EPT‘In which iaguz continues to write about games on the internet’
Now that the console market is beginning to hit it’s stride with exclusives (well, the Japanese consoles anyway, the Xbone might as well be called the Xboned or Xmortis) it’s becoming increasingly difficult to be a PC only snob and expect all the best games. I could wax lyrical about how game exclusivity is dumb and lame and it’s proponents should be treated like how the Catholic Church used to treat Heliocentrists but instead I’m going to talk about two games I played for roughly three hours combined. I have good reasons for this I swear!
First up we have Styx: Shards of Darkness, a game about being an enormous twat who steals shit. Not physically I mean, the eponymous Styx is a wee goblin who prowls around a human shanty town built atop a swamp in order to steal shit. It’s like Thief, except Styx has the ability to create temporary dopplegangers to cause distractions in order to slip on by. Alternatively this power can be used to briefly just go completely invisible in case finding creative solutions isn’t your thing. The set up left me with quite a few questions, like how is it Styx is the only goblin who can talk, what does he need money for when almost all the humans seem to think he’s a pest to be slain on sight, and who the fuck on the dev team thought this should be a comedy game?
I only played Dicks: Sharts of Darkness for about an hour because that was all I could take of the game’s truly atrocious writing. Most of it comes from Styx whose constant prattling narration consists of unfunny references, dull observations that add nothing (that often tell instead of showing, writing 101 here people) and the sort of self aggrandisement that makes you want to hurl the mouthy little cunt and his writers off a cliff. Except whenever you do die (which happened a lot since this world is curiously short on handrails) he appears on screen to berate you. Fuck you Styx, it’s not my fault you can’t jump off ropes properly. Also, quit trying to be cool you unlovable little fuck. It’s difficult to put one’s finger on what makes something cool or not but basically it involves exhibiting traits others find desirable to imitate and nobody wants to be a small shitheaded green goblin that spews internet memes. Well, with the possible exception of Norman Osborn. A joke enthusiastically told that fails to land is miserable. A joke enthusiastically told that fails to land coming from someone we’re supposed to connect with and think is cool is the sort of thing that should get smashed with a hammer. Or returned via Steam’s refund policy, that’s also fine.
But to put the quibbling about the literaries to one side, how’s it go in the sneaking about then? Well it’s mostly functional. I didn’t find much use for the signature clone ability which is either my fault for being a thickie or the devs fault for not building the game around it more. Otherwise the levels I played seemed full of different methods to get around the guards and that’s commendable. Solid, if unremarkable I suppose. I’m not much of one for stealth games but I like to sample them from time to time just in case I happen upon a good one. My issue with most stealth games is that the player is encouraged to try and find a way through an area and usually has rather incomplete information as to where all the enemies are and their patrol routes. It’s difficult to tell sometimes when a quick dash between cover might elicit an alarm. Having to find a crevice to dawdle in for a few minutes after guards spot you is just dull and I wish more stealth games found ways to punish the player less for fucking up. I’m holding out for a stealth game to implement a Prince of Persia: Sands of Time-esque time reversal mechanic to encourage players to experiment and cut down the time between “welp that was dumb” and “maybe this’ll work”. Come to think of it Invisible Inc tried something like that and I got bored of that too. I must be unpleasable. In any case if you’re deeply passionate about stealthing all up in your video gaming then Pricks: SoD The Fuck Off gets a very minor recommendation, just change the language settings to unsubtitled Russian or something.
Speaking of Russians, the other game I played was Pathologic: The Marble Nest, a demo for the upcoming remake of 2005’s Pathologic, which itself had a HD re-release two years ago. I’m hoping the principle of Third Time’s the Charm comes into effect since Pathologic is a game I’d love to recommend to people. I can’t, since the game’s frustrating, obtuse, obnoxious, pretentious and just kinda ugly looking, but hey here’s hoping Russia based Ice Pick Studio can turn that all around. The Marble Nest is very promising in this regard but it won’t make much sense unless you know a thing or two about Pathologic so let’s start there then.
Pathologic is a game about a strange town bordering the Russian steppe undergoing an epidemic. Three healers come to the town, a doctor, a shaman and a miracle worker, in order to battle the deadly plague. The player takes the role of one of them and is tasked with coming to understand the nature of the town, the plague, how to beat it and how to look after yourself as society collapses. Each day you’ve got to take care of quests that continue the plot alongside making sure you’re uninfected, well fed, held in good standing and not knifed to death by bandits. So what elevates this fairly simple premise? What gave it immense critical appeal over in the Rus side of the tracks and enduring cult fandom? Some solid world building for one and for two it beautifully encapsulates the crushing, tragic depression that I imagine 95% of Russian culture is about.
You see, Pathologic is a survival horror game but not in the usual sense. Most of the game is just mundane walking about between quest markers in order to advance the plot, all in well lit locations no less. You’re not traipsing down dark corridors waiting for something loud and obnoxious to either game over you or hurl you towards progress. Whenever the game startles you it’s almost silent but nonetheless utterly terrifying, and entirely organic within the game’s design. It’s incredibly subtle atmosphere building that games don’t give you all that often. It’s all the little things, the droning soundtrack; the occasional bizarre visual like kids with dogs for heads or the odd bit of impossible architecture or households developing bloody sores indicating the plague. It’s kind of incredible how on edge it can make you with a handful of shitty textures and weird ambient noises and while it never pays it off with deliberate jump scares the way modern horror games are wont to do. It’s the sort of thing that horror is meant to be, an unnerving, yet captivating, sensation that burrows itself into your brain, pitches a tent and commits to never fucking leaving. That’s great!
As for the raw gameplay, well it’s also crushingly miserable. Frustratingly you won’t be given much direction on how things work but basically it’s about being an incredibly resourceful hobo. You root through trashcans to find goods to barter with the local children and drunks and between bartering and questing you’ll scrape together what you need to get through another day. One day the shops might be closed, how’ll you keep yourself fed? One day you’ll have to go through infected districts, I hope you’ve got some medicine. Perhaps the streets are full of bandits, do you want to use your precious handgun bullets on them? It’s just the right blend of punishment, uncertainty and vagueness which instills a constant crushing sensation. As much as I despise calling anything ‘the Dark Souls of X” it does seem appropriate labeling Pathologic the Dark Souls of pretentious survival horror games, so consider that a compliment.
Oh yeah and about that world building I mentioned. This is a game about spending 12 days in a bizarre rural town in Russia so do keep that in mind as I list some of the things contained within. A massive abattoir full of spiritual butchers. Gangs of creepy weirdo children, some with dogs for heads. Three leading families whose women are all clairvoyants. Humanoid monster dudes with fucked up looking faces. An impossible Polyhedron towering over the town defying physics and reason. Mime artist looking tragedians that only you can see. An uncaring authoritarian national government referred only as The Powers That Be. Ritualistic tribal societies with environmentalist leanings. Everyone’s got their own agenda, everyone’s got their own motivations and you’re probably being lied to. Constantly. It’s kind of remarkable how audacious it is, particularly for a studio’s debut title, now all it needs is some really good writing to tie it all together.
Ah. Right. Well here’s where it stumbles quite a bit, what sort of makes Pathologic hard to recommend. The original 2005 release had a notoriously pathetic english translation, one of the playable characters was rendered unplayable without a walkthrough due to how incomprehensible it was. A considerable amount of dialogue was written to be bizarre and cryptic and that’s in the original Russian! It’s a struggle to correctly discern a character’s meaning and emotional state, particularly with intonation and body language up for a lot of interpretation. There’s a whole lot going on and one day I’d like to be able to explain to someone including a thorough analysis of the themes and imagery. The translation of the HD re-release sure does help a bunch but it’s still a fucking monster of a game to get through. Those 12 days are going to like 12 real days, and I must confess I’ve never actually finished Pathologic, hence my interest in a final supreme version. I’ve always wanted to love Pathologic but the game’s incomprehensible nature keeps butting me out.
Which leads me back to The Marble Nest. It takes place about 8 days into the Doctor’s storyline and focuses on his struggle against death. He’s frustrated and confounded on many angles and that’s without dreaming of weird beaky bastards who want him to give it all up and succumb to a miserable, inevitable death. There’s not much in the way of resolution, it’s just a mood piece that exists to mollify Kickstarter backers and remind them there’s some actual work going on, but I can’t deny it’s extremely promising. With more money to throw about the game boasts much stronger visuals, audio and translation yet still retains the right tone and atmosphere. It’s insubstantial but hey, it’s free and it’s not often a meditation on the fruitlessness of noble endeavour leaves me giddy with anticipation. Additional congratulations are in order for being less miserable of the two games I played this week.
(Pathologic, the succinct version)l:
