The Pathless Review (Callum)
Introduction
The Pathless was a fun experience for a few hours, but the novelty wore off quickly and innovation stagnated in the middle of the game. If the game was streamlined to its best moments, it would be as good as ABZÛ, but as it is there is a lot of filler.
Pros and Cons
The visuals and audio are beautiful, and when exploring areas and concepts that are novel that is where the game really shines. The boss fights, although easy, were fun spectacles, and you got to pet a cute bird. What is not to love about that?
Unfortunately, the movement mechanics were shallow and the environments were nowhere near as diverse as they were in ABZÛ. This unfortunately made exploration a chore rather than something to be excited for. Ironically you spend a lot of time stuck to paths (else you are cursed to slow-walk your way to your destination)
In each segment of the game, there is a mechanic involving darkness and corruption. In the first area, a dark circle randomly appears around the map and then moves slowly. If caught by this circle, you enter a stealth escape segment which can be pretty interesting for the first time. I was hoping the mechanic would change for each corrupted beast, but unfortunately it stayed the same throughout.
The finale was very fun and a good ending to the game. I appreciated seeing an area very similar to a favourite of mine from ABZÛ during the final sequence. The boss fight had a fun moveset, but it was too lenient for my tastes.
Final Thoughts
They say you should expect to pay $1 per hour of gametime to determine the worth of a game, but I got a lot more out of my 2 and a half hours in ABZÛ than 10+ hours in Pathless - I would rather the game have been condensed to its 2.5 hours of best moments rather than have all the padding!
I really enjoyed ABZÛ, so I expected to really like this game. At first, it was a lot of fun, but the game was littered with so many pointless collectables that rehash the same mechanics and ideas over and over that I burnt out hard before finishing the game. I had to take a 10 month break before coming back and finishing. I wish I could give an "informational" review rather than "not recommended" because I think this game still has a lot of value for other people, but if you are like me and like to go in blind and try to complete everything - you may be in for a nasty burnout!
If you haven't already, go play ABZÛ, and if you enjoy that game and still want to play The Pathless I urge you to do the bare minimum to progress so the game stays fresh the whole way through. Hopefully your experience will be better than mine!