The original Indie Cult Classic returns fully restored, and more evocative than ever.
Pathologic Classic HD is the Definitive Edition of the original Cult Classic Psychological First-Person Survival game. The game represents a unique and unforgettable experience as it transports players in a weird town which crouches, ominous, in the far reaches of an ancient steppe. It was once a small drover settlement, huddled around a monstrous abattoirābut something about the butchery it was near has changed it. It has developed an odd social structure over the course of several generations. It could have quietly continued along its weird way, but a sudden outbreak of an unknown and inevitably lethal disease has decimated the citizens. Prayers did not help. Science did not help. So, finally, they have turned to outsiders for help: three of them enter the town in hope of finding a cure orāfailing thatāan explanation. The first outsider was a ruthless investigator, assigned by local authorities. The second is a far-sighted Ripper who has used his extraordinary abilities to gain a reputation as an ingenious surgeon, who has come to the town in search of his father's terrible heritage. The thirdāand lastāoutsider is an eccentric girl rumored to have mystic healing abilities; she may become the town's salvation were it not for the constant fear that plagues her, the memory of the horrors of her recent past.
On the surface, Pathologic is a first person horror adventure game where you control one of three "heroes." Dig deeper, however, and youāll find an experience that will affect your emotional and psychological state. In the world of Pathologic youāll find yourself in situations where morals and good deeds are meaningless in the face of raw despair and endless need. Talk to the denizens of the town and decide for yourself if you wish to ease someone elseās pain or save every bit of precious medicine to protect yourself from the invisible and inexorable plague. Become witness to the miasma of horror as the plague begins to overcome the town.
Brand New in-house English script:
For the first time ever, the game has cast off the major issue that had previously disallowed international audiences from accessing it.
Brand New Voice-overs
.
New content:
A certain amount of text that had previously been cut from the international version of the game have now been restored
Updated textures and higher resolutions support.
New visual effects.
Newly Included Fan-Made Polish translation:
thanks to the hard work and generosity of Jakub Derdziak & Aldona Derdziak.
An Italian translation,
kindly donated to us by the original translators of the game, Stefano Gaburri and Claudio Todeschini.
An indie cult classic.
12 days
in a plague-ridden town. Time is running, and mostly itās running out; numerous events unfold, whether youāre there to witness them or not.
70+ hours of real-time gameplay
without grinding or repetitive quests. As time goes by, more and more things happen, inviting you to participate and change the course of events.
3 playable characters with 3 unique storylines.
The Bachelorās, the Haruspexās, and the Changelingās plots are interconnected, but every side of the trilemma is represented separately via unique events, quests, dialogues, and subplots.
The plot is critically acclaimed
and often regarded as the high point of the game. Itās not just about the fate of the dying townāitās about an ideological conflict, represented by a multitude of characters and factions, each with their own idea of what life, death, and miracles are.
An open-world game.
While the plot is there to grab you, the town has no artificial boundaries: you are free to explore it from day one, carving out your own story.
Survival
is tough. The dying town demands that you constantly keep an eye on your status, maintaining a full belly and decent immunity. That will require tough choices.
Communicate, barter, rob, or steal.
There are many ways to acquire your bare necessities, each of them with its own benefits and drawbacks.
The atmosphere of bleakness and despair
without cartoonish evil or bad guys. Playtime is overāthere will be no jump scares or simple solutions. You will have to do it the hard way.
Storyline
The game is about three characters who are mostly known by their nicknames: two men, Bachelor (ŠŠ°ŠŗŠ°Š»Š°Š²Ń) and Haruspex (ŠŠ°ŃŃŃŠæŠøŠŗ), and a girl nicknamed Devotress (Š”Š°Š¼Š¾Š·Š²Š°Š½ŠŗŠ°). Each of them tries to uncover the source of a strange lethal sickness known as the "sand plague" that has befallen a small town. Although players can play as each of them, there is only one storyline, which is seen from different points of view depending upon the chosen character. The ability to uncover some secrets depend on which character is being played and the characters also interact with the other two unchosen characters and discuss their progress over the course of the game.
The game takes place in a perpetual world over a time frame of 12 in-game days. Throughout each day, the player receives quests from NPCs, however, the game continues regardless of whether they are completed or not. At exactly midnight of each day, the incomplete quests are erased from the player's notebook. Quests are divided into main missions, (one per day) which decide if a major character will die, and side quests, which earn money and items. Completing main quests is essential to discovering the secrets of the town, as characters can die off early in the game who would otherwise reveal information later in the game.
While trying to discover the secrets of the town, the player's other goal is simply to survive to the end of the 12 days by balancing various resources within the game's fluctuating economy, which represents the harsh "supply and demand" nature of a shut-off disease ridden town.
On the edge of town, there is a great building named Polyhedron (ŠŠ½Š¾Š³Š¾Š³ŃŠ°Š½Š½ŠøŠŗ), a geometrically impossible structure used as a fortress by children. On the opposite side lies an ominous mountain called the Abattoir, with the Apiary, an insane asylum, next to it. All districts and major buildings of the town are named after body parts and biology.
Steam
Metacritic
