It also results in animations from the main character that are simply wonderful to look at.Īnother unique aspect is the music. The end result is fast, fluid, and sometimes frenetic movement that is extremely enjoyable. If the player is off the ground, this will lead to a mid-air dash combined with a jump.
If the player is on the ground, this will lead to a speed boost. To refill it, floating talismans that are omnipresent in the environment have to be hit with an arrow. At the bottom of the screen, there’s an endurance meter that depletes whenever the player runs. While The Pathless offers fairly standard puzzle and combat mechanics, it’s the traversal mechanic that makes the game unique. Fortunately, “The Hunter” will have an eagle to assist in this formidable physical and mental challenge. The Godslayer is the responsible party for the darkness and evil forces throughout the land. Instead of exploring the depths of the sea like ABZÛ, players will take to the land and air in The Pathless in an attempt to purge the curse that has overtaken the area.Ĭontrolling “The Hunter” (voiced by Laura Bailey), players will have to shoot, dash, jump, and fly through the environment to try and stop the Godslayer (voiced by Troy Baker). But it shouldn’t, because the second game from developer Giant Squid (the first being ABZÛ) is another great title. I was bored after the first hour, and no new ideas or clever twists arrived to rescue me from torpor.With so much attention given to the first party launch games, The Pathless has flown somewhat under the radar. The problem isn’t the rudimentary gameplay itself, but how The Pathless tries to stretch its few puzzles across several hours. The score is reduced to sparse percussion in the open field, and the world itself doesn’t offer much in terms of visual variety or secrets to uncover. Boss battles, with their blend of dashing, fighting and light brainwork, drive home that the Giant Squid formula works best in small doses. There just isn’t very much to do in The Pathless: you run across empty fields for a while, before solving a small variety of puzzles. Every now and then, the bird must be rescued from an encroaching storm, but this is more disruptive than diverting. The eagle is an engaging companion, screeching with joy as it glides through the air while you dash, hopping along next to you in a dungeon, even allowing you to pet it after particularly harrowing experiences. Gliding down high towers and mountains is even more visually arresting than dashing over the plains, giving you time to take in the landscape and choose your next destination. The hunter isn’t alone on her quest – an eagle helps you solve puzzles by carrying items or hoisting you up to platforms otherwise out of reach. For the most part, hitting targets to keep your momentum up is intuitive, but sometimes the hunter will focus on a far-away symbol or run into an obstacle before the next one appears, bringing you to an abrupt halt. Movement feels fluid, and it’s great fun to watch the landscape rushing by and combine running and jumping to reach new heights. Hit a target while jumping and you’ll spring higher. For a game that’s only six to eight hours long, there’s a dispiriting lack of ideas.Ĭhain hits together while you run and you build up exhilarating speeds, blurring your immediate surroundings. You then use flaming arrows to light torches in half the subsequent puzzles in the game, and very few of them will innovate on the basic idea in any way at all. One example: early on, you learn that lining up your shot so that an arrow passes through a flame lets you light dormant torches with it.
But shooting the bow inside a ruin at close quarters can be fumbly, and the repetition quickly turns tedious. The Pathless shares a bit of DNA with Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but it’s much simpler – puzzles involving lighting torches using your bow or operating doors with the help of pressure plates are never difficult to figure out. Plains, craggy plateaus and crumbling ruins stretch into the distance, an open world to be explored at your leisure as Austin Wintory’s uplifting soundtrack sweeps in at key moments. The land has been cursed with a great darkness, its gods poisoned a hero is needed, and so you, a female hunter clad in red, accept the task to cleanse and restore landmarks and deities that fell prey to a shadowy foe. But while The Pathless is steeped in the same mythical atmosphere, it’s more focused on puzzles and actions. I f you’ve played 2016’s underwater adventure Abzû, Giant Squid’s first game, you might expect its sophomore to be a tranquil experience, less concerned with objectives and points than with memorable visuals.
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