Butchering Pathologic

We never really covered Russian RPG/FPS/adventure game Pathologic, which isn’t surprising considering how little-known it is. But let me put it this way: Pathologic is the single-greatest game you’ll never be able to finish. It is a brilliant failure, and probably the most innovative and different RPG of the past decade. And you know me (that’s Brother None), I don’t talk like that easily.

But honestly, for most people, this game of bad graphics and butchered translations will be unplayable. Hell, it’s hard enough to explain why anyone should play it. That’s why, quite frankly, I was very impressed when Rock Paper Shotgun took up the task:
Butchering Pathologic – Part 1: The Body.
Butchering Pathologic – Part 2: The Mind.
Butchering Pathologic – Part 3: The Soul.

I’m going to explain, right now, why a Russian FPS/RPG called Pathologic is the single best and most important game that you’ve never played.

This isn’t the first time I’ve tried, mind you. There are a half-dozen half-finished Word documents on my laptop, all of them abandoned at some point because I felt like I was failing to express myself. I mean, there’s a lot at stake here. My devotion to Pathologic is such that I’ve had a symbol from the game tattooed on my back, a big ol’ ugly thing that’s meaningless to anyone who hasn’t played the game. Far more significantly, Pathologic kept me closeted away in my room for tens of hours during University Fresher’s Week. Fresher’s Week! The one beautiful week in a boy’s life where seduction can be as simple as walking into a bar and SNEEZING on a girl.

But enough is enough. The more I procrastinate about writing this, the hazier my memory will be and the less I’ll do the game justice. So here I go.

This article will be in three parts. The first will outline the body of the game. The second part will touch on the mind, and we’ll finish with the soul.

Which is a bit pretentious, but it can’t be helped, as it’s the only way to show you what this game showed me. Chances are you only know how to take from games. Truth is, the real fun only starts when you let part of yourself be given away.

You ready? I’m not ready. Okay let’s do this.

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