The original Indie Cult Classic returns fully restored, and more evocative than ever and includes the original version of Pathologic!
Pathologic Classic HD is the Definitive Edition of the original Cult Classic Psychological First-Person Survival game. The game represents a unique and unforgettable...
The original Indie Cult Classic returns fully restored, and more evocative than ever and includes the original version of Pathologic!
Pathologic Classic HD is the Definitive Edition of the original Cult Classic Psychological First-Person Survival game. The game represents a unique and unforgettable experience as it transports players in a weird town which crouches, ominous, in the far reaches of an ancient steppe. It was once a small drover settlement, huddled around a monstrous abattoir—but something about the butchery it was near has changed it. It has developed an odd social structure over the course of several generations. It could have quietly continued along its weird way, but a sudden outbreak of an unknown and inevitably lethal disease has decimated the citizens. Prayers did not help. Science did not help. So, finally, they have turned to outsiders for help: three of them enter the town in hope of finding a cure or—failing that—an explanation. The first outsider was a ruthless investigator, assigned by local authorities. The second is a far-sighted Ripper who has used his extraordinary abilities to gain a reputation as an ingenious surgeon, who has come to the town in search of his father's terrible heritage. The third—and last—outsider is an eccentric girl rumored to have mystic healing abilities; she may become the town's salvation were it not for the constant fear that plagues her, the memory of the horrors of her recent past.
On the surface, Pathologic is a first person horror adventure game where you control one of three "heroes." Dig deeper, however, and you’ll find an experience that will affect your emotional and psychological state. In the world of Pathologic you’ll find yourself in situations where morals and good deeds are meaningless in the face of raw despair and endless need. Talk to the denizens of the town and decide for yourself if you wish to ease someone else’s pain or save every bit of precious medicine to protect yourself from the invisible and inexorable plague. Become witness to the miasma of horror as the plague begins to overcome the town.
New Enhancements
Brand New in-house English script: For the first time ever, the game has cast off the major issue that had previously disallowed international audiences from accessing it.
Brand New Voice-overs
New content: A certain amount of text that had previously been cut from the international version of the game have now been restored
Updated textures and higher resolutions support.
New visual effects.
Newly Included Fan-Made Polish translation thanks to the hard work and generosity of Jakub Derdziak & Aldona Derdziak.
An indie cult classic.
12 days in a plague-ridden town. Time is running, and mostly it’s running out; numerous events unfold, whether you’re there to witness them or not.
70+ hours of real-time gameplay without grinding or repetitive quests. As time goes by, more and more things happen, inviting you to participate and change the course of events.
3 playable characters with 3 unique storylines. The Bachelor’s, the Haruspex’s, and the Changeling’s plots are interconnected, but every side of the trilemma is represented separately via unique events, quests, dialogues, and subplots.
The plot is critically acclaimed and often regarded as the high point of the game. It’s not just about the fate of the dying town—it’s about an ideological conflict, represented by a multitude of characters and factions, each with their own idea of what life, death, and miracles are.
An open-world game. While the plot is there to grab you, the town has no artificial boundaries: you are free to explore it from day one, carving out your own story.
Survival is tough. The dying town demands that you constantly keep an eye on your status, maintaining a full belly and decent immunity. That will require tough choices.
Communicate, barter, rob, or steal. There are many ways to acquire your bare necessities, each of them with its own benefits and drawbacks.
The atmosphere of bleakness and despair without cartoonish evil or bad guys. Playtime is over—there will be no jump scares or simple solutions. You will have to do it the hard way.
Goodies
avatars (Pathologic Classic HD)
wallpapers (Pathologic Classic HD)
concept art (Pathologic Classic HD)
concept arts
manual
soundtrack
avatars
wallpapers
artworks
official walkthrough
System requirements
Minimum system requirements:
Recommended system requirements:
Recommended system requirements:
Why buy on GOG.COM?
DRM FREE. No activation or online connection required to play.
I usually enjoy games with interesting stories and atmosphere, huge emphasis on exploration, unconventional design, etc. No matter how hard I've tried I couldn't force myself to enjoy Pathologic though. While there actually are a lot of intriguing ideas going on in the game, I think despite all the good effort, it just turns into a confusing and hostile mess.
My last effort of finding some enjoyement in the game was when I started to use console commands for a playthrough (and thus skipping all the annoying walking), but didn't matter because I got lost in the chaos of annoyingly overwritten plot anyway.
I recommend watching video essays and reviews covering the game instead, those may probably be much more fascinating than trying to achieve anything meaningful by playing the game.
I just finished one of the playable charater's story lines mere moments ago at the time of writing this review. I personally don't know what I can say about this brilliant game that other people haven't said elsewhere and better than I could. But I will say this: this is a probably the most brilliant, insanely interesting, mysterious and artisically driven games I think to ever have existed in the world of video games.
The game deserves to be played, you as a gamer deserve to experience it and the brilliant team and studio that created it deserves to be supported.
That's all I have to say.
Pathologic 1 is... hard to rate numerically. Played quite a lot of games in a wide variety of genres, but this might be the only game I either can't recommend despite how great it is, or can recommend despite how terrible it plays. This isn't merely a "love or hate" game, it's a "love AND hate" one. Or maybe just "hate". Depends on what you're looking for. Can't tell you if you're gonna like it, but I can try to give you an idea.
Most players probably won't like this one. Recommended it to the friend of an artistically oriented colleague. Told me she thought it was trash. Looked at her friend play it, thought it was tedious and controlled like shit. She's right, especially since her friend picked the hardest character (Haruspex). Gameplay is repetitive in Pathologic. You're mostly walking around town trying to solve a mystery, and you're on a timer all the way. You're figthing not only against criminals, but also a lethal disease and your own bodily needs. It's an uphill battle. You'll be constantly stressed, wondering if you're doing what you should be doing, whether or not you're forgetting anything important, if you'll have time to go talk to that one character, visit the grocers to find something not too expensive to eat before night... And when it comes to the actual fighting, it's downright atrocious, shoddy, punishing, time-consuming and sometimes very unfair. I heard the game was made without an actual game-designer, and it shows.
So, why a cult classic? Why are people talking about how painful the game is, despite the fact they can't quite put it away? Well, the writing is pretty damn good. The translation used to be terrible, but they fixed it in the HD version. The atmosphere is phenomenal. It certainly feels like you're living through a deadly pandemic. The town is isolated, it follows its own archaic rules, but they're consistent and easy to learn if you bother to talk to people. You'll be wondering what new level of weirdness you're going to uncover.
The cosmology of Pathologic hates you. It loathes you. It is completely indifferent to your suffering, and you will suffer. Pathologic can be summed up as a very Russian survival horror game. It's not fun. Unless you are the most ruthless bastard ever, it will make you feel terrible. "I did this? Oh no..." However, the story is unlike any other. Pathologic can also be summed up as a very Russian opera. The quest givers themselves hate you. They loathe you. They will lie to you and mislead you to their own mysterious ends, just to see you fail. You don't belong here. You won't even understand what their intentions are until at least your third playthrough, and even then, it's up to you to decipher meaning, like a mystic sifting through chicken entrails. One of it's central themes is the literary trope of "Man's inhumanity toward man." But, deep at its core, it's a game about carving out freedom with a knife. Or a gun. You're free to advance the game by your own means, but at a terrible, miserable cost. Pathologic is a completely uncompromising vision of being completely alone in a hostile, malevolent universe. You don't play Pathologic, you endure Pathologic. 5/5 for a brutal game completely in a class of its own.
Unlike most great games I've played, Pathologic is not very fun. At times it can be stressful, boring, difficult to understand, and even frustrating. However, I still believe it to be a must-play experience. The music is excellent, the world is incredibly atmospheric, and the writing is beautifully cryptic. I can say with confidence that there is no other game like it.
The first couple hours in Pathologic will be a shock to most players. The game forces you to rethink your expectations of video games and you may find it incredibly hard to enjoy. Walking is slow, the atmosphere is depressing, and combat is best when it's avoided. Only after making it past the intial learning curve will you start to see the beauty of this game and will start to see the positives that lie in each of those negatives mentioned earlier. Each line of dialouge feels so profound and important to the story. Each decision you make feels vital to your ability to survive. The depressing atmosphere is incredibly well crafted and genuine. And the plot will have you hooked as you try to piece together the puzzle.
Personally, I feel that this game isn't meant to be fun. It's meant to be an unforgettable experience. I have been mesmerized with the world that exists in Pathologic since I first played it. I can recommend it wholeheartedly, but, be prepared for a seemingly un-fun experience at first.
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