Pathologic 2

Title says it all. Go in to this one knowing nothing. But prepare to be punished. Prepare to be frustrated. Prepare to be angry. Prepare to shout the word "unfair" more than you've ever shouted at a game before. And prepare for the experience to stick with you for long after you stop playing. It's a horrible time, you're going to love it.

Only at life's end, you see that your whole life was a lesson, and you were a careless student at it. There I stand with my lesson unlearned. The teacher is out. "Pack your books and leave". I would be glad to be "punished" by someone, to be "left without lunch". But no one will punish. No one needs you. Tomorrow, there will be a "lesson". But for others. And others will study. You will never be taught again. (V. V. Rozanov, "Fallen Leaves", 1913, and my best effort to translate it to English) In Pathologic 2 you play the role of Haruspex who left his hometown to study medicine. He receives a worrying letter from his father and takes the train home to find his father dead, his friends changed dramatically, and everyone thinking he has killed his father. A few in-game days later, things go bad. The game is unfair. It is unfair to the point that you have a dialog option to say how unfair it is. There is always a chance that you loose even if you do everything right. You can spend your day running around the town protecting your friends to find out that Fortuna turned away from them and some of them are dead. Just like in a real life. The game is hard. Survival mechanisms may seem annoying, but they are important for the experience. At some point, you'll find yourself starving to death. There is barter economy in the Town, and you approach a child to offer him/her marbles or a bug in a box, but you don't have enough. Still... you know, you can kill the child to get food. It is not about "possible or not", it is about moral choices. Just like in real life. The game is fascinating. Striving to feed Haruspex and change (or at least see) the fate of the Town, I was constantly forgetting to eat. The game is cruel. Surprisingly, not as cruel as real life: you will be punished and "left without lunch" in it. The game is all about death. This game is definitely worth playing. P.S. For those who want the citation in Russian, search for "вся твоя жизнь была поучением".

I first thought that this game is about doing some quests and catching a murderer. I was so wrong! The atmosphere is really catching since the beginning, there are so many types of people and creatures and every character is really complex and has its own story to tell. You never know if they are good or bad, if they are telling the truth or simply want to gain something from you. This game is like no other that I have ever played. When you talk to someone or get a quest, you have to think through it. Is it worth it? Why? For what? What if you just take the stuff and run away? Do they want to betray you? Do you want to betray them? Do you even want to do this at all? You will be scared, mad, frustrated, but it will not let you sleep at night until you finish the story. Because the story is just incredible. And yes, this game is really difficult, but you can change every aspect in your settings and focus more on the story, which I really appreciated. Don't give up after first day, the game is not as chaotic as it seems at first.

Visually Pathologic 2 very interesting, the town along the Gorkhon river overs varied and atmospheric environment to explore and to survive in. While the colors are largely muted, the attention to detail is excellent. After many playthroughs one can still discover things that were missed previously. Choices you make have very real consequences. To guarantee success you might choose to do terrible things, or you might suffer terrible consequences but never give up your morals. Once the events begin rolling, they will not stop to wait for you. You need to act regardless if you are ready or not. It creates a challenging and engaging experience. I recommend this game, but the game invokes some negative emotions that are not necessarily enjoyable for everyone. There will be stress, helplessness and desperation depending how immersed you become with the game, its story and characters. The plague will take you to your limits. What are you willing to sacrifice for your patients as a surgeon?

This is what the first game should have been like, playable, more connected to the player. I hated the first version, because it was buggy, empty and lifeless. If you like highly intellectual, plain weird and challenging games where nothing seems obvious and choices actually matter then it's THE game or you.