Today we are going to take a look at The Pathless. This open-world action-adventure game promises to allow you to explore a beautiful mythical island with your eagle companion while saving it from an ancient evil and discovering all its secrets. Whether it can deliver on its promise is the question we will try to answer today. The Pathless is available on the Epic Games Store for 39 Euros and 99 cents or your regional equivalent.

With this review you have a choice of either reading it here in text form or listening to the video review. They both contain the same content.

Be sure to check out my other posts about gaming and science @kralizec and visit my YouTube Channel

Buy the game

Watch The Video Review

Read The Text Review

Back in 2009, a more an art piece game came into existence. It was released on the Playstation 3 and it was called Flower. While it was short it was also beautiful and was capable of just… making you feel good. A certain Matt Nava was the lead visual designer. He was also behind the more than well-received Journey and the ABZÛ which at the very least was visually stunning. All three of these games had one thing in common. They were breathtaking linear walking simulators that allowed you to enjoy the scenery for a few hours but lacked any true gameplay. The Pathless may seem to be the same thing but get ready for much more.

The story of The Pathless is a bit of a mix of Journey and the Avatar TV-series. As the world was plunged into darkness the last remaining huntress must journey to the end of the world where she will find an island where the worlds of humanity and spirits connect. The cause of the darkness is quickly revealed. The evil Godslayer has enslaved the spirits and is currently enjoying the view from his flying castle above the island. So, you must pick-up your bow, the cutest eagle you’ve ever seen, save the spirits, beat the crap out of the bad guy, and finally restore balance to the world. That might sound pretty stereotypical but at the same time, the journey is often more important than the finish line. And this particular journey can get very long.

The Pathless includes four main areas that are all dominated by a trinity of gigantic towers. These towers have to be cleansed of the forces of darkness using special symbols of a specific kind of spirit of that particular location that are hidden across the area. If you focus purely on getting these symbols, The Pathless will be a short game, taking you maybe 6 hours to finish. But I can guarantee that you’ll spend much more time playing this gem.

This is because each of the areas is full of ruins that themselves are full of various puzzles. And as gamers, we do care about the rewards, don’t we? So, here you’ll be given either the symbols needed to activate the towers or crystals that increase the number of possible wing-flaps of your eagle. The majority of the puzzles are capable of making even the smarter ones among you break a sweat if not make you angry even though they are based on a few simple and repeating premises. You’ll be firing your bow to light torches, setting up pictures correctly, or even left alone without the help of your eagle. The nice thing is the developers managed to get every single ounce of fun out of them making sure you won’t get bored. Ever. But don’t expect the … sadly traditional-looking search for every icon on the map. And I am so happy this isn’t the case. Yes, it’s convenient but also takes the immersion and throws it out of the window. Instead, you get this special mask that allows you to peek into the spirit world getting at least a bit of a clue where to find all the points of interest. It just feels so natural that all other systems used by other open-world games seem obsolete and truly do hope other developers will be inspired by this system.

On top of that, the world of The Pathless has tons and tons of details telling of what happened. Actually, I was disappointed by the fact that there are several voice-acted dialogues instead of the game just letting you imagine the story itself. Yes, voice acting has its place, but the imagination can reign supreme and if it weren’t for them I would have almost felt like reading a book that allows me to actually play inside the world it describes. But don’t take this as criticism as there really are just a few of these dialogues and the rest of your journey will be accompanied only by the awesome soundtrack.

And if that was all the developers have done, I would still give them a standing ovation. I love games that are art. But the developers didn’t stop there. They decided to elevate their work to a new level. Thus, strange dark trinkets are flying all over the island. When you shoot them down with your bow, they fall down and charge you so you can run faster for a moment. As the bow targets them automatically, all you need to do is time it properly and decide the direction. This combination of sprinting and the ability to float with your eagle creates one of the best ways to traverse the map I have ever seen. I don’t think I ever even thought about a fast-travel feature and often I just was wandering through the zones enjoying the beautiful vistas and the feeling of speed and freedom. This is exactly what mainstream open-world games need to adopt and what will make us want to explore all the worlds game creators make for us.

But, just so you don’t get everything for free, there are these dark storms waiting for you full of the spirits broken by the will of the big bad guy. If you get caught you will have to endure this scary stealth section until you reach the end and your eagle finally disperses the storm and returns the peace. But to be honest, you have nothing to worry about. You can’t die in them. But the feeling of urgency is insanely real. And this was the one mechanic I started to avoid over time, but as the game isn’t that long it will never become that big of a bother.

And lastly, there’s the true cherry on top. The fights with the spirits themselves. First, you need to find them in the heart of the storm only to finally reach their lair and battle them. And both of these phases are one hell of a ride. Still, you can’t die but just beating them will make you feel like you just accomplished a Herculean task. And once you save the innocent spirits the darkness fades away. Suddenly, everything bright, colorful, and you can calmly search for the rest of the symbols and explore the mysteries of the land. This is how you make atmosphere in a game!

Conclusion

So… in conclusion: The Pathless is one of the biggest and best surprises of the year and a definite contender for the best next-gen console launch title. For those who have a PlayStation it is a definite must-have and for us PC gamers, it a reason to install the Epic Store other than just getting free games every Thursday. Definitely get this game as I see little to no reason why everyone shouldn’t enjoy this gem.

So, that’s it for today guys. I hope you liked the review and if you did, please up-vote the review, follow my blog, and be sure to share it with your friends. And comment, if you have anything you would like to add. See you guys later with more gaming content.