I think Haruspex x2, Changeling x4 and Bachelor x3 from memory though not 100% sure of that?) and it still remains my favourite game overall. Even though Pathologic 2 has improved some parts and is likely more accessible for the newer player, this is still a bigger beast, at least while P2 only has 1 of its 3 scenarios complete (and it looks less and less like we'll ever see Bachelor and Changeling scenarios on P2) and I do miss the soundtrack and some of the wilder story parts that were cut out of the original.
Anyway, this is one of those games that was originally quite obscure at least outside of its home country of Russia, but seems to grow more and more in popularity as every year goes by. Back in 2012 its wikipedia page was a stub and there was one famous article on it from RockPaperShotgun, but that was about it. All the 2 hour long video essays on this game were still years away
A lot has been written about this game, a lot of it is misleading though and I do think there's a bit of gatekeeping going on sometimes when it comes to this game, like people almost want to say how good the game is but similtanously talk other people out of playing it so it feels more like "their" game (maybe I was even guilty of that in the past too), and it's a shame that some of it is actually quite off putting (I'm not at all a fan of HBomberguy's video of this game for example as it really tries to make the game look quite unplayable when it really isn't for the cred points).
Truth is, this is actually not a particularly difficult game once you know what you're doing and neither is it really that buggy or janky, oh and it's plenty fun too despite the moniker being "it's not fun but still great", I feel like people saying this are using a very strict definition of fun that would mean that virtually all games aren't fun. This is fun in exactly the same way Dungeons and Dragons is fun or how Dark Souls, Silent Hill, Thief, Dwarf Fortress or RimWorld are fun i.e. it's not a game you "play to win" but it's a game which has an incredibly engaging world which draws you in and the mechanics really add to the sense of wonder in this game.
The game does have a slow build though, there's a much quoted stat showing how hard the game supposedly is about how few steam players get past the achievement for beating day 2, but this is not about difficulty, it's about the game's slow opening reveal. The plague doesn't even properly break out in the town until day 3 and so you don't have to deal with the plague mechanics until day 3, the first 2 days do have a bit of slow burn, which personally for me really add weight to the town and make you feel like you've been on a huge changing journey within the town by the end, but I say this as someone very au faix with the game and knows what they're getting, not someone who is playing for the first time.
Anyway, this still remains my favourite game, it has a narrative that I've only found Planescape Torment has ever been on the same level as in terms of ambition at least from the games I've played (and Pathologic is still the more ambitious of the 2 over the 3 scenarios) and the mechanics really tie in into it in an incredibly engaging way.
Just ignore the people saying this game is incredibly hard and punishing and unfun and ones who say "I love this game but can't recommend playing it", it's none of these things once you know what you're doing and in fact it's incredibly playable and fun and you should absolutely play it and not just watch a lets play of it, just appreciate the game can be slow for the first couple of days (but once you finish it if you're like me, you'll appreciate that in the end) and just enjoy the ride. There's still no other game like before or since.
i dont wanna go through this again (goes through it again)
getting the gog version of this game to run flawlessly on linux is a bitch, so i'm gonna leave a guide on how to do it here. this whole process takes about 5-10 minutes.
a. install the game via gog's offline installer.
b. make a "PREFIX" folder in the game files. this is where the game's wine prefix will go.
c. using lutris (easiest way), click "add an installed game" and configure it with a 32-bit wine prefix, running on the lutris-ge-7-43 wine runner.
d. now that you've configured the game, click the "wine configuration" button in the options popup menu for the game in lutris. when it finishes generating the prefix, click the mouse autocapture option in the graphics tab, then click ok to save and exit.
e. in that same menu, you can open a bash terminal. in there, run "winetricks -q amstream quartz devenum wmp10". verify that nothing has gone wrong. you might need to download the wmp10 file and put it in the folder indicated in the terminal (READ THE LOGS) because the internet archive download speeds are awful.
f. install the mod for this game that removes the intro logos.
g. download k-lite codecs standard package from the internet.
h. go back into the lutris menu, open a bash terminal again, and type "explorer". then navigate to where you downloaded the codecs installer and open it.
i. in the installer, leave everything enabled, but set mpc-hc as the default file reader for both audio and video formats. this step is important.
after that, run the game through lutris. it should be flawless. if you screw up any steps, just delete all the files in the PREFIX folder and repeat as necessary. DO NOT RUN ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS PREFIX. i cannot stress that enough. if you do ANYTHING other than play pathologic in this prefix it will break. obviously if it breaks its really easy to fix (just delete everything in the prefix folder and start, as i said) but like. just don't.
a. install the game via gog's offline installer.
b. make a "PREFIX" folder in the game files. this is where the game's wine prefix will go.
c. using lutris (easiest way), click "add an installed game" and configure it with a 32-bit wine prefix, running on the lutris-ge-7-43 wine runner.
d. now that you've configured the game, click the "wine configuration" button in the options popup menu for the game in lutris. when it finishes generating the prefix, click the mouse autocapture option in the graphics tab, then click ok to save and exit.
e. in that same menu, you can open a bash terminal. in there, run "winetricks -q amstream quartz devenum wmp10". verify that nothing has gone wrong. you might need to download the wmp10 file and put it in the folder indicated in the terminal (READ THE LOGS) because the internet archive download speeds are awful.
f. install the mod for this game that removes the intro logos.
g. download k-lite codecs standard package from the internet.
h. go back into the lutris menu, open a bash terminal again, and type "explorer". then navigate to where you downloaded the codecs installer and open it.
i. in the installer, leave everything enabled, but set mpc-hc as the default file reader for both audio and video formats. this step is important.
after that, run the game through lutris. it should be flawless. if you screw up any steps, just delete all the files in the PREFIX folder and repeat as necessary. DO NOT RUN ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS PREFIX. i cannot stress that enough. if you do ANYTHING other than play pathologic in this prefix it will break. obviously if it breaks its really easy to fix (just delete everything in the prefix folder and start, as i said) but like. just don't.
so good, so weird. i watched a playthrough of pathologic classic originally during the height of the pandemic in 2020 which was an experience on its own. seeing it again, i'm reminded of why its writing is so special to me and how excited i am to have it all fresh in my mind once again.
why yes, I AM a pretentious twat, how could you guess
bebe_autotune.mp3
i got like 10 hours into this game and it started making me physically ill. i was sweating, my head would hurt, i would feel exhausted. unreal experience
first walkthrough for Bakalavr.
it's so intense, interesting and an example of great execution of mostly useless mechanic like time changing cycle; even though, i might overhype this, but the game was published in 2006. just an amazing example of avant-garde videogames.
it's so intense, interesting and an example of great execution of mostly useless mechanic like time changing cycle; even though, i might overhype this, but the game was published in 2006. just an amazing example of avant-garde videogames.
couldn't understand shit but cool game