Idle Thoughts

Even as a partial semi-sequel, there’s still nothing remotely similar to Pathologic (★★★★☆)

I love this game. It’s a piece of crap, but it’s also the best game ever.

I don’t think there’s any game more topical for the COVID-19 era.

But nevermind being topical. Pathologic (the original) is one of the ten best games I’ve ever played. Well, certainly not the best “pick up and play right now” kind of game, but one of the most engrossing and enlightening video game experiences. It’s a Schindler’s List kind of thing.

To be fair, I’m kind of reviewing the original and this sequel all at once here. Pathologic 2 was supposed to be a remake, but they instead decided to expand one of the three original storylines into its own game.

Then again, the game is still as weird and smart as ever. Navigating the streets feels horrible… I don’t remember it being this bad in this original. The architect chick in town tells you she did it on purpose because the Kain family sees the town as some kind of catalyst to eventually bring about the overman. It’s easy to leap to the conclusion that your character is that overman and that really means the player. So it’s “git gud”, except clever?

There are very few games with world building of this quality. Pathologic 2 has its own social classes, creation myths, social beliefs and economic quirks. For example, street trading is described as a spiritual experience between two people and the inhabitants of the Town think that making holes, in people or even in the ground, is the ultimate taboo. Not practical for a surgeon, which is what you are in this game.

The game has its own struggles, between modernity and tradition, between worldviews and of course between life and death. Pathologic 2 has a lot to say, but it still feels succinct. Nothing really exists outside of the game’s Town, and nothing else is really needed. It’s a disgusting, perfect snow globe of miasma and human corruption. Plus, the mechanics are not just tacked on the world, they play an integral part. In fact, they help you play your part.

As some other reviews pointed out, Pathologic 2 is not a game about an epidemic; it’s a game about the breakdown of society.

Which means it’s also a game about the economy. How disease can hurt it, break it down. About hyperinflation, scarcity. And what it means for you. It always amazed me that video games, even in medieval settings, have absurdly modern economic systems: even the most remote village in the world is well-stocked with an infinite supply of identical items and prices are the same everywhere in the world or roughly similar. One of the main draws of the game is how it messes with your economic expectations. For example, when the news of the outbreak spread between the first and the second day, prices in stores double.

The game teaches you that money is just a piece of paper and that food has real value. Since money is scarce, you have to supplement it with the game’s robust ecosystem of street trading. I can’t really spoil what the other setbacks are, that’s half of the game’s draw.

The game does its own thing in other ways. Every game wants to be a moooovie now. Pathologic wants to be theater. It’s a different feeling. Characters don’t just talk d those enormous half-lit close-up shots, they perform. They proclaim their worldview, they deliver speeches. There’s a lot of fourth wall breaking shenanigans too and that was originally a theater term.

About the difficulty… yeah, the game is probably harder than it needs to be. Even as a veteran of Pathologic, I had a tough time. They somehow managed to make it harder than the original! Hunger could probably be toned down a bit, even in the game’s “Intended” mode. The game wants, no, practically begs you to roll with the punches and not throw in the towel at the first challenge, i.e., reduce difficulty or save-scum.

Here’s a quote from the devs when they introduced difficulty sliders: ”Not everyone wants a life-changing experience every time they launch a game. Sometimes people only want a cursory glance.”

Coming from any other company, I’d be laughing my ass off at that statement. But here, they’re right. The struggle is kind of the whole point of the game, even if it does detract from “experiencing the story”. Pathologic 2 is more Survival Horror than Survival Sim. Or maybe Economic Horror.

But the game is not that hard. A lot of it is smoke and mirrors and managing expectations. For example, don’t expect you can do everything and save everyone. You can, but not without a ton of prior knowledge. The quest system is also somewhat realistic. In other words, not every quest gives a nice reward, all wrapped up in a bow. Some quests are actually dead ends and some make you worse off. Completing quests… is bad? What? I know, right?

For what it’s worth, the game tells you this repeatedly. You should put yourself first. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Then again, a game that messes with your power-fantasy or completionist expectations will always be a tough sell… even more if it also laughs at your economic expectations!

With that said, getting the player to stomach high difficulty is often a question of excellent design, but Pathologic 2 is no Dark Souls. There are some fundamental flaws in the design. When you die, you get a permanent punishment (a 2% reduction on your maximum health). However, you’re still sent back to your last save point anyway, with all your progress before that being lost. Likewise, if you need to give medication to someone, why use up three tinctures for exact diagnosis before using antibiotics if you can try one at random and reload if it’s the wrong type? Gosh, every important character sits right next to a save point!

So it makes no sense not to reload when you encounter a problem: you’ll skip the punishment and you would’ve gone back to the last save point anyway. You have to save as often as possible… whatever the devs say, the game is basically designed for save-scumming. Or you can treat your first few days as a test run. Or y’know, you can tone down the difficulty.

I’d rate the game 5 creepy mimes out of 5, but the loading times are obnoxious, at least on PS4. On PS4, from a technical perspective, it’s bad, maybe even worse than the original. Picture that! The worst is loading times every time you cross some artificial boundary. Is it like this on PC? I remember the original Pathologic being sluggish, but not stuttery.

The game is also generally much more polished than the original, but there are a few things I miss. For one, the game has tons of fog, which looks good, but obscures the game’s landmarks… wondering what is up with that cyclopean Abattoir or that looming Polyhedron is part of the intrigue. Secondly, the music is good but doesn’t have that insane quality anymore.

But most of all, Pathologic 2 is obviously just an enhanced third of the original game. Don’t think this is some Early Access scam, however. This is a full game. It just goes to show what a tremendous achievement the original was. I only played one character in the original and I still consider it one of the best games ever. I don’t think there are that many games with multiple storylines where every one of them feels so fulfilling, so exhausting that you can put the game down with complete satisfaction.

So basically, what I’m saying is buy this game jerks, so they’ll have enough money to add in the other two stories.