Steaming hot and slow for exciting new releases are the days we find ourselves in. Don’t despair, though. Uncle Dee and his undying torch-lit crawl through cobweb veiled corners of PC gaming is here to the rescue! And, oh, have I got one for you! ‘Hidden gem’ is just one pair of words I’d use to describe The Pathless. The other pair being, fucking amazing.
2021’s The Pathless was developed by Giant Squid, a studio founded by one Matt Nava. The very same whose credit appears on visionary, award-raking Journey as its art director. Six years have passed since Giant Squid’s well-loved debut, Abzû, when The Pathless saw the light of day. And… no one seemed to care! Two years after launch, The Pathless has less than a measly thousand reviews on Steam, albeit more than 90 per cent positive, thank fuck. Hell, even I, an ardent Steam indie sightseer, found out it existed by complete chance on Reddit a couple of days ago.
If you liked the art, the world, and mythology of Ori and the Blind Forest or its jaw-dropping sequel, just go buy The Pathless. If you enjoyed crossing Plains of Eidolon by chaining your favourite Warfarame’s bullet jumps, just go buy The Pathless. If you, like me, think the boss battles and light puzzles in God of War sequel/reboot just can’t hold the candle to the original series’ ones, just go buy The Pathless. If you are, like me, sick of all the map icon hunts masquerading as open world games, just go buy The Pathless. If you miss original, inventive, different games such as – dare I say it – Shadow of the Colossus, just. Fucking. Go. Buy. The Pathless.
The Pathless’ loop sees you, a hunter-archer assisted by a pet eagle, introduced into an open area occupied by a boss creature. You travel the area by shooting talismans in an extremely fun, fluid ballet of chained acrobatics, both horizontal and vertical. Your mission is to activate 3 obelisks by solving puzzles while the boss roams around in shape of a menacing red cloud. Getting caught in the cloud triggers a stealth segment where you have to save your eagle companion and escape. Activating the obelisks results in a chase with the area boss, leading to inevitable catch, and a battle. Then you move on to the next area. There are a total of four such areas, with the fifth and final boss forgoing the obelisk shenanigans. And that robotic shit is the best I can do without spoiling anything.
Despite its clear inspirations, The Pathless stands entirely on its own. And it stands tall. It morphed my face into an excited grin as I traversed the world, on land and in air, in a perfectly choreographed dance. It watered my eye as I had to pet my distressed eagle after an intense stealth segment. It made my gamepad all sweaty when I had to put all movement tricks to the test chasing the fleeing boss monster, and it absolutely floored my jaw in some of the best fucking boss battles I have ever experienced. Yes, ever. All that to soundtrack composed by the unadulterated genius that is Austin Wintory. Enough said.
The Pathless released on PC, Playstation, and macOS in 2021, with Nintendo Switch and Xbox ports having landed this February. Go buy it. No, seriously.
