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Pathologic 2

Pathologic 1 & 2 are masterpieces of games as art. They are cruel and disturbing, but ask unique questions and do things you won’t see anywhere else. These are singularly unique experiences that are worth suffering through.
Pathologic 2 Game Cover
78%Game Brain Score
story, gameplay
optimization, grinding
92% User Score Based on 5,613 reviews
Critic Score 65%Based on 18 reviews

Platforms

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Pathologic 2 Game Cover

About

Pathologic 2 is a single player open world role playing game with horror, drama and thriller themes. It was developed by Ice-Pick Lodge and was released on May 23, 2019. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

In Pathologic 2, players must confront a deadly outbreak in a secluded town with only 12 days to manage their resources, form alliances, and make difficult decisions to survive. The game is a narrative-driven dramatic thriller that explores the realities of a collapsing society and the harsh choices that must be made in lose-lose situations. Time management is crucial, as players must balance their bodily functions and gather resources while fighting against the plague and uncovering the town's secrets.

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Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
Pathologic 2 screenshot
+14
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92%
Audience ScoreBased on 5,613 reviews
story631 positive mentions
optimization84 negative mentions
  • Pathologic 2 offers a unique and immersive experience, blending survival mechanics with a deeply engaging narrative that explores themes of morality, sacrifice, and the human condition.
  • The game's atmosphere is hauntingly beautiful, with a richly detailed world that feels alive and filled with complex characters, each contributing to the overarching story.
  • Despite its punishing difficulty, the game rewards perseverance and thoughtful decision-making, making every small victory feel significant and impactful.
  • The combat mechanics are clunky and frustrating, often leading to unfair deaths that can set players back significantly, which may deter some from enjoying the experience.
  • The game's pacing can feel slow, especially in the early stages, with a lot of walking and dialogue that may overwhelm players who prefer more action-oriented gameplay.
  • Technical issues, such as poor optimization and bugs, can disrupt the experience, making it difficult for some players to fully engage with the story and mechanics.
  • story
    2,179 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of *Pathologic 2* is a complex and immersive narrative that intertwines themes of survival, morality, and the human condition within a plague-ridden town. Players navigate a richly detailed world where their choices significantly impact the unfolding story, often leading to tragic outcomes and missed opportunities, which enhances the game's emotional weight. While the storytelling is praised for its depth and philosophical undertones, the challenging gameplay mechanics can be polarizing, making it a unique experience that demands patience and engagement from players.

    • “Similar to that of Russian literature, this story involves one of the most tragically beautiful blends of spiritual themes and philosophies I've seen in a video game.”
    • “Moments of failure are not only expected, but literally ingrained into the narrative and story of the game itself - and it only makes the moments in which you succeed in your goals feel all the more rewarding.”
    • “There's something incredibly special in how the story is told - from the fact that you're thrown into a world that you don't know anything about, to all the difficult and tragic moments, cultural weirdness, and on top of that the overarching theme of the world... it all plays to such an experience.”
    • “I want to like this but the confusing dialogue and story lines make it impossible to immerse myself into the game.”
    • “The story is confusing, but not in an interesting way.”
    • “The story just seems to fall apart as it approaches the end, characters seem to forget their motivations at times changing their opinion on you and various other things in the world rapidly and without any real exposition or even time between these shifts and honestly none of your choices or who you even keep alive really seems to matter much to either of the two main endings which both felt severely underwhelming.”
  • gameplay
    1,352 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of Pathologic 2 is characterized by its intense and unforgiving survival mechanics, which require players to manage resources like hunger, thirst, and time while navigating a plague-ridden town. While some players appreciate the depth and narrative integration of these mechanics, others find them frustrating and tedious, often leading to a challenging experience that can feel punishing. Overall, the gameplay is a polarizing aspect, with many praising its unique approach to storytelling through mechanics, while others criticize its clunky controls and steep learning curve.

    • “The gameplay manages to find the perfect level of intentional clunkiness to keep the game feeling grounded, while still feeling fun.”
    • “The gameplay experience here is truly quite special, but the other aspects of the game are no slouches.”
    • “Pathologic 2 is a survival game with a focus on its story and mechanics with some horror.”
    • “The gameplay is a fight with time itself and resource management, where you almost never feel safe and confident that you'll succeed.”
    • “The mechanics feel poorly designed, especially the survival elements—having to eat and drink every few minutes gets old fast.”
    • “The gameplay is so stressing and frustrating, but the story and the lore is huge.”
  • atmosphere
    622 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of "Pathologic 2" is widely praised for its immersive and oppressive qualities, effectively creating a sense of dread and urgency that enhances the gameplay experience. Reviewers highlight the game's unique art style, haunting soundtrack, and intricate world-building, which together evoke feelings of anxiety, despair, and existential reflection. Despite some criticisms regarding gameplay mechanics, the overall consensus is that the atmosphere is a standout feature, making it a compelling and unforgettable experience for players who appreciate narrative depth and emotional engagement.

    • “The atmosphere is top notch as the game does a beautiful job at making you feel like you are part of this bleak, breathing (yet dying) world.”
    • “The atmosphere is so thick you can feel it, and I constantly feel on edge and anxious playing it.”
    • “Pathologic 2 is a masterpiece of game design, storytelling, and atmosphere, but I cannot begin to impress upon others just how much this game isn't for everyone.”
    • “The atmosphere is suffocating, yet mesmerizing.”
    • “The atmosphere of this game is so intense and creepy it's unlike anything I have ever played.”
    • “The atmosphere is dark and some of the things you will encounter are creepy, but I wouldn't go as far to say that they're necessarily horror.”
  • graphics
    330 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of "Pathologic 2" have received mixed reviews, with many praising its unique art style and atmospheric visuals that effectively convey the game's bleak and eerie tone. While some players appreciate the improvements over the original game, others criticize the optimization issues and performance, noting that the graphics may not meet the standards of modern AAA titles. Overall, the game's aesthetic and sound design are highlighted as significant contributors to its immersive experience, despite some technical shortcomings.

    • “The visuals are stunning, and upon beginning this game for the first time, my jaw dropped.”
    • “Visually, 'Pathologic 2' is a hauntingly beautiful game, with a stark art style that captures the bleakness and decay of the town.”
    • “The graphics bring the town to life, the mechanics involving trade and the internal town economy are a very well-crafted and intricate system, the dialogue makes me want to read a book that doesn't exist, the characters all have so much presence and flavor in their interactions.”
    • “Graphics are below what you'd expect from a game released in 2019.”
    • “The graphics, lore, and gameplay are a huge improvement, but the optimization is very bad.”
    • “The game runs like crap on a 1050ti and i5, and the graphics don't even justify it.”
  • music
    278 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to create an eerie and immersive atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience with haunting melodies and ambient soundscapes. While many players find the soundtrack to be beautifully crafted and fitting for the game's themes, some express disappointment that it doesn't quite match the uniqueness of the original game's score. Overall, the music is considered a significant strength, contributing to the game's emotional depth and sense of foreboding.

    • “Whispered voices, the distant cough of the sick, the muffled footfalls of plague victims, and a chilling, minimalist soundtrack all contribute to a suffocating ambiance that constantly reinforces the sense of being watched, judged, and hunted by forces both physical and metaphysical.”
    • “The atmospheric sound design, haunting music, and environmental details enhance the sense of immersion, drawing players deeper into the game's haunting narrative and emotional landscape.”
    • “The music, atmosphere, characters, setting, and visual design are all incredible on their own, but come together to create a story and world that is unlike anything I've ever experienced.”
    • “The music is tinny and weird, the way characters act and talk is bizarre, and I've realized that I become extremely nervous and greedy when playing it.”
    • “The soundtrack, while pretty atmospheric and eerie at first, plays over and over and over during all your hours just wandering around the map to the point of driving you nuts and wanting to turn the music volume all the way down.”
    • “The only downside is the music doesn't slap as hard or unsettle you nearly as much.”
  • optimization
    254 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization of the game has received overwhelmingly negative feedback, with many players reporting severe performance issues such as constant stuttering, frame rate drops, and long loading times, even on high-end systems. While some users noted improvements over time, the consensus is that the game remains poorly optimized, detracting significantly from the overall experience. Many reviewers recommend waiting for further patches before fully engaging with the game due to its current technical shortcomings.

    • “The PC version is a massive improvement from console in regards to optimization, graphics, and bugs.”
    • “Optimization has improved over time, but some players may still experience frame drops or odd bugs.”
    • “Despite this, I still genuinely believe the only two downsides in my opinion are some performance issues, which I trust the developers to address as they have been very transparent with their patches and their future updates.”
    • “For a 2019 game, I'd expect better, but it's clear the rendering code is not written well or optimized at all. Being this late into the project, I highly doubt it will ever be fixed.”
    • “Insanely bad optimization, constant FPS drops and stutters even with a 3070 Ti and Ryzen 9 5950X at the lowest settings.”
    • “The performance is abysmal regardless of how high-end your computer is (e.g., 15 FPS in interiors).”
  • emotional
    178 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of "Pathologic 2" is profoundly impactful, with players reporting a wide range of feelings from dread and despair to moments of deep connection and heartbreak. Many describe the game as an emotionally taxing experience that challenges players with difficult choices and moral dilemmas, often leading to tears and introspection. The narrative and mechanics work together to create a unique atmosphere that immerses players in a haunting world, making them feel both invested in the characters and the weight of their decisions.

    • “Every success feels like you are performing miracles and every failure feels emotionally crushing.”
    • “The level of narrative investment and immersion in the world is as emotionally affecting as your favorite film.”
    • “Pathologic 2 is a haunting and introspective masterpiece that defies traditional gaming conventions to deliver a deeply emotional and thought-provoking experience.”
    • “Boring story where choices don't matter.”
    • “Buggy, half-finished, terrible boring story; basically a walking simulator, poorly programmed, and annoyingly high difficulty. Just real crap.”
  • grinding
    76 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and frustrating, with players often feeling overwhelmed by excessive walking, resource management, and time constraints. Many reviews highlight the game's design as intentionally difficult, leading to a slog of repetitive tasks that detract from the overall enjoyment, despite some appreciating the atmosphere and story. While some players find the challenge rewarding, the consensus leans towards the gameplay being a tedious experience that requires significant patience and engagement.

    • “Survival elements can be off-putting initially, but they aren't tedious once you get the hang of it.”
    • “That's pure, enjoyable content with minimal reloads and next to no grinding.”
    • “The game is really nothing more than a tedious slog of a timewaster; it was designed to be like that.”
    • “The other problem is the stupid level design, which is very intentionally designed to make navigating the town as tedious and frustrating as possible, with knee-high walls blocking the most obvious and straight paths very often, and many streets are simply dead ends, just to waste your time some more navigating it.”
    • “Pathologic 2 is tedious, stressful, and often unrewarding by design.”
  • replayability
    58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game boasts high replayability due to its intricate storytelling, branching plotlines, and the potential for different outcomes based on player choices. Many reviewers noted that the game's design encourages multiple playthroughs, as players are likely to miss content during their first run. However, some players found the experience to be draining or felt that replayability diminished after achieving a perfect playthrough.

    • “The chances of a perfect run your first time is extremely low, which adds to the replayability.”
    • “Its replayability is a strong suit, offering so much that may have been missed in your first run.”
    • “The story quite literally adapts to how you play, and it makes the replayability value go up, which I thoroughly appreciate.”
    • “The replay value is lessened from this.”
    • “However, once you finish your perfect playthrough, there is nothing else to do in this game, so replayability only exists as far as you care about achievements.”
    • “I'm surprised the publisher couldn't have the resources to make different playable characters as promised; there would be strong replayability if DLCs were introduced.”
  • stability
    50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is frequently criticized, with many users reporting numerous bugs, glitches, and performance issues such as freezing and stuttering. While some players find that these problems can be mitigated with restarts or are not overly detrimental to the overall experience, the consensus is that the game feels unpolished and rushed, detracting from its potential enjoyment. Overall, the stability issues are a significant concern for many players, impacting their ability to fully engage with the game.

    • “It's surprisingly not buggy for a Slavic indie game.”
    • “The game runs smoothly without any major issues.”
    • “I haven't encountered any crashes or glitches during my playthrough.”
    • “The game stability is pretty low; it freezes a lot, stutters, and has a general loss of frames. Even the quality of the game going to crap for several seconds at times can really pull you out of the experience.”
    • “Game freezes for no apparent reason after 10 to 30 minutes of gameplay despite applying all known methods of troubleshooting like installing on SSD, changing virtual memory size, running as administrator.”
    • “While the game shows some potential, it's buggy and unpolished, and seems to have been dumped onto the market in a rushed state.”
  • humor
    38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is described as a blend of dark, dry, and surreal elements, often juxtaposed with its serious themes, creating a unique tragicomedy experience. Players find themselves laughing at their own misfortunes and the game's absurdities, with witty dialogue and character interactions that enhance the overall narrative. Despite its bleak setting, the humor is infectious and serves to deepen the emotional impact, making the game both thought-provoking and entertaining.

    • “It is infectious, humbling, terrifying, relentless, cozy, bleak, heartwarming, and hilarious.”
    • “It's amazing how funny it can be at times (I'm not sure about the Russian version, but the English one, holy hell) while still being mostly mysterious, creepy, and worrisome in case of some characters.”
    • “Haha, it's funny because you think it's about a plague, but really it's about being in a pathologic relationship with pain.”
    • “And by 'schizophrenia,' I don't mean the horribly unfunny 'heckin schizo feds glowies in my walls' jokes you see on the internet.”
  • character development
    12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the character development in the game is praised for its strong design and writing, with many reviewers highlighting the impressive character aesthetics and voice acting. However, some players noted that the abundance of characters and narratives limits the depth of individual character development, making it difficult to form strong connections with them. Despite this, the game's artistic elements and storytelling methods contribute positively to the overall experience.

    • “The story is really good, the character development is quite nice; a lot of things are really great, the graphics are sweet, the music is just perfect, and the gameplay is good.”
    • “Notice how incredible the character designs are, even amid their jankiness: whoever designed them, their faces, their attire, truly deserves a medal; and the same goes for their houses, mannerisms, and voices.”
    • “Pathologic 2 theoretically had a lot to offer, a plague-themed RPG with a focus on the story and character development, featuring good writing and challenging gameplay, fitting for a real plague story.”
    • “The only downside I found was that because there are so many characters and stories, there is not much time for character development, so you don't really connect with them.”
  • monetization
    6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization of the game is praised for its integrity, as it avoids microtransactions and is seen as a genuine labor of love rather than a cash grab. Players appreciate the game's unique storytelling and gameplay, which stand in stark contrast to the prevalent issues of mediocre titles filled with filler content and exploitative monetization practices. Overall, the absence of microtransactions is highlighted as a significant positive aspect.

    • “The unique gameplay and style makes this game stand out among the crowd and one of the bright spots amidst all the drama with AAA publishers, loot boxes, and microtransactions.”
    • “One good thing -- no microtransactions yet.”
    • “You have to earn Pathologic 2; it will make you work both in-game and in-between games, as you will probably lose sleep over it, thinking about the events taking place and planning your actions.”
    • “You have to earn Pathologic 2; it will make you work both in-game, in-between games (as you will probably lose sleep over it, thinking about the events taking place and planning your actions), and long after, as you attempt to comprehend all it tried to tell you and just how such a game could ever be pulled off in an industry filled with mediocre storytelling, filler open world gameplay, flashy graphics with no substance, and microtransactions.”
    • “The unique gameplay and style makes this game stand out among the crowd and one of the bright spots between all the drama with AAA publishers, loot boxes, and microtransactions.”
    • “This is not fake advertising, and the devs disclosed it a while ago.”
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65%Critics’ scoreBased on 18 critic reviews
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15h Median play time
32h Average play time
8-31h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 24 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Pathologic 2 is a open world role playing game with horror, drama and thriller themes.

Pathologic 2 is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and others.

On average players spend around 32 hours playing Pathologic 2.

Pathologic 2 was released on May 23, 2019.

Pathologic 2 was developed by Ice-Pick Lodge.

Pathologic 2 has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its optimization.

Pathologic 2 is a single player game.

Similar games include Pathologic 3, Disco Elysium, Disco Elysium: The Final Cut, This War of Mine, The Pale Beyond and others.