Pathologic (an original dark adventure game) Anybody played it ?

Petike the Taffer on 27/6/2009 at 11:20

(http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/04/10/butchering-pathologic-part-1-the-body/)
(http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/04/11/butchering-pathologic-part-2-the-mind/)
(http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/04/12/butchering-pathologic-part-3-the-soul/)
(http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_pathologic_pc)
(http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/pathologic/index.html)

The setting is an eerie decaying town somewhere in Siberia at the beginning of the 20. century. A mysterious plague has fallen on the local populace. You take the role of one of three potential healers (a young doctor, a shaman, a psychic girl) who have just arrived there, and try to turn the tables in the hopeless struggle against the dark ever-present epidemic.

Although the game lacks top-notch graphics, it offers a surpisingly dynamic world, a on-the-fly evolving story and a genuinely surreal atmosphere. Make no mistake - it's not another run-of-the-mill survival horror set in a shanty town, nor an RPG, nor a typical action game. Though flawed in some areas, Pathologic seems like a fine haunting experience.

Marlow on 27/6/2009 at 11:40

(I assume you haven't played it - if I'm wrong, I'll just address it to all the people who haven't )

I've played it - and I'm in love with it. The RPS coverage is just about the best introduction to Pathologic. In terms of the gameplay - it's sometimes quite bad, but tolerable overall. Quite repetitive, with a badly implemented combat system, it's all about going back and forth across a very atmospheric city setting and talking to people (at the same time trying to avoid infection). In terms of the plot, dialogue (even though the translation into English is notoriously bad), atmosphere and artistic quality, it's one of the best games ever, if not THE best. If you're looking for a great contemporary videogame narrative poem, Pathologic is the only thing around. Lots of games try to reach such heights, but they end up being pretentious, but in Pathologic, the poetry is obvious and natural. If you're not sure what to expect, try the demo. It should give you an idea of the gameplay and atmosphere, but it doesn't really show how great the overall idea is. Not wanting to spoil too much, I'll only say that Pathologic is in fact about what gaming is about - and why it can be as serious and important as literature and theatre.

Eshaktaar on 27/6/2009 at 11:49

I played it for a short while but couldn't get into it because the English translation is horribly mangled. I didn't mind the (intentionally) unfun gameplay, but the unique atmosphere built up by the strange environment was utterly destroyed by people spouting nonsensical word salad at me.

Fragony on 27/6/2009 at 11:49

Looks like something I will like, instant buy if I find it

Xenith on 27/6/2009 at 12:37

I bought it a couple of months ago at a relatively cheap price and when I first started playing I was so thrilled by what it promised. Unfortunately it delivers that promise in a very painful way (kind of like wishing for immortality and being turned to stone in the process). Yes, english translation is bad and it wouldn't bother me if the clues given to you at certain points weren't riddles or if the word arrangement didn't matter. Me knowing english as a second language more or less didn't help the fact that more than half the time I was trying to understand how to read the clues so I can then try and understand them. I would've stayed and taken all the possibilities into account, but the fact that the game uses such a drastic time limit (12 days, each day lasts 3 or 4 real-time hours) in which you're supposed to stay alive (and healthy) by eating, drinking and sleeping, keep other characters alive so you can get information more easily (which ends up not being easy because of the translation), be at key points so you don't miss them (yes they can happen without you being there to see them, which is awesome, but bad at the same time) and run around for miles, makes it pretty hard to actually sit and decipher what and why.

Now the story is pretty much awesome, but the fact that the "physics defying" buildings are supposed to be considered a stroke of genius boggles my mind because all I'm seeing (in some cases) is just lack of imagination. You can keep the physics defying stuff, but at least make it so it doesn't look completely off.

EvaUnit02 on 27/6/2009 at 12:37

I bought it a while back but have yet to play it.

I have flipped through the manual though. The class names certainly are bizarre - Ripper, Bachelor and Devotress.

Angel Dust on 27/6/2009 at 13:30

Played it and loved it. The translation is certainly borked but I still found it quite understandable and in a way the occasional WTF? translation added to the atmosphere. The Harispicus (Ripper) is apparently the campaign that had the most professional translation done to it but I found the Bachelor (Eva: it's supposed to be Bachelor as in the degree eg Bachelor of Science) pretty good too and he's probably the best to start on. The Devotress is apparently a bit of a mess and I'm holding off playing it until a new translation is done, which will hopefully be done once the English release of The Void is done.
The gameplay isn't really that great, although I do like the survival aspects of it, and there is a lot of walking around. However the main (I don't think the meta stuff about gaming is that well executed or integrated to be honest) story is excellent, the characters extremely interesting and the town is brilliantly realised. It's not the prettiest game around the art direction is excellent and combined with the sound/music creates a very immersive atmosphere.

It's certainly not a game for everybody though.

Marlow on 27/6/2009 at 13:41

Xenith: I actually think the physics-defying building are quite well integrated into the game mythos. It's all about obedience and humility vs. independence from any rules (and, at the same time, the mind vs. the body) - and the weird buildings are an example of the latter. The main aim of the Bachelor is to defeat death - also a law of nature. So to me it all fits very well. That's the beauty of the world in Pathologic - even though it seems a bit arbitrarily constructed at first, later you realise that everything has its place there, and is necessary.

Angel Dust: Yes, the meta game stuff tends to be controversial. For me it was really interesting - especially the way it compared/contrasted gaming and (puppet) theatre. But then I'm a theatre scholar, so this might be the reason. Anyway, I found it intellectually stimulating.

gunsmoke on 27/6/2009 at 14:27

There are a hundred threads about this game over the last several years. Everybody has pretty much said everything about it.

Chuck on 27/6/2009 at 14:58

Quote Posted by Marlow

I've played it - and I'm in love with it...

In terms of the gameplay - it's sometimes quite bad..

Quite repetitive, with a badly implemented combat system...

...I'll only say that Pathologic is in fact about what gaming is about - and why it can be as serious and important as literature and theatre.

Really?