Pathologic 2

It's like a walking simulator except instead of walking on a nice beach, or through a forest, you walk through the colon of a man with prostate cancer and then get mugged. And also your mugger steps on your testicles and gives you covid.

Best game I have ever played after Disco Elysium. I can't even call it a game. It is a unique experience, one of a kind. I believe this game is not for everyone. If you enjoy reading every sentence of beautifully written dialogues, Dostoyevsky-like philosophical questions about life/death/religion/sin and complex game mechanics that replicate the hardship of a real life experience - this is for you.
Huge recommendation - don't watch/read anything. It will affect your gameplay. Just try it for 2-3 hours and reach Day 2. If it is for you, you will be absorbed. If it is not, forget about it - it's just not for you and this is perfectly fine.

Not an easy game, but once you get it, you want to play it again and again.

Beat me up. Absolutely demolished. Crumpled and tossed into the gutter. Hydraulic press'ed. Made into a fool in front of all who ever loved me. Left broken on the side of the road. Mangled my corpse. Havoc wreak’ed. Chewed me up and spit me out. Came at me like a wreaking ball. Laid me to waste. Wiped me off the map. 10/10 best game ever.

very well written story line,and realistic game play

great world, love the art style, punishing but even dying over and over has a story to it

A note to anyone playing this, you might feel like you've been thrown into the game with no clue how thinks work at first. But that's the point, because all of Day 1 is basically a playable tutorial. Listen to what people tell you, think about what that translates to as game mechanics, and everything will start making sense

2ez. Why program multiple response options in the linear dialogues?

Pathologic 2: A Game That Breaks You And Remakes You

Some games are difficult. Some games are punishing. Pathologic 2 is something else entirely. It doesn’t just test your skills—it tests your limits, your values, your very sense of self.

From the moment you arrive in the plagued town, you realize this isn’t a story about winning. It’s about enduring. The air is thick with rot, the sky is heavy, as if mourning. The town itself seems to breathe in pain, its streets lined with fading footprints of those who won’t see another sunrise.

You are not a hero. You are not here to save everyone. You are here to survive—and survival is cruel.

The game gives you just enough to scrape by, but never enough to feel safe. You will starve. You will grow weak. You will look into the eyes of the dying and know that you cannot help them. And the worst part? You will get used to it. It forces you to choose—who do you help? Who do you abandon? How much of your own humanity are you willing to sacrifice just to see another day?

At first, I fought against the system. I tried to play perfectly, to plan, to strategize. But Pathologic 2 doesn’t let you be perfect. It watches as you stumble, as you break, as your convictions crumble under the weight of starvation and despair. It strips away that illusion, forcing you to accept failure as an inevitability. It made me confront my own stubbornness, my own selfish need to "get it right." And when I finally let go of that, when I accepted that suffering and compromise were my only paths forward, the game transformed into something else entirely.

The town is alive—not just in its decaying streets and whispering corners, but in the weight of every choice you make. The faces you pass today may be corpses tomorrow. The laughter of children is a rare sound, swallowed by the hush of grief. The hunger gnaws at you like a rabid dog, and the exhaustion drapes over your body like a funeral shroud. Every meal you steal could be someone else’s last. Every step forward feels like trudging through the ashes of a world that no longer wants you in it.

The world doesn’t revolve around you, and it never did.


Playing Pathologic 2 feels like drowning, yet somehow, you keep pushing forward. And when it finally lets you breathe, you realize you’ve come out the other side—changed, but never whole.

I can’t say this game is for everyone. But if you’re willing to suffer, to embrace the unknown, and to truly feel, it’s an experience unlike any other.

Made me want to kill myself so fucking difficult and annoying and still makes me come back every time to play it finally got past day 1 on my 3rd playthrough had this game in my library for a year before i finished it

Played this game on Intended Difficulty, and I have to say, hardest game I have ever played. If you are looking for a hardcore survival experience with alot of variables then this game is a must play. Be warned though, dying many times and reloading many saves should be expected.

Immersive in a way few games have ever achieved. Buggy, broken, frustrating and hypnotizing in all the ways only Pathologic could be. One of the best games ever made

This game was above and beyond anything I was expecting going into the experience as an avid Pathologic Classic player. It is equally as challenging as the original, but provides some changes that are welcome and make the experience more palatable! I'm glad to see more of a fanbase for this title than it's former.
Pros:
-great storyline
-interesting characters + lore
-fluid controls
-engaging gameplay
-new mechanics like stamina and boat rides, which improve overall movement without taking away from the time management stress
-nerfing the house theft option, making resource farming more challenging! (It made the original easier in comparison)
-fluid map, making following the game and awareness of options easier than ever before!

Cons:
-exhausting experience (high tension with doing many tasks + time management)
-Haruspex is the only playable character, offering less routes and objectives (the original offered the Bachelor, Haruspex, and Changeling - it felt like 3 different runs of the same game). The replay value is lessened from this. Not so bad considering the short but sweet self-contained Marble Nest dlc.
-personally don't like the lack of option to skip Theatre plays on subsequent runs of the game (the longer ones drag).

As a true Pathologic fan, I got everything I was expecting and more from this revamped version! I will always love the intensity to such a game, while also offering great lore and characters to make the experience enjoyable overall. Perfect modernised version of a cult classic! It's a difficult game, but I highly recommend it for those who are up for the challenge.

9/10

A brilliant game. An experience of its own. You have to play it to understand it.
(P.S: Sometimes NPC's stop interacting with you. You have to exit the game for them to start interacting again)

Bizarre and Brutal, it's an impossible sell for everyone but its unique charm absolutely has appeal

First I'll state by saying that you do not have to have played the first game to understand anything here, it's something of a reboot/remake that focuses on only one of the routes from the original game which is fine with some elements of being an actual sequel.
Point is, it's completely fine to start with this one.

Onto the main stuff, this game's one of the more notable ones I've played, incorporating time-management and survival gameplay to make an experience that made me never want to waste a second or slip up and waste precious resources.

It may sound basic but it's when things go wrong that Pathologic shines

Without going into spoilers, depending on certain factors like the day, decisions made, people neglected, etc.
The townsfolk get put in danger, all those people you get introduced to can and probably will die without intervention.
The hard part is managing your resources, like weapons, food, medicine and most assuredly... Time!

With each passing day, times grows shorter and shorter, at first you may not notice it but as the days go on, you'll find that the game ain't lying. Your hunger depletes more rapidly, you find longer events may not be worth the time investment, and each day brings new problems that helped me understand the general gameplay systems by force.

Things only get worse as you'll need resources to make it through the day, and as the days go on, things get worse.
Stockpiling is a massive boon but can be hard in practice, looting houses is a mixed bag of results for a variety of reasons but bartering can get you far.
Trading for items and figuring out what people want can be the difference between life and death, make use of it.

Life is unfair, and that's (mostly) alright

Despite the survival gameplay being harsh and time being hard to manage (you can't be everywhere and do everything), things can be relatively managable, but sometimes the game will decide to mess with you.
Sometimes people are put in danger or straight up killed based on chance, while there's stuff you can do to mitigate that, odds are you'll run out of luck eventually and have to live with it or savescum but please don't.

While certain interactions will change, you're never really outright punished for a characters death, life goes on and you will make it to the end so long as you persevere, but there is one lasting consequence you might end up cursing, and that's your own death.
Outside of day 1, the town remembers how many times you've died, regardless of reloading, and will punish you as it sees fit.
From lowered max health to worse loot, it can only make your life harder, but it's NOT the end of things.
The punishments start out tame and like I said, the town remembers, while it's mostly the punishments that will remind you of your death, there are other reminders that are decently interesting to encounter.

Speaking of the town

An incredibly odd mix of rustic environments colliding with almost cult-esque themes.
Most of the houses look normal, if a bit copy/paste, but then you'll spot structures that defy the laws of gravity, massive towers meant to house the work population and the scenic steppe belonging to the local tribe with it's "odd" people that isn't even taking into account their culture and exploitation.

This is the thing that ultimately got my attention, and while you'll see a lot of what it has to offer pretty quickly, there's still info waiting to be uncovered which makes it interesting.

But there are some downright bad comments to make

Combat is quite frankly just bad, it's incredibly easy to stunlock most enemies to the point where I would say my preferred weapon was my bare fists, but realistically it was my legs as running away is mad easy. Considering how combat is frowned upon by the local population and knives/guns can drain my health from full to nothing in a second, I'd much rather just leave it alone whenever possible.

While I think the death system is very cool, there's little reason not to reload before you think something goes wrong as, when you die, it just boots you back to your previous save anyway, so you might just be in a very similar spot that lead to your death without any escape other loading even further back.

While I did want to keep the town population alive, I'd be lying if I said I cared for even half this cast, as most times I try and interact with them they just don't have any dialogue, usually needing an event to trigger conversation, this makes wandering around the town feel downright pointless at times, especially as certain places become empty as people start dying.

Thirst feels kind of pointless, it's rather easy to maintain and to my understanding, never decreases past a certain threshold, making it the only meter you don't actually have to manage for survival outside of stockpiling your sprint duration.

If you're interested, go into it with the expectation that this is something different and will use its difficulty to try and sell a setting instead of appealing to a larger demographic

It's hard, but fair, and personally I thought the experience was well worth it.
It might be boring, stressful or annoying at times but it works FAR more often than it doesn't.
If you're looking for something different, would highly recommend.

got to day 3 and starting bragging about how the game wasn't that hard and I got the hang of it. then day 4 happened. boy was I wrong.

The existential aspect of the game is shocking, I cannot remember on top of my head any game that was leaking into reality!: I mean this illusion of reality that is written on your tunnel of ego walls. I came to a fискing town, I am a doctor, I am not here this isn't happening, what are you talking about people? So, now I should live here to understand, no, no I am not buying, you are stuck in your superstition, I am not following you at all, let me do my blооdy job, please! Thank you. I am here to help. I do believe I am helping. Medical higher education I brought to help and... wait, is this child living at the cemetery, are you... bi bol zamyn gar, ene garaar bi zamyg chiglulekh bolno.

Въeбaл морфия, въeбaл твирина, спать!
Въeбaл морфия, въeбaл твирина, спать!
Въeбaл морфия, въeбaл твирина, спать!
Въeбaл морфия, въeбaл твирина, спать!
Въeбaл морфия, въeбaл твирина, спать!
Въeбaл морфия, въeбaл твирина, спать!
Въeбaл морфия, въeбaл твирина, спать!
Въeбaл морфия, въeбaл твирина, спать!
ВЪEБAЛ МОРФИЯ, ВЪEБAЛ ТВИРИНА, СПАТЬ!
ВЪEБAЛ МОРФИЯ, ВЪEБAЛ ТВИРИНА, СПАТЬ!
ВЪEБAЛ МОРФИЯ, ВЪEБAЛ ТВИРИНА, СПАТЬ!
ВЪEБAЛ МОРФИЯ, ВЪEБAЛ ТВИРИНА, СПАТЬ!
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Best narrative experience I've ever had, more stressful than COVID. 10/10 would not recommend to my friends.

this game ruined my life.
it made me scared of black smoke, every time I see a bonfire with black smoke, all I can think about is HEHE PATHOLOGIC 2 REFERENCE OOOOH and start screaming and pulling my hair out. I can't walk outside at night due to an irrational fear that a mugger from either of the pathologic games will throw a knife at me and take 90% of my health instantly. every time I get sick I can only think about the sand plague. speaking of the sand plague, every time I hear the word sand I can only think of the sand plague. every time I watch a medical tv show I can only think about daniil dankovsky and artemy burakh because they are doctors. even just walking has become a pathologic reference. I can't live my life without some sort of pathologic reference sneaking in, and it has utterly ruined me. pathologic also made me gay.

Amazing game, cannot wait for the third

5 hours in and I realized I basically just finished the tutorial so far
omg

You can't save everyone, and you can't learn everything. You just do what you can, do it in love, and stick by what you've done, 'cause the past will not return, and you won't get a redo.
Pathologic 2 dances with this idea beautifully.

Staying alive is a struggle, as the game makes use of very daunting survival mechanics and overbearing resource management, ensuring you can't just walk from marker to marker saving everyone. But, you're a doctor, it's your job to save everyone; moreso, you're the player, taught by years of gaming conventions to expect, and desire, to see every quest through to the end; but, as I said, it isn't so simple. The clock will continue to tick and the world will move on whether or not you choose to participate. And still your own survival must come first, for otherwise you won't save anyone anymore, meet anyone anymore. And to top it all off, to further get the point across of how your mistakes impede your life from ever being the same again, with each death you face, the game punishes you. I mean, really punishes you, permanently, as your deaths too become weaved into the more meta elements of the narrative. Load as many saves as you want, it still will not undo the damages. Your maximum health will be reduced, you'll become hungry faster, thirsty faster, tire way quicker, and no older saves from that specific run will be exempt of these handicaps. You expect to save everyone, but you can barely save yourself.

Save-scumming is still possible, though its reliability is minimal, and the game itself, along with the fandom, will vehemently recommend you don't. It's a game that encourages pushing forward with your mistakes and failures. Stick by them. Defends they make you stronger and better prepared, albeit not physically.

You'll learn to care for the people of the town and face every danger to keep them alive; you may even learn to love the town itself, as did I, with all its quirks and oddities, and seek to learn everything about it; but you cannot do it all. You must choose. At every instant, you're forced to make tough decisions, be they regarding your own interests or those of others, only to be reminded each and every time how these have now shaped your current reality, of which you can't escape, only adapt. Almost all of this, through gameplay alone. Just as memorable as its story beats or lines of dialogue will be moments such as when you, during normal non-scripted gameplay, find yourself forced to sell your gun, which you toiled so hard to purchase, just so you can buy a piece of bread. Or when you manage to cure a friend instead of having them disappear from the game forever, along with every possible quest or conversation they may have still had in store. Yes, if a character dies on, say, day four of the twelve-day total, so does any chance of you finishing, or triggering, any of the other fantastic moments you could still have had with them. The devs and writers made them with such care... But fate had you miss them. Everything is missable.

If, like me, you're a gamer who seeks to see at least most of what a game has to offer, then I urge you to not interpret my previous paragraphs as reasons to steer clear, but as the opposite. That is what'll allow you to get the most out of the experience.
It'll make you frustrated. Your sensibilities will be in a constant clash with those of the game, and that's a good thing. That's what you want out of this. More than for its exceptional, top-notch, legitimately perfect gameplay loop, Pathologic 2 should be experienced for the ocean of ideas and philosohies it tries and succeeds in sharing, both through direct and indirect means. The writing is stunning, and far more poetic than what's expected of the medium, and the plot and characters are all up there as perhaps the best that gaming has to offer; but its true beauty only reveals itself after realizing how much of it you missed, how much you couldn't do, which will then provide you with a larger sense of accomplishment for all the things you did manage. The failure is unwashable but those successes are what keep you clean.

What results is a game that most agree isn't fun, but something else. Something more. In a conversation with a friend who didn't yet finish it, due to only having the shitty PS4 port, came along the following phrases: "it's not something you play to relax but something you have to relax from after playing" followed by "it's a survival horror game about the horrors of survival" and I think these together sum it up pretty well. If you're not yet convinced to try this absolutely exceptional work of art, high art, adamant on pushing games forward and treating them with more respect than most of its contemporaries, then I don't know what else to tell you. You're priving yourself of what'll likely be a most memorable and impactful experience, if only you choose to meet it at its level and go where it takes you--which is why I can't recommend enough thay you DON'T play it in one of the easier difficulties on your first run. It's meant to be hard enough that standing still is the most stressful thing you can do, and simply walking becomes enough of a challenge to warrant taking up most of your time (ie. Dead Stranding). Do not prive yourself of that. If you see there's no way you can finish it under those conditions, then sure, but at least try, 'cause that first playthrough is something you'll never get back.

I know I'll replay it at some point, likely soon. I'm already itching to return to its streets and back-alleys. To breathe in its stunning art direction, accompanied by nothing but the town's sounds and the sound of my own thoughts. I want to learn more of it, especifically 'cause there's nothing quite like it. I want more.

A very engaging experience. A very thought-out story where each character has a place and every little detail is connected, forming something more than its parts. The gameplay is a fight with the time itself and resource management, where you almost never feel safe and confident that you'll succeed. Throughout the game, there are many interesting choices to make, that, if don't affect the main quest, present some sort of allegory that can be applied to many cases, so it makes you think of things from kind of a different perspective, categorize certain events. The ending(s) (The last 20% of the game, really) give answers to a lot of questions you may've had or you weren't sure of, putting the puzzle together into a picture that holds together surprisingly well.
Works and looks well on a steam deck, min-med settings with full resolution, getting around 40-60 fps, depending on, mostly, the amount of effects on the screen (plague flakes, rain reflections) and the amount of rendered buildings.
Amazing game overall, one of my favourites

Just play the original, this one is only a third of the original, changes parts of the story, is full of bugs and is badly optimized.

Everything hurts and I'm dying (it's an incredible game I just suck)

Was it any good? Absolutely!
Was it challenging?? Ha!! That's an understatement. Let me put it in terms that would better convey what this game did to me. To put it simply: it broke me....

Yes, it's true. This game broke me physically, mentally, psychologically, but more to the point, spiritually. It disrupted the balance of the flow of my life. Much like the first game, I reached a particular day and/or point where it seemed like I couldn't progress, though I gave it everything I had to push further and make it one more day. That particular run ended in misery, though any fan of this series pretty much expects that at some point in their attempt to make it to the end they'll be met with utter defeat/despair. For me, personally, I don't give a s*** if I save anyone/everyone/the town etc. I just want to make it to the final day and see those credits roll across my screen. Hell, making it just one more day and unlocking another achievement often feels like a badge of honor that surpasses anything else you can achieve in most games.

Bottom line: You will once again struggle for every step you take in game. Every bottle of water you drink; every bite of food you take; every attempt to barter for a good outcome; every near-death experience in an infected zone etc., feels like something you truly have to work for.

But I feel that I digress, for this review has yet to make mention of what is perhaps the most crucial piece of information you need to know about this game. For anyone that played the first game, I strongly advise that you sit down for this next bit of detail. Okay, here goes.................no rats. Let me repeat that..............NO RATS!!!!

If you're any good at math, no rats basically means that the sequel is 97,382 times easier than the first game. Just play it, you'll be happy you did ;D

A marvelously written, nerve-wracking, and immensely theatrical masterpiece.

One of the most interesting settings and awesome games of all time... Please don't play it, for your own sake.♥

Pathologic 2 is one of the most phenomenal games out there-- it is immersive, horrific, and has a deep and twisting narrative that is engrossing if you can stomach its steep difficulty.

In light of the news of Pathologic 3 launching, I thought I'd come back to this game and clean up the rest of the achievements I missed on my first playthrough, but there are two in particular that I just can't bring myself to achieve.... If you know, you know.

Insanely bad optimization, constant FPS drops and stutters even with a 3070ti and Ryzen 9 5950x and at the lowest settings.

Pathologic 2 feels more like an art piece than a video game, and that’s a good thing. Never before have I been so immersed in a world as I was here. The characters, the city, the atmosphere, the sound—all of it makes you feel as though you’re truly in this eerie place of mystery and danger. The creators clearly had a vision in mind for how the world was supposed to be. There were no constraints, no one telling them what to do—total creative freedom.

Because so few games achieve this so well, I felt compelled to leave my review here. Sure, the game has its flaws, but they never get in the way of completing it. In fact, they have the opposite effect—the clunkiness feels intentional, not like a result of the developers’ lack of skill. The world feels alive, and I deeply appreciate the incredible writing and worldbuilding.

It’s something so different from all the generic fantasy and sci-fi games out there. This game is a rollercoaster of emotions, whether it’s the in-game characters you fear for or the labor of love poured into it by the developers. Pathologic 2 is not just a true indie marvel but also an inspiration for other developers.

my eyes are bloodshot trying to find the nearest grocery. the children are stocked with ammo and morphine. the townsfolk beat me to death on the first day. very relaxing walking sim

I've never been more beaten in my life, absolutely would recommend to friends and family

Lowkey one of the greatest games of all time. It doesn't hold your hand but it immediately puts it through your head you need to hurry and figure things out. As days progress, the plague begins to spread out of control, and you (as one of the towns only doctors) must do all you can to minimize the casualties by this mysterious plague. I recommend accepting any losses you have and continuing onwards.

Its extremely immersive and fun creeping around this old town... and looting infected and abandoned districts and homes.

Its a very fun survival game that really puts you face to face with your own limitations. Dying is part of the game and has serious consequences... Sometimes you'll have to make hard choices. But it was one of the greatest experiences in game form I've ever had. When the plague hits... you'll understand.

Remember the first time you got Margit to his last 1/5th hp but where 1 hit from death with 0 Estus left?

Take that moment of ultimate cheek clenching and it will be your norm here. You might fall under the impression that you're the MC brought in to save everyone, by day 3 the foolish notion will be gone as you haggle with children for a piece of bread.

The game it's self is alright. you don't get any choices tho so idk how this is an rpg when all you do is walk place to place just to be told the same thing just slightly different. like I tried 10 times trying to get home before father dies but you can't do that. idk every idea I had was just stomped out. the save system really had me on edge so I liked that, but at the end of the day this game is just not fun or worth it. the story is boring as shit, how do you do that? the first 5 hours were fun, but then I got lost in the story and I just don't care anymore.

Some Russians looked at walking sims, survival games, morality systems, and story delivery.
They then said they could do better, and so they did.

On Day 5 I was roaming the streets at night and for some reason the background music and atmosphere of the game just *got* to me. Damn near had a panic attack just from the sheer depressive ambience of the game.
I hate this game.
10/10, don't buy it.

I hustled. I planned. I sprinted like a madman. I single-handedly gunned down the town's entire bandit population. I rubbed every clock in town. I watched pantomimes. I drank blood. I traded with children for morphine. I used the populace as test subjects. I stole from my patients. I sang gibberish to my bull. I drained the town's water supply to make drugs. I'm pretty sure I killed an entire species. And I still only managed to save a handful of people.

Maybe I should've done some doctoring in between all that.

So good, if you like games where you are constantly dying, always hungry, and sick. 10/10

This is the most intellectually stimulating game I have ever played.

It is gruelingly hard, it challenges you as a player and a person. It will shake you around and play with you like a chew toy time and time again until you sit back and truly start to grasp the larger picture of the narrative at play.

It took me 3 years and 4 playthroughs to finally reach one of the two main endings (on intended difficulty), and I've never felt so accomplished.
I have another 50+ hours on GoG, I bought the game twice over because I love it so much and the developers have created a true work of art.

If you enjoy a game that will challenge you at every turn, make you completely rethink the way you consume media, where the choices you make affect the lives (and deaths) of every character, then Pathologic 1 and 2 have a wretchedly wonderful journey in store for you.

almost made me cry, almost lost everything, and sometimes almost lost everyone i cared for in the game, good game, long game and restless game

This game is a work of art - I never played something quite like it. Pathologic will make you suffer, and that's all part of the fun. The story is disturbing and you'll really feel the drive to survive while clinging to that small speck of hope to save your town. I don't think this game is for everyone, but if you're looking for something different to get invested in, then definitely give it a try.

This game has, arguably, the very best plot I've ever seen - better than FNV, Planescape: Torment and Disco Elysium in my opinion. This is one of the few games that are truly artistic, instead of forced cinematic BS like Sony tends to do, for example. Overall, it's not a game for everyone; few can endure the difficulty, fewer can absorb most of the game's message.

Incredible, innovative, mind-blowing. I disagree with the other reviewers and personally find this game very fun and gratifying to play - I don't really see the point in playing a game which you don't find fun -, so give it a try for yourself!

ничем не оправдана ненависть любителей классики - мор 2 достойный ремейк с явно правильными изменениями. 100% стоит своего прохождения, в конце концов в какой ещё игре вас научат варить целебное питьё из останков убитых вами же людей?

love the ambiance, the story, the characters and the bull. I can see myself playing this dozens of times

Menkhu, you can see the Lines, can you not?
So trace it, cut the emptiness within us and sew us whole. The Kin wills it, Mother Boddho wills it, what knife afraid to be sharp?

kashk tastes real funky. way too salty and chalky, and it does NOT fill you up. this some subsistence shit. Not worth unless you're dying of hunger, which you always are, so I suppose you should suck it up.

If you like punishing game play, intricate and actively obscured lore, and making impossible choices, this is the game for you. Easier than the original while preserving the main strokes of the story; this game is a love letter to the original Pathologic. The challenge pulls you back again and again, making you determined to overcome. Never have I had so much fun bleeding, starving, running and picking flowers.