The Pathless - Mystery & A Pet Eagle

Aloof Gamer
Feb 27, 2021
4 min read

No one told me there would be cute animals, and I'd get to re-live Journey in this game!

Dark and mysterious, The Pathless starts on a quiet island. You're described as a hunter and look a little like a ninja (which I'm just now realizing could be categorized as a hunter). All is good until you happen upon a large bird who looks like he's had a lousy lunch.

It turns out he's cursed, but you know, that can look the same.

The bird looks around and indirectly tells you to help it by flushing out the darkness that is infecting the island. At this point, I got a little lost. The game is called "The Pathless," so I'm not sure why I would assume it would tell me where to go... However, I figured it out after wandering for probably 20 of the 60 minutes I played.

By the end of my run, I ended up at the "mainland," or where the story really begins. I like to play for an hour because it shows you all the handling of the game (movements/abilities) and gives you a sense of what types of gameplay you'll have.

The Pathless was created by GiantSquid, an indie developer that also made Abzû a highly rated game that was well-received in the gaming community. (See Metacritic, IGN, GameSpot). Creative Director Matt Nava says he's interested in making "immersive and meaningful experiences." You can see that effort just in the story alone.

With that, onto my impression...

REPLAY VALUE = NO.

The Pathless reminded me of the game Journey, another game put out by an indie developer called "thatgamecompany." The previous Art Director for thatgamecompany? Matt Nava, who helped make Journey!

SO... he definitely has a very distinct style!

Unfortunately, that is all Journey was for me... a journey. There were a beginning and an end, and I never looked back. However, the game was beautiful and warm (Nava hit the nail on the head for immersive)! I didn't feel a reason to return. It's the same way I think about The Pathless.

So in the spirit of consistency, I don't think the game has a lot of replay value. More than Journey? Yes. Is there beautiful art? Yes. It does offer more complicated puzzles than Journey did, but how many times have you completed a puzzle and then wanted to do it again? Probably not many.

GAMEPLAY = GREAT

When I fired up the game, I instantly realized that I would need a controller. WITH the controller, the gameplay is excellent. Without? I wouldn't recommend it. It's not very intuitive where you should be tapping and swiping and makes the gameplay clunky.

Once I had the controller (Xbox) connected to my iPad, the game really opened up. All of my movements were suddenly more coordinated and smooth. I could jump while running and shoot while running, something I couldn't do without a controller.

Screenshot from "Journey" - The 2012 thatgamecompany game.

Photo from Business Insider.

The game played similarly to Journey in the sense that you could glide and flow in a lot of your movements. I typically have a hard time controlling characters who mostly drift and skate among worlds, but this game was pretty restrained in its use of gliding. You have a bar at the bottom of the screen that shows you how long you can run until you charge it back up - so that was helpful.

The commands are straightforward: B to interact with objects, Right Trigger to shoot arrows, Y to look for secret entrances, and A to jump. (with a controller, of course). It's also very responsive to what you're trying to do. I only found myself frustrated one or two times trying to chain together speed-ups while jumping through the air.

ACCESSIBILITY = I GET IT

As I said, I was a little lost at the beginning in terms of where to go and what to do.

I know, again, "The Pathless" I should have been prepared for that...

However, once I completed the first puzzle, I was off to the races. It's like they said, "Bring back the light..." and then when I finished the first puzzle, I was like, "OH, BRING BACK THE LIGHT... OBVIOUSLY".

Following that, I was able to understand where to go, at least. Figuring out the puzzles was another feat. If you don't have a history of playing Zelda, a well-known puzzle-heavy game, then you may struggle a bit.

I have very minuscule Zelda-play under my belt, but enough to understand what a floor switch is and to use all of the abilities I have (especially newly-learned ones) to accomplish the puzzles.

If it were the first game you'd ever play, take your time. It's not a "hold-your-hand" type of game, but it does tell you how to use your abilities and shows you what is essential to know.

Overall, it's not explicit, there's not a lot of jargon used, and you can pretty much pick up and play without any prior knowledge of the game (like me)!

* * *

CONCLUSION

The Pathless was worth the hour I spent on it. I'll probably return to make sure that I help all the birds in the game. Yes, I mentioned you get a pet eagle, and you do! He shakes when he's scared and helps you solve puzzles. You can even pet him! I resonated with the eagle companion, as I always have my dog, Tesla, following me around in my real life. He helps me through tough problems too.

Okay, not as elaborate puzzles as this, but you know, personal stuff.

I'm a sucker for cute animals, especially if they focus on the kinship you have with them.

If you're looking into downloading a game where you don't have to feel too stressed out but still want to solve some puzzles, this could be the game for you. The only thing you need to know going in is that you may only want to play it once.