Pathologic 2 is a haunting, punishing, dark, wonderful game. Its developers got hit hard by the financial crisis in Russia, so although they're planning on developing campaigns for two more characters, that's a bit up in the air. I didn't think a depressing Russian game about being starving and poor while surviving a plague could be just as fun and engrossing as Mass Effect. Then I played Pathologic 2. Pathologic 2 is unlike any game you've probably ever played. It's a game where getting your hands on a loaf of bread feels like getting an epic drop; it's a game where everyone is an asshole, but they're so sympathetic and flawed you quickly grow attachments to them and feel genuinely heartbroken when you are unable to cure them. The story is framed as a Brechtian theatrical performance. It's as weird as it is entertaining, a fact not lost on the characters of the game itself. Many of them proudly wear this fact on their sleeves. Some of them know that they're video game characters and make jokes about it. Honestly, you have to try it to see for yourself. There's so much heart and creativity in this game, so many mysteries that you have no chance of seeing everything in one playthrough - even if you save-scum - even though it takes place over just 12 days in a small town in the Russian steppe. Pathologic 2 is one of the most memorable games you will ever play. I cannot recommend it enough.
