Pathologic: Difference between revisions

The game received many good reviews praising its atmosphere. Sadly, the English translation was [[Blind Idiot Translation|absolutely incomprehensible]] at times, which, coupled with the developer being practically unknown outside Russia, resulted in rather bad sales. (Though retranslation projects have been planned, none were ever finished.) Also note that this is not a game for everyone. As with many [[Survival Horror]] games, ''Pathologic'' has no parts that can really be considered conventionally "fun". From a technical standpoint, it didn't age well, and there's a lot to take in. It is, however, a very powerful, emotionally draining experience, and not to be missed.

 

 

* [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]]: The game notably averts most of these. Many of the gameplay mechanics are surprisingly realistic - the [[In Universe Game Clock]] is a [[Timed Mission|major constriction]] and is constantly ticking, enemies take few hits to kill but ammunition is scarce, using weapons or wearing clothes decreases their (very limited) durability, being [[Stupid Evil]] and reducing your [[Karma Meter]] will get you killed, etc. This may be one of the many reasons why the game is [[Nintendo Hard|maddeningly difficult]] and no part of it is described as "fun", even by fans.

* [[Anachronism Stew]] / [[Culture Chop Suey]]: The world of the game bears resemblance to a typical Siberian outpost city of [[Tsarist Russia]], circa the [[World War One]] period. But there are several much more modern elements present, especially in terms of clothing and medicine. Not to mention the many [[Low Fantasy]] elements, the [[Magic Realism|strange]], [[Purely Aesthetic Era|timeless atmosphere]] and the fact that [[Aerith and Bob|about a third of the characters have decidedly non-Russian names]]. Essentialy, the setting itself is as enigmatic as the cause of the disease and the [[Backstory|backstories]] of the various characters.

* [[Another Side Another Story]]: All three main characters have their own agenda.

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: In this case, Anyone Could Die based on your actions.

** Though, more specifically, only the characters who would "give their life to you" will "die because of you".

* [[Badass Longcoat]]: Dankovski. Also, damn near everybody who wears a longcoat.

* {{spoiler|[[Beautiful Void]]}}: {{spoiler|Day 12.}}

* [[Big Freaking Gun]]: {{spoiler|The army's cannons used in the ending scenes are ''fucking giant''. And they're mounted on railroad tracks!}}

* [[Blind Idiot Translation]]: [[Zig Zagged]] -- the English language translation is very spotty. At times, it's a train wreck, at other times it's decent, and every now and then the incomprehensibility will actually add to the atmosphere. However, it can make it hard to know what to do. (The worst errors are in Day 3 and Day 6 in the Bachelor's scenario, as well as a letter on Day 12.)

* [[Boss Battle]]: Exactly one, and it isn't even necessary to progress the plot -- {{spoiler|Oyun}} in the Haruspicius' scenario, if you discover that {{spoiler|he killed Artemiy's father}}.

** Arguably, there's also {{spoiler|the hunchback and [[Flunky Boss|his squad of arsonists]]}} in the Bachelor's scenario, though he isn't much tougher than a regular enemy. And again, it's [[Bonus Boss|optional]].

* [[City of Weirdos]]: ''Oh, yes...''

* [[City With No Name]]

** The [[Rule of Three|trio]] of "aristocratic women" (Lara, Julia, and Anna) are also portrayed as much more level-headed and trustworthy than the actual ruling families, who are primarily male.

* [[Cosmic Horror Story]]: Of a rather unusual kind, but it still shows.

* {{spoiler|[[Gaias Vengeance]]}}: {{spoiler|The infection is spreading because the ''earth'' is sick.}}

* [[Fire Breathing Weapon]]: The army that arrives in the city at mid-point in the game's story includes a [http://www.mobygames.com/images/shots/l/265451-pathologic-windows-screenshot-an-army-checkpoint-set-up-on.jpg creepy-looking squad of flamethrowermen]. Since the army had supposedly arrived there to ensure the area is quarantined and to keep the plague from spreading... ''[[Its the Only Way To Be Sure|guess what they intend to use the flamethrowers for...]]''

* [[Fragile Speedster]]: The marauder enemies. They're extremely agile and skilled in melee combat (traits bolstered by the fact that you fight them in small, cramped rooms), but can be killed with a single rifle shot anywhere on their body.

** A weapon example is the revolver. It's relatively weak and pretty inaccurate, but its large magazine size allows you to fire multiple bullets in quick succession -- useful for dealing with large mobs before you get the shotgun.

* [[Hero With Bad Publicity]]: Unlike Daniel and Klara, Artemiy starts the game wounded, weaponless and with a very low reputation (due to the accussation of being his father's killer). The first challenge in playing his character is basically restoring his reputation to a bearable amount while not getting killed by the [[City Guards]], who will hunt him down at first sight.

* [[Hobbes Was Right]]: The overall decay of both the city and human society within is [[Psychological Horror|downright disturbing]]. ''[[Playing With a Trope|But]]'', the more you explore and learn of the city's mysteries, it's hinted at that:

* [[Improbable Aiming Skills]]: Despite (presumably) never having held a gun before the game begins, the three healers become remarkably adept with their weapons as soon as they pick them up.

* [[Infant Immortality]]: [[Justified Trope|Justified.]]

* [[Invulnerable Knuckles]]: Attacking unarmed suffers you no penalty, unlike when using a melee weapon, which decreases its durability. Possibly justified in the case of Daniel and Artemiy, since they wear gloves. (Klara doesn't, but she attacks using her [[Psychic Powers]] instead, so the issue is avoided.)

* [[It Got Worse]]: The infection. And the Executioners are harbringers of this. If you see one, be prepared for some very bad news.

* [[Just Before the End]]: [[Dying Town|The town has certainly seen better days...]]

* [[Justified Tutorial]]: Once you arrive in the city, the Executioner and Tragedian will be waiting patiently at your doorstep. If you talk to them, they will explain the various game mechanics and survival strategies via colourful metaphors (as is typical for them).

** Added points for lots of fairly funny [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshading]] [[Expospeak Gag|in their expospeak]].

* [[Karma Meter]]: The Reputation meter is an interesting and realistic variation on this. It's actually, for all intents and purposes, another health meter, and one of the most important ones at that. If you squander your Reputation, an already [[Nintendo Hard]] game will become [[Up to Eleven|even more difficult]], as important [[NPC|NPCs]] will refuse to help you or provide shelter, most likely resulting in your unavoidable death.

* [[Knife Nut]]: You can use a scalpel or a bigger ordinary knife as melee weapons to defend yourself (or others). Firearms are the more powerful and safer to use weapons though, since melee fights in the game are [[Spam Attack|fast]] and [[No Holds Barred Beatdown|brutal]].

** Another example of this trope are the looters, who seem to be expert knife throwers. Like, ''ridiculously adept'' at it... Thankfully, you can [[Dodge the Bullet|dodge the blades]] if you think and move fast enough.

** The Haruspex: {{spoiler|Destroy the Polyhedron to save the town.}}

** The Devotress: {{spoiler|Save everyone in the town, but at the cost of the lives of all of the believers.}}

* [[Name of Cain]]: The Kain family.

* [[Never Bring a Knife To A Fist Fight]]: If you've come under attack, it's generally better to cripple your enemy with a firearm first, then hit or stab him. As long as you have ammo, that is...

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: It's pretty easy to waste time and resources at the start of the game in a way that will totally screw you over by the endgame.

* [[No Antagonist]]: Despite their conflicting methods, all the Adherents wish to put an end to the disease and restore order to the town. Even the thugs and bandits only rob out of necessity.

* [[Obvious Beta]] / [[Needs More Love]]: Definitely. The game's innovative and well-written story and atmosphere are often marred by the rather clunky and buggy engine. There are quite a few annoying bugs that can mess up the gameplay or disrupt its otherwise highly immersive atmosphere. And the wobbly and seemingly rushed English translation and dub needlessly add to the already existing issues...

** Fortunately, the developers say that they're planning to create a [[Video Game Remake]] sometime in the future that fixes these issues. Judging by [[Development Hell|how badly]] the [[Fan Translation]] is going, though, it probably won't happen any time soon.

* [[One Bullet Clips]]: Sidestepped. The revolver is reloaded offscreen (the character pulls it down to their side first), avoiding the need for custom animations depending on how many bullets it currently has. The rifle ''is'' reloaded on-screen, but it has a ''literal'' one-bullet clip, so the trope doesn't apply. Played straight with the shotgun, however, which is also guilty of the "reload more visible shots than you actually have" subtrope.

* [[One Stat to Rule Them All]]: Keep your Reputation high ''at all costs''. It's the hardest type of health to restore, and has far-reaching consequences if it gets low.<ref>Among other things: Shopkeepers will refuse to sell their wares to you, townspeople will attack you on sight, and most people will refuse to lend you shelter, meaning you'll eventually drop dead from exhaustion.</ref>

* [[One Steve Limit]]: Averted; there are two characters who go by the name of "Alexander". They're both referred to by their surnames, though, so the problems with the trope are sidestepped.

* {{spoiler|[[Reality Is Out to Lunch]]}}

* [[Reckless Gun Usage]]: The reloading animation for the [[Sawed Off Shotgun]] shows the [[Player Character]] using the stock "flick the gun back to close it using its own weight" technique. In [[Real Life]], this is actually a rather dangerous action that can damage the gun.

* [[Revolvers Are Just Better]]: Averted. The revolver is the least accurate and second-weakest gun in the game. Its only real advantage is a (relatively) large magazine size, but [[More Dakka]] is a horrible strategy in this game, so that's not terribly useful. (And just in case you still want to try that, its ammunition is the most expensive as well.)

* [[Romanticism Versus Enlightenment]]: The Bachelor's scenario makes a case for the Enlightenment, while the Haruspex is on the side of Romanticism.

** Daniel can be like this too, depending on which options you pick in his [[Dialogue Tree|Dialogue Trees]].

* [[Sniper Pistol]]: Averted. Every weapon has an accuracy value (a random variance of how far the bullet actually hits from the crosshairs), and the revolver has the worst accuracy. If you want to snipe, you need to use the rifle, but even that's pretty unreliable at low durability. (It's also ''not'' a [[Sniper Rifle]], i.e., no scope, so aiming over long distances with it can still be difficult.)

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: ''[[Turgor (Video Game)|Turgor]]'' (a.k.a. ''Tension'' or ''The Void'').

* [[Standard FPS Guns]]: Calling Pathologic a "standard FPS" would be laughable, so many of the traits inherent to the guns don't apply, even if the game does use them.

** [[Handgun]]: The derringer is roughly equivalent to the pistol in most shooters, but you can forget about ammo being plentiful.

*** [[Revolvers Are Just Better]]: The revolver actually subverts many of the standard tropes surrounding it; it's more powerful than the derringer, but still one of the weakest guns overall.

* [[Survival Horror]]: The most pronounced aspect of the game, at least genre-wise. And an unusual take on the genre at that: You're not fighting monsters, the darkness, etc., but an [[Psychological Horror|abstract unnerving evil]] in the forms of [[The Plague]], the effects of [[Sanity Slippage|insanity]], [[Despair Event Horizon|despair]], [[Hobbes Was Right|and general human senselessness]].

* [[Talk to Everyone]]

* [[Timed Mission]] (plus [[In Universe Game Clock]]): Basically the entire game. All quests must be finished the day they were received. The game spans 12 days, and you know this from the very beginning.

** There is a way to modify the [[Scrappy Mechanic|overly speedy flow of time]] [http://forum.ice-pick.com/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=4278 by a simple edit of the game's config].

* [[Video Game Physics]]: It's mainly used just to calculate falling damage - and it's pretty unforgiving about it too. The player characters' legs must be made of plaster to break from such short falls...

* [[Waif Prophet]] / [[Mysterious Waif]] / [[Strange Girl]]: Klara, the Devotress.

* [[Wham Episode]]: Day 6 in the Bachelor's scenario. Up until that point, things have actually been going surprisingly well -- you've managed to set up a hospital and isolation ward, and your fellow scientist Rubin has even managed to isolate a vaccine (albeit at [[Shoot the Dog|a cost]]). But then [[It Got Worse|everything starts going to pieces]].

** Secondly, {{spoiler|a plague carrier somehow managed to infiltrate the hospital you set up, causing death and despair. The town is now degrading into madness and hysteria trying to hunt town the perpetrator.}}

** Fourthly, {{spoiler|a mob of arsonists is trying to ''burn down the Apiary'' because they believe it's the source of the plague. Even Vlad Senior, the overseer of the place, doesn't seem very concerned about this -- and he later reveals that the infection has indeed found its way into the Apiary...}}

** Probably not coincidentally, this is the point where the red angels of death start appearing in the infected districts.

* [[What the Hell Townspeople]]: Invoked by Artemiy [[Snark Knight|in a few sarcastic jabs]].