Pathologic 2

I've never written a review before, but I felt with this game I just had to get my feelings out on it. This game is a genuine masterpiece, and I say that about very, very few games. This is easily one of my top ten games EVER. The atmosphere, the choices, the way things are structured, and OH GOD THE WRITING. It is just fantastic. Genuinely fantastic. A lot has been said about how hard the game is, and absolutely it is. But I will say, I don't normally enjoy games that are super hard and frustrating for the sake of it, (it took me a very long time to take to the Dark Souls series for instance) because I don't enjoy having to constantly restart and repeat myself every time I fail. But this game I took to immediately. You genuinely learn something every time you fail, and because the game is so expertly designed around this experience, and heavily embedded into the themes and the writing, even every failure is unbelievably compelling. You feel like you're struggling against something, but even while it's punishing you, the intentions of the game are with you as you do it. And it means that all the little victories you have feel really important and well earned. Everything might be falling apart, BUT YOU HAVE SAVED LIVES IN THE FACE OF EVERYTHING TELLING YOU YOU CAN'T. Seriously, can't recommend the game enough. Really hope that it gets the recognition it deserves, really hope it's successful enough for them to release the other two stories. BUY THIS GAME AND THEN PLAY THIS GAME AND THEN TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO DO THE SAME SO THEN THE DEVS GET MONEY AND THEN MAKE MORE PLEASE AND THANK YOU. P.S. DO NOT TAKE THE FELLOW TRAVELLER'S DEAL. EVER.

Pathologic 1 was a unique experience in more than one way. I dare say that developers calling it life-changing isn't far from truth. It was a unique story experienced in a unique way. And, well, a pretty bad game. There is no point in discussing it here - most would agree that it was only a unique vision that kept the first game together. This one keeps the vision while learning from all the mistakes that the first game has made. It also manages to look amazing - contrary to the first one that looked bad even on release. It does a good job in delivering an actual game that is good to play while not losing the narrative part. One warning, though. It's a hard game, but it's not hard in a way that you are meant to get good at it or else you'll struggle. Quite the opposite: you are meant to struggle and that is going to deliver you the best experience possible. Keep going, keep failing and those failures are going to be the best failures of your life.

I bought Patho 2 elsewhere some months ago and I literally can't put it down, even though I already unlocked all the achievements and managed to save everyone on intended difficulty. The story is original and engaging, the art style unique and beautiful, the gameplay a wonderful pain throughout, the lore is so deep you literally can't reach the bottom. I played Patho classic too multiple times with all three protagonists and the main points of the story are still ambiguous and mysterious (as they should be!) I really hope Ice-Pick Lodge gets to make the Bachelor and the Changeling playthoughs for Patho 2 as well. They deserve all the success in the world!

Okay, I am not a good writer so I'll try to keep it short. It is a really great game, but I will tell you just about DIFFICULTY and OPTIMIZATION. The game is FANTASTIC. Really. It is not for everyone , but if you need some food for the mind - you are welcome. DIFFICULTY. Some people say about hardcoreness. Yes, it is really difficult. And I recommend you play it with hardcore difficulty. Why? You will better understand the game. BUT you can always switch it to easy mode (it still will not be easy though, but you can save your personal time, which is super if you are a busy person). As for me, I played it with easy mode. Unfortunately. I didn't have much time to play it as it was designed by the developers. But I will replay the game after some time. OPTIMIZATION I'll just say that the best thing you can do is to download it on you SSD. That's all. Try it yourself! And make up your mind about it.

this game reminds me of andrei tarkovski.