centuries after people up and leave, walk through real, specific locations sketched abstractly
collect scraps to fill in story, or don’t
collect berries or hunt or fish, or don’t
when you get tired, go to sleep. Wake up to a star-filled sky and a dim orange glow settled on the foothills, through brittle skeletons of skyscrapers
Since so much of Pathologic is walking, slowly, ruminating, I’d put its crushing anxiety and weirdness next to a serene emptiness. I can’t play either for longer than half an hour at a time.
I’m starting to get into beglitched and it’s reminding me again how many critical darlings came out this year that basically had no audience beyond prestige dev circles – quadrilateral cowboy, videoball, stephen’s sausage roll, all praised and promoted to the nines but basically had no one to buy them.
Videoball is a different situation, but Quadrilateral Cowboy and Stephen’s Sausage Roll more or less went with boutique pricing. That isn’t necessarily a bad idea for niche products but it more or less kills any chance of selling beyond that as the price of entry appears to be too high for those not already convinced.
yeah, that’s a good point. there’s been a seeming consensus rise in the asking price of indie games lately but I guess for those that were already expected to do pretty marginal numbers it makes more sense (albeit sustainable “success” is probably impossible at that point).
i am so happy for SSR and its one of my excited purchases for when i build a pc
VIDEOBALL as well, finally a copy of my own. ive bought it four times to play at/with friends’ haha.
i hope boutique pricing proliferates among the right titles. if a game is selling 500 copies either way~
Well the one I have is called “Pathologic Classic HD” which I imagine is some kind of upgrade from the actual original, I dunno if that’s what you’re referring to.
It’s clearly a WRPG but it feels more like Silent Hill than anything.
I’m just wondering how this isn’t in the sb hivemind canon. I mean this game has the kind of writing we oughta be spilling blood for.
There was a western release! Translated to English by the finest Austrian orphans porridge can buy! 2008, 2009? That RPS article was contemporary, I think.
It says something that the best writing I’ve seen in a game was mangled as though through a dream…
They had a Kickstarter a few years ago to fully remake the game; since they’ll be rewriting their studio’s masterpiece they took the courtesy of fixing up its technical issues and giving it a decent English translation so their past is preserved.
The borky original already had a more vivid atmosphere than any other game ever made, so I’m not sure if a more realized cityscape will be impactful. But this is gorgeous.
