Pathologic

[wndrbr]

Pathologic (originally called "More. Utopia") is a videogame set in the late 19th century in a small town on the border between an enlightened sort-of European kingdom, and a less developed steppe country populated by asians. When an outbreak of a lethal disease known as the "sand plague" started, three healers (the bachelor of theoretical science, the surgeon of traditional medicine, and the magical weirdo) must discover the cause of the Plague and find the way destroy it.

Gameplay-wise it's an action/adventure/survival sim/visual novel/RPG hybrid with a relatively rare time management mechanic. Unlike the other open-world games, where you can play gwent all you want and nothing bad will happen, in Pathologic time actually matters. The whole game takes place in a perpetual world over a timeframe of twelve in-game days. Throughout each day, the player receives quests from npcs; however, there is no fail-state (except for the player's death). At midnight of each day, the quests are erased from the player's journal. Managed to complete a quest? Great. Failed to complete it, or didn't have enough time? Some major NPC may die, you may lose access to certain information, you may lose an opportunity to earn money or items... but the game will continue. It's "Majora's Mask with guns", "Shenmue but instead of kungfuing bad guys you shank them with your scalpel and then take their organs", "it's like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. but with lots of dialogues", "it's like Dead Rising in Mongolia".

► bunch of video reviews for ppl who watch this sort of thing

The original game was released in 2006, and didn't attract a lot of attention due to the poor localization that made the game nearly unplayable. However, shortly after, it formed a cult following. In 2008, Rock Paper Shotgun (back when it wasn't a complete shithole) released a series of articles [1] [2] [3] dissecting the game's plot, which reignited the game's interest in the west, and prompted the developers to announce a remake that would've potentially kept the core of the original game while improving presentation and refining the gameplay. Unfortunately, due to the sanctions that happened in the wake of annexation of Crimea, devs lost their main financial sponsor, and had to release the remake with only one campaign (out of planned three). High difficulty caused gamejournos to spam the game with **** reviews, broken promises caused butthurt among kickstarter backers and other fans, and the bad marketing campaign failed to attract any new buyers. The remake bombed in sales, devs nearly went under, and development of the planned second and third campaigns has been suspended.

► bunch of video reviews for ppl who watch this sort of thing

► a very good write up from Rosodude, the System Shock 2 modder and Deus Ex GMDX co-developer

https://rosodudemods.wordpress.com/2020 ... fulfilled/

But there's a light at the end of a tunnel. The devs had to debase themselves by making smartphone games, but in the end they managed to stay afloat and the next campaign - Bachelor's one - is nearing the completion. They just released a newspiece with some screenshots and a description of how the game would play. Get hyped!

[wndrbr]

The original game, with fixed bugs, better compatibility with modern software, and entirely revamped localization. The original game is still worth playing through even if you already played the remake, the plotlines, writing, and gameplay mechanics are different enough.


The remake. Don't be alarmed that there's only one campaign of three planned, it's not really "unfinished". I bought it on release and was somewhat disappointed that I won't be able to play as the two other characters, but after completing the game I thought it was absolutely amazing. This "1/3 of the game" was my personal 2019 GOTY.

[Humbaba]

Pretentious video essay """""game""""" for liberals.




-Humbaba

[wndrbr]

Unlike disco elysiums and such, Pathologic is very gameplay-heavy. There's combat, there's resource management, there are hunger/thirst/sleep mechanics, equipment degradation/repair, potion making, there's an open world town and you must learn its layout to traverse in the most efficient way without wasting too much time, there are side quests and NPCs, reputation, trading and bartering, etc etc. Also most of the lib gamejournos all ignored the original and then shat on the remake.

[Mr.Wonderful]

Probably my second favorite game of all time that I can't praise high enough. I'm the king of Pathologic and Pathologic 2

[rusty_shackleford]

This is one of them, as I like to call it, 'movie games'. I watch someone else play them on yewtube because they don't look particularly appealing but have interesting stories.

[agentorange]

Pretentious video essay """""game""""" for liberals.




-Humbaba

You are one dumb ******.

[wndrbr]

Some new info just came out. Apparently the game will feature time-travelling mechanics (make a decision, see the outcome, go back and change your decision for something different - sort of like in Life is Strange), as well as city manager simulator elements (Bachelor has the power to pass edicts that affect the everyday life of the town denizens). Contrary to what was said in earlier updates, the on-foot gameplay is still present.

Screenshots:

► Show Spoiler

[wndrbr]

They are expanding the worldmap with a bunch of new districts on the other side of the river



old map for comparison:

[wndrbr]

IPL have made a wise decision to turn this DLC (that would've been bought by no one) into a standalone game.

[rusty_shackleford]

[wndrbr]

Rosodude (the guy who picked up Deus Ex GMDX) made a rebalance mod that on one hand makes the game harder by nerfing certain abusable mechanics, but OTOH also makes it less frustrating to play (you move faster, your clothing provides better protection, meds give you better benefits, inventory management is easier, the changelog is pretty big).

I would recommend it to first time players! The story is 100% intact (except for some modified item descriptions and some minor dialogue alterations where needed to communicate changes to quests). While the gameplay is designed to be harder than before, it is intended to be a fair challenge that does not require meta knowledge or savescumming; the overall difficulty level and complexity is still lower than that of Pathologic 2. The option to increase the gameplay speed also makes it less tedious than the original.

For players that have never played Pathologic 1 or 2, I would recommend unchecking the option for increased clock speed, which is intended for veteran players to increase the demands on your optimal routing.

[wndrbr]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app ... 6061005952

Q: What happened to the route for Pathologic 2? Has it evolved into a sequel?
A: Yes, that’s exactly what happened: the game simply grew beyond our concept of DLC—it will have different gameplay and entirely new features. Instead of one game with three playthroughs using the same gameplay but different storylines (as in the original 2005 release and the Classic HD remaster), we’re creating three fully developed games with distinct gameplay and significant differences in narrative.

Now, these are truly three separate protagonists with unique worldviews, perceptions of reality, and distinct tools. From a gameplay perspective, this means three different approaches and a complete rethinking of the original scripts.

One storyline was released in 2019, centered on the Haruspex. It was a large game that took much more time and work than initially planned. For publishing reasons, it was titled Pathologic 2.

Pathologic 3 is a new, full-fledged game focused on the Bachelor. The title was chosen to avoid confusion, making it clear that this is not a DLC but a complete game with a similar playtime.

Q: What about the Changeling?
A: Finally, there’s the Changeling, but we’d prefer not to make promises prematurely, so we’ll return to her when there’s more to share.

Moving forward, we plan to stick to this approach. We understand that premature promises about the previous Pathologic led to unfulfilled expectations. We apologize for that and don’t want to mislead you in the future. The developer should not be an unreliable narrator—unlike his characters.

Q: How do Pathologic 2 and Pathologic 3 differ?
A: The protagonists! And that’s only half-joking. The main idea and reason for dividing these games is that the Haruspex and the Bachelor are very different characters. The further we developed the Bachelor’s story, the clearer this became. We didn’t want to compromise by making the game a “safer” rework of the original script, so we reimagined the core gameplay loop:

The Haruspex needed to survive, fight, scavenge, rummage through garbage for scraps of bread, and try to save those he held dear along the way.
The Bachelor is a man of intellect. Survival is not his primary concern; his goals go beyond what one lifetime could contain. He needs to think, formulate theories, and gather evidence. Ultimately, he must issue commands and observe the results. This distinction will be emphasized through gameplay, mechanics, objectives, soundtrack, and so on.

After Save and Sound, we plan to return later this year to show you what we mean. As they say, "Show, don’t tell."

Q: Who will receive game keys?
A: We remember our commitments to those who supported us during the fundraising stage nearly ten years ago, so we will provide keys to:
Kickstarter backers and other platforms where support for the game was available during the fundraising stage
Backers from 2014 and 2015

Also, backers entitled to two copies will receive two keys.
We’ll share details on how to claim keys closer to release.

Q: Will the new game have its own artbook?
A: At the moment, we’re not planning a physical one, but we might create a digital artbook for the Supporter Pack. We're not sure yet!

Q: Which languages will the game be localized into, including text and voice-over?
A: We definitely plan to localize into English and Russian, and we’re considering Brazilian Portuguese, German, and Simplified Chinese. We’ll confirm languages closer to launch.

Q: Will the Russian title of Pathologic 3 remain?
A: Yes, we’re still considering options. Current ideas include “Finally,” “See, You Didn’t Believe Us,” and “Sorry for the Long Wait.”

Q: Will the game be available on GOG and other stores?
A: We’ll know closer to release, but it’ll likely be available on all platforms where Pathologic 2 can be found.

Q: Will preorders be available?
A: No.

Q: What platforms other than PC are planned for release?
A: We’re planning releases for PS5 and Xbox S/X, likely following the PC release.

Q: What engine is the game being developed in?
A: The same engine as Pathologic 2: Unity.

Q: Will the same voice actors return for Pathologic 3?
A: Yes, we’ll bring back the same actors from Pathologic 2, or at least, we’ll do our best.

[Tadeusz]

Wanted to share a video playlist with the obscure lore about Pathologic's maps, mechanics and early builds. Videos are in russian but auto subtitles may help. Especially liked the in-depth exploration of mechanics as there was no good info about them.