The Path: Difference between revisions

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If you wish to get the full experience out of the game, stop reading now and play it for yourself. Most of the fun is in not knowing what comes next. You can buy it [http://tale-of-tales.com/ThePath/ here].

The Path is not really a game in the conventional sense, in that there are no enemies, no points, no levels, no bosses, and the goals are vague at best; in fact, the only thing that resembles a game in this is a grading system that grades you on how far you traveled and how many items you've collected along the way, though the creators tell you to disregard it. The Path is more of an experience, a combination of atmosphere and ambiguous storytelling to create a sense of real emotion rarely found in other things. That being said, it is certainly not for everyone. The game, though short, is slow and borders on repetitive. It is not for the impatient. And with its subtle references to violence and sex, it is ''definitely'' [[What Do You Mean ~~Its~~ Not for Kids|not for kids]].

The Path is not really a game in the conventional sense, in that there are no enemies, no points, no levels, no bosses, and the goals are vague at best; in fact, the only thing that resembles a game in this is a grading system that grades you on how far you traveled and how many items you've collected along the way, though the creators tell you to disregard it. The Path is more of an experience, a combination of atmosphere and ambiguous storytelling to create a sense of real emotion rarely found in other things. That being said, it is certainly not for everyone. The game, though short, is slow and borders on repetitive. It is not for the impatient. And with its subtle references to violence and sex, it is ''definitely'' [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|not for kids]].

Note that some of the trope names below can be spoilers in themselves.

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* [[Children Are Innocent]]: Robin, Rose, and Ginger, the younger of the six.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Rose seems to be this: lost in her own thoughts, drifting through her own world, and always has her thoughts on flying.

* [[Colour Coded for Your Convenience]]: All of the girls are associated with red (obviously), white and black. Some of them have different colors for the finale. {{spoiler|Scarlet's wolf and her version of Grandmother's House are green instead: it's the direct opposite of red, often associated with [[The Fair Folk]], and one of the rooms is a backstage area, which is called a "green room".}}

* [[Colour-Coded for Your Convenience]]: All of the girls are associated with red (obviously), white and black. Some of them have different colors for the finale. {{spoiler|Scarlet's wolf and her version of Grandmother's House are green instead: it's the direct opposite of red, often associated with [[The Fair Folk]], and one of the rooms is a backstage area, which is called a "green room".}}

* [[Colourful Theme Naming]]: The names of all six girls are associated with the color red.

* [[Coming of Age Story]]: The creators have stated that this is the general theme. You have no real control over the girls. You can either watch them stray from the path and make their own mistakes, or do nothing. {{spoiler|Them blacking out at the sight of the wolf}} is a moment of realization for them, and them entering Grandma's house is them growing as a person.

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* [[Jigsaw Puzzle Plot]]: Mostly delivered via poetry (what the girls are thinking), brief cutscenes, heavy symbolism and images flashing across the screen for a quarter of a second.

* [[Killer Rabbit]]: {{spoiler|Robin's wolf}} is supposed to be a combination of pretty adorable and insanely creepy, something cartoony and childish that would be exactly the kind of image a child would have in a nightmare.

* [[Kill Em All]]

* [[Kill'Em All]]

* [[Knight in Sour Armor]]: Scarlet's journal seems to indicate that she is quite the pessimist. Only talking about the end of the world, and how uncivilized people are these days. Despite this, she still seems to remain dedicated to obeying rules blindly. ''The panic you feel, is the fear of order.''

* [[Lady in Red]]: All of the girls have some bit of red in their outfit. {{spoiler|The girl in white receives her red colors after the epilogue.}}

* [[Last Note Nightmare]]: The ending to the song "Forest Theme". In the last two minutes it suddenly shifts from soothing singing to a harsh and raspy voice screeching "And I will eat you". Also the in-game version of "Girl In Red", which ends with a static scratchy noise that almost sounds like screams that slowly overpowers the rest of the music.

* [[Last-Note Nightmare]]: The ending to the song "Forest Theme". In the last two minutes it suddenly shifts from soothing singing to a harsh and raspy voice screeching "And I will eat you". Also the in-game version of "Girl In Red", which ends with a static scratchy noise that almost sounds like screams that slowly overpowers the rest of the music.

* [[Leitmotif]]: The path and the woods have their own, as do the wolves.

* [[Les Yay]]: {{spoiler|Ginger and her wolf.}}

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* [[Madness Mantra]]: At the end of "Forest theme". "And I will eat you! And I will eat you! And I will eat you! And I will eat you eat you eat you!"

* [[Magical Negro]]: The girl in white. Maybe even literally. If you encounter her after straying from the path, she will guide back out of the forest. If you stand still and away from objects long enough, your character will act helpless and the girl in white will be drawn to your aid.

* [[Maybe Magic Maybe Mundane]]: Is all this stuff really happening, or are they just metaphors?

* [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane]]: Is all this stuff really happening, or are they just metaphors?

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Or perhaps just a [[Punny Name|punny one]]. It's not such a surprise that the sisters' surname is Red, but their first names allude to the color as well: Scarlet, Carmen (or carmine), Ruby, Ginger, Rose, and Robin.

* [[Men Are Uncultured]]: Scarlett thinks so, anyways.

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* [[Of Course I Smoke]]: {{spoiler|Ruby, when offered a light by her wolf.}}

* [[Ominous Fog]]: All around the woods. There's also a lake surrounded by even denser fog.

* [[Eerie Pale Skinned Brunette]]: All of them except for Ginger. And Ruby dyed her hair black.

* [[Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette]]: All of them except for Ginger. And Ruby dyed her hair black.

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: There is no mention of parents throughout the game, with only passing references to their mother on both the website and each of the girls' LiveJournals.

* [[Parental Favoritism]]: If you are good and obedient and go straight to grandma's house she'll have a single framed picture of your character hanging over her bed. This also applies if you wander into the forest but don't meet the wolf.

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* [[Trickster Archetype]]: The Girl In Red seems to be this.

* [[Unkempt Beauty]]: The creators were originally planning to make Ginger look much more boyish, but decided to make her look more feminine because they saw something poetic in a girl who doesn't seem to be aware of how lovely she actually is.

* [[Visual Innuendo]]: {{spoiler|After each girl's encounter with their wolf, they wake up with body language that suggests... ahem... [[Is That What ~~Theyre~~ Calling It Now|rough treatment]]; they move sluggishly and limp across the bridge to Grandma's in a torrent of rain. Also, at least two of the wolf encounters seem somewhat sexualized. Carmen essentially seduces her wolf.}}

* [[Visual Innuendo]]: {{spoiler|After each girl's encounter with their wolf, they wake up with body language that suggests... ahem... [[Is That What They're Calling It Now?|rough treatment]]; they move sluggishly and limp across the bridge to Grandma's in a torrent of rain. Also, at least two of the wolf encounters seem somewhat sexualized. Carmen essentially seduces her wolf.}}

* [[Violation of Common Sense]]: The only way to proceed in the game is to do the opposite of what the game first tells you to do.

** And even then, with all the warnings that you can only complete the game by straying from the path, if you stay on the path and do what you're told multiple times, [[Anti Frustration Features|you can access the map whenever you want so you dont get lost.]] The game is a master of mixed messages.