The Pathless

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 58 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 58
  3. Negative: 8 out of 58

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  1. OuroborosWings
    Nov 23, 2020
    5
    Honestly, a big letdown. I really enjoyed Abzu, and I'm generally a fan of this style of game, but The Pathless shoots itself in the foot over and over.

    Running around the world, exploring and solving puzzles and such, is great fun. It's peaceful, meditative, but not without challenge- some of the puzzles can be very tricky, but never to the point where I had to look up a solution or    Honestly, a big letdown. I really enjoyed Abzu, and I'm generally a fan of this style of game, but The Pathless shoots itself in the foot over and over.

    Running around the world, exploring and solving puzzles and such, is great fun. It's peaceful, meditative, but not without challenge- some of the puzzles can be very tricky, but never to the point where I had to look up a solution or anything.

    Except... sometimes the mechanics they rely on just fail. There's no aiming- the arrows just fly on their own -which means you are utterly at the mercy of the game's ability to guess what you wanted, especially when it comes to shooting arrows through multiple targets, such has rings or torches. I often found that if I stood even a little bit too close to the first target, the arrow would careen off into space wildly. "Too close" seems to range from "right up against it" to "anywhere within ten feet or so" depending on the exact puzzle. It's a nuisance the first few times, and gradually grows more and more irritating as the game asks you to make increasingly complex shots.

    Then there are the stealth sequences, which would be quite easy and simple were it not for the enemy's infuriating tendency to walk directly on top of you for no reason. I once failed one of these sequences the instant it began because the boss spawned on top of me. I came to dread these encounters- which the game will force upon you at least once per region -because my ability to succeed or fail came down to sheer chance.

    But the true disappointment is the boss fights. The game's mechanics are utterly unsuited to the type of fights they throw you into. Most fights deprive you of your ability to run (due to there being no way to recharge your spirit gauge) and rely on banal pattern memorization. But the combat is so illegible and meaningless, and the openings where you can actually fire a shot are so blink-and-you-miss-it short, that each fight (beyond the first, which was relatively tame) generally consists of you being batted around, swatted out of the arena repeatedly, and generally bullied by a flame beast until you figure out exactly what the game has in mind.

    Once you do reach that point, the tedium sets in, because the game will want you to go through that pattern a dozen or so times before it will let you proceed. The battles go from overwhelming to yawn-inducing in that same instant.

    Worse still, the battles don't have any illusion of danger or drama. The consequence for being hit too many times in a row is to be flung out of the arena, which then requires you to walk five feet or so and hop over a railing to restart that phase of the fight. It's amazing that a game with no meaningful fail state can still manage to be brutally unforgiving.

    The problem with The Pathless, in the end, is that it wants too badly to be a Real Game. It's like someone made a very good game, then realized they hadn't ticked the boxes for "stealth elements" and "pulse-pounding boss fights" and then not only shoehorned them in, but made them a central part of the game. The rest of the experience rejects them like a mismatched organ transplant.

    The ultimate effect of all this is to wear away your patience until you realize, ultimately, that the game is actually quite vapid. It makes a big show of being Very Spiritual, but actually has nothing at all to say. Its message winds up being, "There is no one path to the truth," a sentiment utterly devoid of context or salience even within the story.

    I did finish the game, because it's short and I felt like I ought to, and it's not so bad that I had to give up on it in distaste- which is why I give it a 5, I suppose. But this is a game that is so busy undercutting its virtues that I just can't possibly recommend it in good faith.    … Expand
  2. SplitMind
    Jun 26, 2021
    6
    The Pathless has received near-universal critical acclaim and it's not hard to see why from the premise; it comes from an indie-darling perspective, touting similar graphics and game mechanics to highly regarded titles such as Journey, Gris and Abzu.

    So why am I lamenting rather than lauding its achievements? I'll explain below. As mentioned, the graphics of The Pathless immediately    The Pathless has received near-universal critical acclaim and it's not hard to see why from the premise; it comes from an indie-darling perspective, touting similar graphics and game mechanics to highly regarded titles such as Journey, Gris and Abzu.

    So why am I lamenting rather than lauding its achievements? I'll explain below.

    As mentioned, the graphics of The Pathless immediately drew my thoughts back to Journey. Generally nothing overly complex, but smooth and fluid graphics that are similar to cell-shading make for a pleasant first impression. My qualm with these graphics is that I don't think they do the game enough justice, especially in the opening hours where everything is dark and morose. When boss battles commence the graphics show their true colours and this is quite a sight but also falls into being a bit one-dimensional once you see the patterns and style.

    The gameplay also leaves a nice first impression but irritated me the longer I played. Shooting the crystals to refill the energy bar can make for skilled traversal, but this fundamental mechanic became very tiring for me and repetitive to the extreme. From what I played, the rest of the game is similarly protracted. I found it very arduous that the game basically lays its progression out before you early on, in that I could see three elongated puzzles and boss fights ahead. I played until after the first boss fight and had had enough of the gameplay because it felt like the path ahead was predictable and monotonous, as well as feeling like I've already experienced the majority of what the game has to offer. Of course I could be wrong, but the game didn't offer anything to show me otherwise.

    The story of The Pathless is told via the cliche of picking up dribs and drabs from what are essentially diaries as you explore. You do meet the Godslayer early in the game and I found that rather compelling, and I also don't mind the diary trope as it allows the player to invest in the story at their leisure. However, similar to the gameplay, I didn't find much encouragement to persevere through the irksome puzzles to learn the conclusion, which I'm guessing involves defeating Godslayer and purifying all the land anyway.

    Overall, The Pathless is a critically-acclaimed indie darling that just doesn't do it for me. The concept and mechanics work great in theory, but in practice I didn't enjoy a lot of the game. Pathless seems to be inspired by Journey and Gris but misses the crucial lessons from these games, as Gris also dragged on a bit too long and Journey diversified the landscape and didn't have the irritating traversal mechanic. The Pathless may be the game for you, but it's not the game for me.    … Expand
  3. watchm824
    Dec 3, 2021
    7
    This game left me with mixed feelings.
    Not Bad atmosphere and spirit of a fairy tale.
    But not very interesting gameplay. Pros: Interesting adventure. Not very long, will not have time to get bored. Not difficult and sometimes interesting puzzles. Cons: not interesting to explore the world, there is no incentive for this. Not very interesting and monotonous game mechanics. And the main    This game left me with mixed feelings.
    Not Bad atmosphere and spirit of a fairy tale.
    But not very interesting gameplay.
    Pros: Interesting adventure. Not very long, will not have time to get bored. Not difficult and sometimes interesting puzzles.
    Cons: not interesting to explore the world, there is no incentive for this. Not very interesting and monotonous game mechanics. And the main disadvantage: annoying mechanics when you need to hide from a monster, look for a bird and clean it.    … Expand
  4. XLazer
    Dec 5, 2021
    7
    Overall - 7.75/10

    + Beautiful art style and world
    + OST
    + Characters
    + Exploration was fun and never felt lost, though the puzzles were just alright

    Gameplay was decent, wished combat mechanics were better

    Enjoyment - 7.5/10
  5. LadyAux
    Jan 28, 2021
    5
    The Pathless is a game I really wanted to enjoy, especially as I was getting huge ICO and Shadow of the Colossus vibes off it. It has fairly unique movement and a visual style that looks a lot like Samurai Jack but with a Mongolian twist. Sadly the game is really short and lacks in mostly all departments. Not much variety to locations and puzzles. The same objectives and boringThe Pathless is a game I really wanted to enjoy, especially as I was getting huge ICO and Shadow of the Colossus vibes off it. It has fairly unique movement and a visual style that looks a lot like Samurai Jack but with a Mongolian twist. Sadly the game is really short and lacks in mostly all departments. Not much variety to locations and puzzles. The same objectives and boring exploration. The only thing holding my attention was the adorable Eagle buddy who follows you around and some really epic boss fights that have unique stages, phases and gimmicks to them. The music is really good and was the only thing staving off the boredom with the endless monotony of repetitive exploration and puzzle solving. Watch my review here to see exactly what I thought about the game:
    https://youtu.be/Cnw5VYa_Pl8    … Expand
  6. eded9999
    Nov 23, 2020
    5
    Definitely not my thing.
    The gimmick of shot the bow for dash is just annoying.
    And you can not die to bosses, so whats the point of a having boss?
    Story is regular, super cliché
  7. SuperkenGaming
    Nov 14, 2020
    8
    The Pathless
    on the right path
    the pathless is a 5 and a half hour long puzzle adventure game where you play as a hunter only equipped with a bow that souts out with her eagle companion to purify the lands, and to do this you run around each of the games varied areas and complete puzzles, all at your own pace, these puzzles are are fairly easy but immensely satisfying to complete, none    The Pathless
    on the right path
    the pathless is a 5 and a half hour long puzzle adventure game where you play as a hunter only equipped with a bow that souts out with her eagle companion to purify the lands, and to do this you run around each of the games varied areas and complete puzzles, all at your own pace, these puzzles are are fairly easy but immensely satisfying to complete, none will ever stump you too hard to where youll have to look up a guide.. theyre all just genuinely fun and varied enough to not feel repetitive throughout your journey, and once you’ve collected enough pieces by completing these puzzle, you plug them into a tower and once all 3 towers of that area are lit you can go take on that areas boss, all of which happen in multiple stages, the first hunting them down in a chase sequence, and then finally taking them down one on one and by doing so youll unlock a new perk and the games next area.. this is the entire hook of the game and all in all its great, but the overall execution of the pathless is what keeps it just below that bar of ultimate greatness, my biggest issues with the pathless is just how unfun traversal is… at first its fun shooting your arrows at these little target ot gain speed and slide and fly all around the map, but even before this mechanic is introduced, you immediately feel how slow and sluggish your character feels, and having to rely on hitting those targets to have any speed is just a nusance, making getting from puzzle to puzzle quite the drag… and to make matters worse there is this awesful fire dome that chasing you as you go around the map, getting sucked into one forces you to stealthfully recover your eagle companin and dust them off to continue the game.. I just wnna explore and solve puzzles.. leave me alone… and even finding these items you need to progress is annoying too.. you have an ability that will make areas of interest glow, but the red glow seems to not always indicate exactly what you need, it could just be an optional collectable, I just wish these things were color coded as again, traversing through this world with such sluggish controls just isn’t fun a lot of the time.. its fine when you do have a meter, but again its just a nussaince to have to constantly be hitting tagets as you run through the world to have any sort of speed…
    With fixes to the speed of your character, and color coding different areas of interest and the pathless is definitely a gret game, but as of right now, for what it is.. its so close to being great, bt not quite there…
    This was a unique experience, the boss battles are amazing, and id highly recommend this to anyone into exploring worlds and solving puzzles..
    I give The Pathless
    a 7.5/10    … Expand
  8. all_i_need
    Dec 18, 2020
    0
    Meh story, weak animations, it's just whatever. Wouldn't recommend in all honesty. But that's just me and i like quality.
  9. LEFTREVIEWS
    Jan 30, 2021
    9
    A near perfect game, with the right balance between freedom and constriction, a true rare art gem in the videogame world.
  10. MCmetacritic
    Nov 15, 2020
    7
    There's a lot to love here. The core gameplay is incredibly impressive, the sound and art are impeccable, and the puzzles just genuinely feel good. Think Journey meets Shadow of the Colossus. Where the game comes up short (sometimes VERY short) is in its combat and endgame content. Boss encounters and battles feel very plain, kinda wonky, and get repetitive almost immediately. Compared toThere's a lot to love here. The core gameplay is incredibly impressive, the sound and art are impeccable, and the puzzles just genuinely feel good. Think Journey meets Shadow of the Colossus. Where the game comes up short (sometimes VERY short) is in its combat and endgame content. Boss encounters and battles feel very plain, kinda wonky, and get repetitive almost immediately. Compared to the core gameplay, the boss battles and scripted encounters are so bad that they feel like parts of a different game. I'd have gotten past it without much issue, but the game loses a lot of steam in its final hours. The final levels are really thin on content, and the final encounter with the boss is beyond unsatisfying.
    Really, the thing this game needed were boss battles which actually incorporated the core gameplay. Most of the game is thrillingly "pathless" but the boss battles are scripted to hell, and as unsatisfying as the core game is satisfying. On top of that, each of the bosses is functionally the same. And, of course, a final level that didn't feel so disappointingly empty would have been nice. But with all of that said, it's a good game, with the spark of greatness flickering inside.    … Expand
  11. deepstories
    Dec 18, 2020
    0
    This game didn't really keep my interest. Feels way overrated than it should be.
  12. Dubeau
    Nov 22, 2020
    9
    The Pathless was a fun game with deeper meaning. The story is mythological and everyone can understand it. It is told mostly by text. The graphics are cell shaded and very good. The level designs are huge and full of hidden obelisk. The game introduction is a bit difficult to catch on. You might feel aimless at first, until you understand what to do. The fighting is simple and yes, maybeThe Pathless was a fun game with deeper meaning. The story is mythological and everyone can understand it. It is told mostly by text. The graphics are cell shaded and very good. The level designs are huge and full of hidden obelisk. The game introduction is a bit difficult to catch on. You might feel aimless at first, until you understand what to do. The fighting is simple and yes, maybe the boss are scripted, but the game focus a lot on exploration and puzzles instead. Taking care of your pet give you a sens of attachment to it. The music made by Austin Wintory is catchy and amazing. The puzzles are rather simple but some require some thinking. I give it 92%. I really enjoyed it and strongly recommend it. Maybe the ending felt a bit short an emotionally not that strong, but still, what a good feeling game it was.… Expand
  13. Skaamit
    Dec 1, 2020
    8
    Impressive and atmospheric adventure. I liked the decision of «Giant Squid Studios» to do some experiments. «The Pathless» looks a little fresher than «ABZU» or «Journey», and what is special pleasing, it is more difficult.

    I have some feeling what actions of «ABZU», «Journey» and «The Pathless» takes place in the one world. At least the visual art and some other solutions leave that    Impressive and atmospheric adventure. I liked the decision of «Giant Squid Studios» to do some experiments. «The Pathless» looks a little fresher than «ABZU» or «Journey», and what is special pleasing, it is more difficult.

    I have some feeling what actions of «ABZU», «Journey» and «The Pathless» takes place in the one world. At least the visual art and some other solutions leave that impression.

    And what I didn't expected it is very much addiction gameplay. I'm madly in love with the moving system in the game. That combination of running, slides and shooting with bow what gives pretty feeling crazy dynamic and flow. That very comfortable works while exploring in the game world, what haven't a lot of mark and measuring scales. I really appreciate then moments that make me very high and gives me a some kind sense of freedom.

    But emptiness in the game world ruins many good thing that game gives. It's very sad, like and some other moments. However, we have and some more interesting, like boss fights. It's very diversity part of the game, but ways to them boring and not cool time. With the story we have similar situation – it's not origin and not exciting, just a regular gray story.

    At the same time art, music and other esthetic aspects're perfectly detailed. And I more liked this adventure than bores me. It was great, maybe not all time, but it was so.

    P.S. And please give us some other than just only one golden filter in the endgame. That kills all beauty of the island. And remapping controls please.    … Expand
  14. Galuck
    Jun 22, 2021
    10
    This is my Top 2 Indie Game, just behind Mortal Shell. The gameplay is so responsive and fluid, the soundtrack is beautiful, the boss fights are amazing with one of the best bossfight in all of gaming history (the last one). The game is so peaceful, running around with your eagle, and is so painful when she gets hurt or lost, the game makes you love this eagle so much that I even want toThis is my Top 2 Indie Game, just behind Mortal Shell. The gameplay is so responsive and fluid, the soundtrack is beautiful, the boss fights are amazing with one of the best bossfight in all of gaming history (the last one). The game is so peaceful, running around with your eagle, and is so painful when she gets hurt or lost, the game makes you love this eagle so much that I even want to get my own eagle now.
    This game was one of the best experiences I had in years of gaming, so glad I played this.    … Expand
  15. lessacebola
    Nov 22, 2020
    9
    The Pathless é um jogo extremamente bem feito, seus pontos mais fortes são a trilha sonora e o visual do game que são fenomenais, a história também é muito boa, Annapurna acertou mais uma vez.
  16. singPoint
    Dec 4, 2020
    8
    Придирки к геймплею, где-то затянутости и однообразности небеспочвенны конечно. Но при этом, если разбить прохождение на несколько присестов (например по 1-1.5 плато за вечер), то в значительно меньшей степени тебя это душит, и не мешает наслаждаться сильнейшими особенностями The Pathless. Я по началу тоже был разочарован, плюс настрой был скептический, потому что я не люблю Journey-,Придирки к геймплею, где-то затянутости и однообразности небеспочвенны конечно. Но при этом, если разбить прохождение на несколько присестов (например по 1-1.5 плато за вечер), то в значительно меньшей степени тебя это душит, и не мешает наслаждаться сильнейшими особенностями The Pathless. Я по началу тоже был разочарован, плюс настрой был скептический, потому что я не люблю Journey-, Abzu-подобные проекты. Но такие ребята видимо умеют, как за ниточки, дергать эмоции игроков за счет визуального ряда, музыки и т.д. А добавив сюда еще и более менее насыщенный геймплей, понабрав решений из других проектов и введя что-то новое, они решили и мою проблему с Abzu-подобными играми. В итоге после прохождения я остался очень приятно удивлен и впечатлен. И к тому же рад, что переборол свой скептический настрой и не пытался пройти игру в 1-2 захода. По соотношению ожидаемое/полученное The Pathless видимо главная находка для меня в 2020 году, хорошо, что вообще не скипнул.… Expand
  17. Ridnir2
    Dec 18, 2020
    9
    Pathless really brings something new in the table.Its wonderful story and great visual really make you fall in love with its world.The gameplay is fast and really satisfying to just go with the flow and the boss fights Oooooo don't make me tell you about the boss fights.Its mindblowing the last boss fight one the best fights in the gaming history but nothing is perfect it always feelsPathless really brings something new in the table.Its wonderful story and great visual really make you fall in love with its world.The gameplay is fast and really satisfying to just go with the flow and the boss fights Oooooo don't make me tell you about the boss fights.Its mindblowing the last boss fight one the best fights in the gaming history but nothing is perfect it always feels like somthing is missing.but recommended… Expand
  18. PA0L0
    Mar 17, 2021
    9
    A terrific mixture of puzzles and movement! Visually impressive and with an outstanding soundtrack by Austin Wintory!
    This game checks all the boxes!
  19. Kaerix
    Jul 10, 2021
    10
    This is a very a rare game for me. The gameplay is definitely fun and very based around puzzles; consdering the rewards you get for solving them, and how tense the situation around some of them are, it never got boring for me. Where the game definitely shines, though, is in its story, presentation and storytelling. Uncovering the lore of this land while you fight to restore it, whileThis is a very a rare game for me. The gameplay is definitely fun and very based around puzzles; consdering the rewards you get for solving them, and how tense the situation around some of them are, it never got boring for me. Where the game definitely shines, though, is in its story, presentation and storytelling. Uncovering the lore of this land while you fight to restore it, while forming a bond with your adorable companion... It's perfect. I definitely shed a tear at the end, as a grown man. It reminded me a lot of my favourite game(s), Ori 1&2. It's a near perfect game for me, and I would heartily recommend for anyone that likes a good story, a gorgeous world to explore, and/or fun/rewarding puzzles. Easy 10/10 for me, would be higher if possible.… Expand
  20. NoSkinPotato
    Apr 24, 2021
    7
    I thought it was a good game. The art style is beautiful and moving your character just feels nice and responsive. I have a couple of negatives tho and the first one being that the jump button in this game feels very weird and destroys the flow of movement which is a very big part of this game, controlling your character mid air without the bird is really unresponsive and the overall gameI thought it was a good game. The art style is beautiful and moving your character just feels nice and responsive. I have a couple of negatives tho and the first one being that the jump button in this game feels very weird and destroys the flow of movement which is a very big part of this game, controlling your character mid air without the bird is really unresponsive and the overall game design I feel made it tedious to play. The game is pretty much "kill these 3 bosses in separate areas and you have to do the exact same thing over and over again to fight each boss and after you defeated all the 3 bosses, you move on to the big bad guy" and that kind of design just made it unbearable to play for that long and also your movement doesn't change a lot and the only major change in movement that the game gives is the bird and that's about it… Expand
  21. CoalFire_
    Nov 28, 2021
    4
    It's okay. The weird part about the whole experience is just how tedious it can be to track down the required items to progress as at a distance optional and required objectives are shown with a faint red glow with no other differentiation. Followed by the fact that the game does a pretty good job of establishing some core mechanics though your time in the open world and then throws themIt's okay. The weird part about the whole experience is just how tedious it can be to track down the required items to progress as at a distance optional and required objectives are shown with a faint red glow with no other differentiation. Followed by the fact that the game does a pretty good job of establishing some core mechanics though your time in the open world and then throws them away time and time again in the climactic sections. There was one "fight" you can literally put the controller down for and it will finish on its own, even being more tedious and frustrating if you try to do anything. As there is no failure state there is no sense of mastery or overcoming a challenge. The core movement is okay, it's not hard to use just frustratingly inconsistent due to world geo interfering with shots and movement being stupidly slow with no spirit charge. I wouldn't mind it as much if it were just more reliable. The inability to actually aim is rough at points as well when arrows don't behave as expected and there are no real feedback mechanisms on how to correct the shot, particularly in the later puzzles. If you're looking for an engaging, challenging and fun to play adventure, look elsewhere… Expand
  22. ckgamer
    May 19, 2023
    1
    controls are terrible this game is not playable with mouse auto aiming sucks and sometimes doesn't aim properly so you die a lot because of this terrible aiming ... play it on playstation.. terrible port don't support this developer...
  23. zyllus
    Feb 26, 2022
    9
    It's an amazing game with great mechanics, beautiful soundtrack, fun gameplay, challenging boss fights, open-world exploration, and puzzle-solving. Every time you clean your eagle from corruption and the way he hugs you, always melts my heart. If you have played Ori and the Will of the Wisp and liked the game, you should definitely try it.

Awards & Rankings

58
#58 Best PC Game of 2020

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
81

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. CD-Action
    Jun 9, 2021
    90
    At first, The Pathless seems like many other games due to its bland story. However, give it a chance and it will shine like a diamond in other aspects. The developers of Abzu created a truly compelling world, where exploration and satisfying boss battles are interlaced with ingenious puzzles. Even the simplest activities are engaging and fun. You need to play it. [01/2021, p.40]
  2. TrueGaming
    Dec 9, 2020
    80
    Except for poor stealth sequences, The Pathless is a fascinating and enjoyable experience that strikes the perfect balance between exploration, puzzle solving and combat.
    Read full review
  3. GameMAG
    Nov 29, 2020
    80
    The Pathless suffers from several things: repetitive puzzles, lack of depth in terms of abilities, complete absence of mini-map and fast-travel, some boring sections, and rather short length. But at the same time this game has a rather unique charm to it, which is a good enough reason to actually return to it again and again.
    Read full review
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