Fly like an eagle
With the PlayStation 5 finally upon us, there are some heavy hitters in the launch day lineup that command attention. A new Assassins Creed, Miles Morales, Demon’s Souls…games that not only wield a AAA budget, but also a AAA expense on your free time. Tucked within the PS5 launch lineup however, is an indie game that certainly sets itself apart from the rest of the selection on offer. The Pathless, the new adventure from ABZU developer Giant Squid, follows The Hunter as she free-runs her way across a corrupted world (with some help from an eagle friend and her trusty bow) to free the land from the Godslayer’s corruption. This action plays out across an absolutely stunning open world that benefits greatly from the architectural power of this new console generation. While it’s certainly a world worth exploring, I can’t help but wish there had been a little bit more to find.
As our story begins, The Hunter has to rescue a giant eagle clearly struggling under a powerful curse. That visual statement, and a brief nod from our winged friend, are the only direction provided before the player is turned loose to their own devices. Over the course of the 6 hour (or so) journey you’ll not only befriend the eagle (now a much more portable size) but you’ll also learn about The Tall Ones, their influence over the world around them, and the Godslayer who has cursed their world to destruction. Most of the story beats in the game come from the spirits of recently deceased priests scattered around the game world. Sometimes these bodies offer hints to the current puzzle, sometimes just some narrative backfill. All in all I really enjoyed the story that The Pathless had to tell, but I just really wish there was more “meat” on the bone. While the motivations of the primary movers and shakers in the games universe are clear, you get shockingly little backstory on either our main character or the primary antagonist. While this doesn’t necessarily hurt the story Giant Squid is trying to tell during the game’s short runtime, some more lore would have been very welcome.
MSRP: $39.99
Platforms: PS5 (reviewed), PS4
I can tell that some additional lore and character work would have been a positive here, because most of what we do get is really great. The relationship between The Hunter and the eagle is exceptionally written, and does a better job of making you care about your companion than some games 3 times its length. Each time the eagle is in trouble, hurt, or struggling under the weight of the evil permeating the land it has an impact. The relationship between the two bears itself out in head rubs, hugs, and (yes) even pets. The Pathless does so much work to make you care about these two,and that work really does the heavily lifting from a narrative standpoint as the game hits its later hours. Games like this are, at their core, about inventing a protagonist you can root for and an enemy you can root against, and the relationship between The Hunter and her eagle sets that stage beautifully.
The Pathless is an open world game in the truest definition of the word. There is no map available to the player. Your character early on picks up a visor which allows her to see into the spirit world and pick up on visual clues about which direction to head in for her next objective. The gameplay follows a relatively static formula for the full runtime. Your job is to collect talismans for each of the corrupted Tall Ones, the gods/forest spirits of this world, to cleanse large towers of their curse. Each tower requires either 1 (on the first “level”) or 2 talismans to cleanse. You’ll earn these talismans by completing puzzles scattered across the landscape. Generally these puzzles will involve a combination of platforming, shooting things with your bow, and using your eagle friend to carry or move things around the environment (including The Hunter herself).
You’ll fire trick shots through torches to light new torches on fire. You’ll position mirrors so that your shots ricochet in the necessary direction, and you’ll find just the right angle to fire through stone rings to unlock gates or to free talismans from their prisons. Ultimately the game’s relatively short runtime works in its favor here, as the process starts to get a little bit “samey” toward the end. There are only so many combinations of mirror/torch/ring trick shots that can play out before everything just kind of blends together. Several of the puzzles though are legitimately great however, and again the game ends just before the tedium really sets in.
Helping to push off the repetitive nature of the puzzles is the incredibly unique traversal system on display here. Your character has a stamina meter that rapidly depletes as you hold the left trigger to run. In order to keep the meter full (and thus move at a faster rate than the laboriously slow jog The Hunter paces at once your stamina is empty) you have to shoot floating targets that are scattered conveniently throughout the environment. These targets give your stamina meter a quick boost and have the added benefit of keeping you afloat for a couple extra milliseconds if you hit them while mid-jump.
Your eagle friend can also carry you for short distances, with upgrades along the way allowing the eagle to pump its wings and soar higher in the air. This power can be used just once before landing again when first unlocked, but will be built up to be used multiple times by the end of the game. This traversal system is almost instantly intuitive, and is backed up by a very snappy control system that doesn’t require any aiming from the player. Simply hold down the right trigger, and The Hunter will lock on to the closest available target while you run. Not only does it feel fantastic, but its incredibly visually satisfying as well as your character slides, flips, and jumps across seemingly insurmountable objects.
As you make your way through the world, finding talismans and unlocking towers, you’ll need to be wary of the growing spheres of ruin on each plateau that contain the corrupted Tall Ones and will overwhelm you quickly when you venture close. Often you’ll need to move through these areas to access the next set of talismans you need, and each time it is a tense and exciting distraction. When you’re overtaken by the sphere, your eagle will be blown away and you will need to carefully sneak over to retrieve it. I say you need to sneak, because while you’re searching for your friend, the corrupted Tall One from that plateau is also searching for you.
These stealth action sequences see you desperately trying to make your way over to your endangered friend while avoiding the spotlight-like gaze of your intimidating foe. Find your friend and you’ll disperse the cloud where you stand, and send it to another area of the plateau. Get discovered, and you’ll be attacked and tossed from the area, which costs you the yellow gems necessary to increase the number of times you can “flap” in mid-air. The different approach and physical characteristics of each of the Tall Ones keeps this mechanic from wearing out it’s welcome too quickly, and I found interacting with each of them in this way (sneaking, afraid, powerless) made the ultimate battle with them even more satisfying.
That’s right, each of these monstrous creatures has to ultimately be confronted in order to cleanse them of their curse and restore them to their kind and nurturing true forms. The boss battle formula here is the same for each. First you unlock three of the aforementioned towers on each plateau to weaken the creature enough to enter its sphere of ruin. Once inside, you’ll chase the monster by free running alongside it until you can get close enough to shoot at targets on its sides. Once you’ve completed that phase, you’ll move into the more traditional arena-based battle. Each of the battles at this point is unique, but generally involves a combination of running, shooting, and light puzzle solving. The boss battles were my favorite parts of the game and I found each of them engaging in its own way. It helps that the designs for the Tall Ones are universally tremendous, both in their cursed and natural forms.
Ultimately, the visual design of the world and its denizens is probably the most impressive feature of the game. The world, so recently corrupted by the Godslayer and his curse, is appropriately gloomy until you defeat the boss on each plateau and bring the life and sunshine back. You’ll venture across swamps, plains, rivers and snowy mountains as you make your way up to the floating island where your ultimate confrontation with the Godslayer will take place. All of this plays out in stunning 4K with very impressive utilization of HDR. The art direction is second to none, which is to be expected out of this team.
Ultimately The Pathless is a very good game, with exceptional art direction and an interesting (if a bit shallow) story. I loved the interactions between The Hunter and her eagle, and found the boss battles to be a high point. The game’s six hour runtime helps to keep the somewhat repetitive gameplay loop from becoming tedious, but it also means it’s more difficult to justify the game’s $40 price tag. I believe that with some expanded lore and a lot more variety in the puzzles on display, Giant Squid could have easily stretched the game out to 10-15 hours. Still, The Pathless is undeniably a great game and a worthy (and unique) addition to the PS5 launch lineup.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
