The Pathless (PS5)

Having played Giant Squid’s first game, Abzû, the announcement of their follow-up game The Pathless instantly grabbed my attention, as they had proven themselves to me that they could retain the spirit of thatgamecompany’s output. As for playing the game, I opted for a physical edition of the PS5 version through iam8bit as a way to get some early mileage out of the system. While I did find it an overall worthy successor to Abzû, it did feel a little repetitive at times.

An island of gods has been cursed by the actions of a being known as the Godslayer. Many have ventured to the island to stop the Godslayer, however none have returned. Now one final hunter makes the journey.

While the main plot isn’t that deep, it’s still very compelling thanks to its stakes and the Godslayer himself having an evident presence in the storyline even without appearing physically. Much of the story is told visually, though delivered through on-screen text and subtitles, since the spoken dialogue is otherwise a non-specific language. The narrative and its characters are also expanded upon further through the use of hidden steles and other lore markers, creating an interesting world to explore. This is backed by amazing visuals reminiscent of Abzû as well as environmental storytelling, with the world designed in such a way that it subtly points you in the right direction and gives you a good idea of what it was like before the Godslayer appeared.

The main gameplay involves solving puzzles throughout the game world to obtain Lightstones to light up obelisks and purify four gods who were corrupted by the Godslayer. Though the game world is large, traversing it is made easy. Aside from a generous jump height, your weapon of choice is a bow and arrow that can be used to fire at auto-locked targets, some of which are floating Talismans that fill up a Spirit Meter for sprinting. These Talismans also provide a small speed boost when fired at while sprinting and are also spaced out in just the right way to be combo’d off while sprinting. Early on you also obtain a mask that, when toggled with either Triangle or L1, allows you to see hidden areas and other points of interest at the cost of your movement speed.

The stylized visuals are stunning.

Early on you also gain an eagle companion that can aid in solving puzzles and provide additional traversal by helping you glide, which can be extended by collecting crystals in the game world to level it up and unlock additional flaps in the air. You can also pet the eagle at any time, though this mechanic also purifies it after going through certain areas or storms. Interestingly, in addition to realistic animations, the eagle provides additional depth to the story and gameplay in that it fears the Godslayer’s image when its eyes are glowing, and so while in certain areas cannot do anything until after you disable said glowing eyes.

The puzzles themselves are generally not too difficult to figure out, though can often involve exploring the immediate area to figure out the right solution since some require manipulating a lot of moving parts in just the right way to make it work. A couple that I came across turned out to be a bit more of a brain teaser for me, however I was able to find ones that were easier to solve since I didn't need to obtain all of the Lightstones to advance the story.

While there aren’t any regular enemies in the game, there are boss encounters in the form of the corrupted gods, which brings to mind Shadow of the Colossus. Bosses appear early on ominously in the form of storms that move about their section of the world. Getting caught up in one activates an encounter where you must save the eagle while avoiding the boss’s gaze. Failure does not result in a death screen, rather you will lose some of your crystals and have to grab them before they disappear. The actual boss fight is activated when you collect enough Lightstones to activate the appropriate obelisks, though each of them, save for the Godslayer, follows a similar pattern of having to chase after the boss to fire at them and them face them in an arena. Much like the storm sections, there is no true failure state, even against the Godslayer, however you can be hit hard enough to get knocked out of the arena if you aren’t careful and getting back in restarts the last phase of the encounter.

Though you only need to obtain a certain number of Lightstones in the game to advance, there are benefits to completing additional puzzles in each area. Purifying a boss unlocks a stele that can be filled with additional Lighstones, collecting all of which gives you a gift. In turn, getting the gifts from all four gods unlocks an extended ending sequence. Though I didn't obtain all of the Lightstones on my playthrough, it is something I considered going back to at a later time.

Despite some repetitive gameplay, The Pathless is still an enjoyable and accessible game with an engaging story. That said, the emphasis on puzzle-solving and story isn’t for everyone, though fans of games such as Abzû will definitely find something to like here.