I've been thinking of making a thread like this for a while, but the fact every few weeks another fantastic analysis video for this game has been creeping up, I thought now was the time I should make it.
I am a huge fan of this game, and I don't hide it. I made a topic back a bit after release about it's critical standing and games as an art form. Months later and my feelings towards it after having sat for a while are even stronger than before. I honestly believe Pathologic 2 is one of the most daring and compelling cases for video games using both gameplay mechanics for narrative function and how to use difficulty in a game for narrative purpose, I think the game has one of the best realized creative visions since maybe games like Silent Hill 2 and Shadow of the Colossus, it utilizes artistic direction, atmosphere, gameplay function, and narrative perfectly to convey a very unique experience. I honestly believe it's a game that's struggling because it's different, so many games are about empowering the player while Pathologic is about depowerment in every aspect and faucet of the game, but I believe in 15 years time it's going to be remembered as a masterpiece.
Apparently I'm not alone in these thoughts, some YouTubers who do more analytical videos of either games in-depth, game lore, game design or the like, due to the game reportedly being a bit of a commercial failure and some of it's praises being spread around through word of mouth slowly but surely have begun to try and convince others in-depth why Pathologic 2 is a must play game for anyone who wants an excellently crafted and unique experience in gaming.
RagnarRox is a mainly horror analyzer (probably best known for some excellent in-depth videos on Silent Hill, Junji Ito, and others) who was already a fan of Ice Pick Lodge (the creators of Pathologic 2) but believes Pathologic 2 is their magnum opus and does an excellent job of portraying why he believes the game is a masterpiece and has become his favorite video game of all time:
MandaloreGaming is a gaming reviewer who does more in-depth reviews of cult, niche, and certain styles of games. He gives the game a fair shake in his usual style and has quite some thoughts about it:
Chris Davis does video game in-depth critiques, he only checked out the game finally hearing it was a commercial failure and knowing another person he trusts praising this game's merits, so he checked it out and believes that Pathologic 2 sets a new standard for what should be considered Psychological Horror:
Grim Beard likes to tackle games a bit less seriously and give his thoughts and some stranger games. He had played the original Pathologic and though he overall he liked what it was going for and appreciated it, wasn't the biggest fan of it. But he has quite some thoughts on how the sequel follows it up:
I wish I could directly link to more in the OP, but one more I'd like to mention is if you don't want long-form analysis and more just a quick review style, Daria Vorobieva delivers her thoughts on the game with a bit of humor and a slavic viewpoint spiced in in a relatively short video review. There are others and more have been creeping up, but I don't want to stuff this OP with endless things to watch.
I think so many of these videos do a better job than I could expressing what I want to express to others about this game. I hope in some way this slowly building word of mouth helps propel this game to be successful enough to get ports for consoles and the other two characters, but as a lot of the team that's made it has already disbanded, so I have some fears there. One example is the excellent English translation of the game's team is mostly disbanded now, which is a shame since the English translation of Pathologic 2 is honestly one of the best video game translations I've seen, taking some really hard to translate Russian meanings and phrases and translating them to have depth and multi-purpose meaning also in English.
Still, I wanted to share these excellent videos and further express my love for this game, so I'll collect more of these as they creep up (another one just showed up today, the Psychological Horror video I posted above, which is what inspired me to finally make this topic), so I'm sure they're still coming.
I am a huge fan of this game, and I don't hide it. I made a topic back a bit after release about it's critical standing and games as an art form. Months later and my feelings towards it after having sat for a while are even stronger than before. I honestly believe Pathologic 2 is one of the most daring and compelling cases for video games using both gameplay mechanics for narrative function and how to use difficulty in a game for narrative purpose, I think the game has one of the best realized creative visions since maybe games like Silent Hill 2 and Shadow of the Colossus, it utilizes artistic direction, atmosphere, gameplay function, and narrative perfectly to convey a very unique experience. I honestly believe it's a game that's struggling because it's different, so many games are about empowering the player while Pathologic is about depowerment in every aspect and faucet of the game, but I believe in 15 years time it's going to be remembered as a masterpiece.
Apparently I'm not alone in these thoughts, some YouTubers who do more analytical videos of either games in-depth, game lore, game design or the like, due to the game reportedly being a bit of a commercial failure and some of it's praises being spread around through word of mouth slowly but surely have begun to try and convince others in-depth why Pathologic 2 is a must play game for anyone who wants an excellently crafted and unique experience in gaming.
RagnarRox is a mainly horror analyzer (probably best known for some excellent in-depth videos on Silent Hill, Junji Ito, and others) who was already a fan of Ice Pick Lodge (the creators of Pathologic 2) but believes Pathologic 2 is their magnum opus and does an excellent job of portraying why he believes the game is a masterpiece and has become his favorite video game of all time:
MandaloreGaming is a gaming reviewer who does more in-depth reviews of cult, niche, and certain styles of games. He gives the game a fair shake in his usual style and has quite some thoughts about it:
Chris Davis does video game in-depth critiques, he only checked out the game finally hearing it was a commercial failure and knowing another person he trusts praising this game's merits, so he checked it out and believes that Pathologic 2 sets a new standard for what should be considered Psychological Horror:
Grim Beard likes to tackle games a bit less seriously and give his thoughts and some stranger games. He had played the original Pathologic and though he overall he liked what it was going for and appreciated it, wasn't the biggest fan of it. But he has quite some thoughts on how the sequel follows it up:
I wish I could directly link to more in the OP, but one more I'd like to mention is if you don't want long-form analysis and more just a quick review style, Daria Vorobieva delivers her thoughts on the game with a bit of humor and a slavic viewpoint spiced in in a relatively short video review. There are others and more have been creeping up, but I don't want to stuff this OP with endless things to watch.
I think so many of these videos do a better job than I could expressing what I want to express to others about this game. I hope in some way this slowly building word of mouth helps propel this game to be successful enough to get ports for consoles and the other two characters, but as a lot of the team that's made it has already disbanded, so I have some fears there. One example is the excellent English translation of the game's team is mostly disbanded now, which is a shame since the English translation of Pathologic 2 is honestly one of the best video game translations I've seen, taking some really hard to translate Russian meanings and phrases and translating them to have depth and multi-purpose meaning also in English.
Still, I wanted to share these excellent videos and further express my love for this game, so I'll collect more of these as they creep up (another one just showed up today, the Psychological Horror video I posted above, which is what inspired me to finally make this topic), so I'm sure they're still coming.
