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The Path is a horror game based on Little Red Riding Hood, where six sisters must journey through a forest to their sick grandmother's house while staying on the path. However, the game encourages players to break rules and explore, resulting in different outcomes and experiences. It's a game about making choices, accepting consequences, and embracing life, even if it means accepting death.

The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
The Path screenshot
+13

85%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,262 reviews
story62 positive mentions
gameplay24 negative mentions

  • The game's atmosphere is hauntingly beautiful, with a unique art style and an unsettling soundtrack that enhances the experience.
  • Each of the six sisters has a distinct personality and story, allowing for deep emotional engagement and exploration of themes related to growing up and loss of innocence.
  • The Path encourages players to interpret the story and symbolism in their own way, making it a thought-provoking experience that resonates long after playing.
  • The gameplay is slow and tedious, with clunky controls that can frustrate players, making exploration feel like a chore rather than an engaging experience.
  • There is a lack of clear objectives, which can leave players feeling lost and confused about what to do next, detracting from the overall enjoyment.
  • The game may be too abstract and vague for some players, leading to a sense of disappointment if they were expecting a more traditional gaming experience.
  • story
    466 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's story is a fragmented and abstract retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood tale, focusing on the individual narratives of six girls as they navigate a dark forest. Players are encouraged to piece together the story through exploration and interpretation, leading to a variety of personal insights and theories, though many find the storytelling to be vague and lacking coherence. While some appreciate the artistic and atmospheric elements, others criticize the game for its unclear narrative and minimal gameplay, making it more of an interactive experience than a traditional game.

    • “If you like creepy ambiance & a carefully crafted art style and a story that you can analyze in different ways, then this game is a hard recommendation.”
    • “I loved learning about each girl, pondering what her fate was, what her story was, and what her ending meant.”
    • “The path is definitely one of those games most people might overlook, but for the select few that enjoy the art style and peaceful yet creepy nature of it, it really does offer something unique and creative with how it goes about its story and plot.”
    • “The story is really bad.”
    • “This is not a game so much as a picture book of tragedies, and if you just want to see the story unfold, find it on YouTube and save your money.”
    • “It's poor storytelling with a decent atmosphere... but in the end, it's kinda a let down.”
  • gameplay
    210 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is primarily a slow-paced walking simulator focused on exploration, where players navigate through a forest, interact with objects, and trigger memories or dialogues. While some players appreciate the atmospheric and artistic elements, many criticize the lack of clear objectives, repetitive mechanics, and janky controls, leading to a feeling of aimlessness. Overall, the experience is polarizing, appealing more to those who value narrative and ambiance over traditional gameplay mechanics.

    • “The core gameplay consists of walking around the woods as each of the sisters and running into objects/areas that (hopefully) trigger a memory/dialogue.”
    • “The path is really quite a trip and an experience as long as you are good with slow pacing, not obvious clues, and exploration as the main gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay is simple, but it allows you to enjoy the game all the more.”
    • “The gameplay is ultimately pretty mediocre, with it being mostly a walking simulator where you travel through the woods and encounter various locations like a lake, fields of flowers, or an old theatre.”
    • “There's no actual gameplay outside of exploration--it's essentially a very beautiful, creepy walking simulator.”
    • “You know a developer has failed when their game could easily just have been an animated film, with the gameplay adding nothing worthwhile to the experience.”
  • music
    210 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is a polarizing aspect, with many players praising its haunting and atmospheric qualities that enhance the eerie experience, while others find it repetitive and annoying over extended play sessions. Composed by notable artists, the soundtrack effectively sets a surreal and unsettling tone, contributing significantly to the game's ambiance, though some players feel it lacks variety. Overall, the music is memorable and integral to the game's artistic vision, even if it may not appeal to everyone.

    • “The music is beautifully sinister, a creeping nail in the back of your brain.”
    • “The aesthetics and soundtrack are unforgettable.”
    • “This game's atmosphere is hauntingly beautiful and to no small credit to the music that plays you through your exploration through the seemingly endless, dark wood.”
    • “The music is kinda annoying, and the horror aspect goes away quite fast, as soon as you realize you're not really in danger.”
    • “Add on top of that a soundtrack that aims to be unsettling but just proves annoying, and you've got a cacophony of ideas that - put simply - combine together in a way that made me want to cry out in physical pain.”
    • “The empty landscape and uneventful gameplay negates any of the atmosphere the game is trying to create with the soundtrack.”
  • atmosphere
    198 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its haunting beauty and surreal, psychological horror elements, creating an eerie and immersive experience that captivates players. While some find the minimalistic design and slow pacing frustrating, many appreciate the rich sound design and artistic visuals that contribute to a deeply unsettling yet thought-provoking environment. Overall, it appeals to fans of atmospheric and unconventional horror, though it may not resonate with everyone due to its abstract storytelling and gameplay style.

    • “This game's atmosphere is unmatched when it comes to surreal, psychological horror.”
    • “The atmosphere is amazing, even though the graphics are dated, the art style shines through.”
    • “It creates an eerie, solemn atmosphere that really makes you want to flee back to the path... but the forest will always draw you in, again and again.”
    • “The empty landscape and uneventful gameplay negates any of the atmosphere the game is trying to create with the soundtrack.”
    • “The awkward controls and non-sequitur surrealism created a constant frustration that undermined what looked like a sincere attempt at unsettling atmosphere and imagery.”
    • “It's poor storytelling with a decent atmosphere... but in the end, it's kind of a letdown.”
  • graphics
    194 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are a mixed bag, with many players appreciating the unique and haunting art style that complements its eerie atmosphere, despite acknowledging that the visuals are dated and occasionally marred by glitches and low resolution. While some find the aesthetic compelling and fitting for the game's themes, others criticize the overuse of filters and the lack of modern graphical fidelity. Overall, the game's artistic design and atmosphere are often highlighted as its strongest features, appealing to a niche audience that values creativity over technical prowess.

    • “This game is gorgeous and very aesthetically pleasing.”
    • “Beautiful visuals that I don't think the dated models take away from at all (in fact I think it adds to it at times), fantastic music and sound design, peaceful and patient exploration, and an incredibly haunting, surreal, fairytale-esque psychological experience chock-full of symbolism and implication.”
    • “The music, the graphics, plus the work on the shading, blended with the subtle characterization of Robin, Rose, Ginger, Ruby, Carmen, and Scarlet, bring into being a wonderful game.”
    • “Graphics options are limited when it comes to post-processing effects; some of these effects are annoying, while others plainly hurt my eyes. Being able to enable and disable effects would be pretty cool.”
    • “Extremely pretentious game with confusing dynamics and downright horrible graphics.”
    • “Basically, you walk through a boring, endless forest with a disgusting color palette, terrible graphical filters, and scratched words with an illegible annoying font going across the screen for no reason.”
  • emotional
    48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The emotional aspect of the game "The Path" is described as deeply impactful, eliciting strong feelings of sadness and introspection from players. Many reviewers highlight its ability to create a haunting and immersive experience that resonates on a personal level, though some criticize its vagueness and pretentiousness, which may detract from its emotional effectiveness. Overall, it is recognized as a unique artistic endeavor that challenges players to engage emotionally with its narrative and themes.

    • “Fantastic, deeply emotional experience.”
    • “Play it for yourself alone in a dark room, isolated from the sounds and visuals of the real world, and let yourself get absorbed in this immaculate and emotional dreamscape!”
    • “Video games are a unique artistic medium because they allow the player to interact with the story and characters in ways that no other medium can easily do, and that allows them to give unique, involving, and emotional experiences that you can't get in other mediums.”
  • replayability
    26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players find it infinitely replayable due to its secrets and randomly generated environments, others feel it lacks depth and is more of a unique one-time experience. Many suggest that additional features like mod support or achievements could enhance replay value, but the overall sentiment is that it may only hold interest for those eager to uncover every hidden element. The soundtrack and atmosphere contribute to a desire to revisit the game, though opinions vary on its long-term replay potential.

    • “Not only that, but the game is full to the brim with secrets, so this game has a lot of replay value if you're patient enough to find all the secrets.”
    • “I think this game has great replay value and is one of the best 'Tale of Tales' has to offer.”
    • “Interactive enough to be a game, pretentious enough to be called artistic, with a good amount of replayability and easter eggs if you go looking for trouble in the woods.”
    • “Excessive unlockables that just hope to extend the replayability of a game with no gameplay in the first place.”
    • “In my opinion, the replay value only lasts as long as there is something that you missed, which just to note that the forest is randomly generated each time so finding everything will be a challenge if you switch girls or start over.”
    • “Minimal replay value, but a unique one-time experience.”
  • grinding
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious and frustrating, with many players noting that the lack of a map system and poor interface contribute to a cumbersome experience. While some find the game engaging over time, the repetitive nature of gameplay and soundtrack often detracts from its initial charm, leading to a sense of mind-numbing monotony. Overall, players who are willing to invest hours into the game may find it rewarding, but many express that the grind can be overwhelming and unenjoyable.

    • “The game quickly becomes so tedious that it loses what charm it originally had going for it.”
    • “The weakness of the interface makes the basic act of playing through the work tedious and unpleasant.”
    • “There's no map system, your character blacks out if you run for too long (making the exploration even more tedious), and you better hope to god you have a damn good memory of where all the memory items are with the lack of landmarks (other than other memory items, that is).”
  • stability
    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is marked by frequent glitches and buggy controls, which can hinder gameplay but are generally considered manageable by players. While some users report significant lag and issues with movement mechanics, others note that these problems do not render the game unplayable, especially given its age. Overall, the game runs adequately despite its technical shortcomings.

    • “Game runs great.”
    • “It is, like, super slow—because, you know, it's a walking sim... and they sure do walk... and if you run you kind of can't see where you're going because it tries to cement that you're panicking, all lost in the woods, with the camera angles and music... it's also full of glitches.”
    • “Edit: also the controls are buggy and bad, don't expect even the game's only mechanic to work well.”
    • “One direction seems to work (knowing a thing or two about game glitches, I hazard a guess that it's the direction of the house) but after a few steps this fails too, and I am totally unable to move.”
  • character development
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Reviewers praise the character development for its unique designs and attention to detail, highlighting how these elements enhance the overall visual experience of the game. The graphics are considered serviceable, but the distinct character designs stand out as a strong point.

    • “I absolutely love the character designs!”
    • “The graphics are serviceable, with unique character designs and attention to minor details; a good example is the receding cityscape in the opening, or how the path disappears once you delve deeper into the forest.”
  • optimization
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from significant optimization issues, running only in windowed mode and lacking support for modern display resolutions, making it unplayable on Windows 10 due to performance problems. Users report that it has not been updated to function smoothly on contemporary gaming PCs, and there are no indications that the developer will address these issues.

    • “Totally unplayable on Windows 10 due to performance issues, and it seems these will not be resolved by the developer.”
  • humor
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is described as unexpectedly strong, with some players finding it more amusing than frightening. However, opinions vary, as others feel the humor is not particularly impactful, though they still appreciate the game's aesthetic.

    • “This was supposed to be scary, but it was hilarious, if I remember correctly.”
  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization strategy in the game appears to be tied to the narrative of the girls' transition into adulthood, which some players feel is more focused on advertising than on gameplay. This approach has led to mixed feelings among users regarding the game's ethical implications.

75%Critics’ scoreBased on 2 critic reviews

Buy The Path

9h Median play time
8h Average play time
5-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 14 analyzed playthroughs

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