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.