its beautiful but sadly its boring.

i bought it on sale for 8 european schmuckaronies, and i'd give it a 5/10.

it would do better as a shorter cinematic experience IMO, but i respect that they were making something a little more gameplay heavy than ABZU. sadly the gameplay falls flat, and becomes repetitive real quick. sad! because its beautiful, and you feel a lot of love poured into it.
Sadly its just not a game i'd recommend, even if i wish i could.

I understand some of the negative reviews but I also think that if you've never played Journey or any game of Giant Squid then you may not vibe with their games. Their games require a bit of patients and imagination.

The Pathless gets an 8 out of 10 for me. The open world and discovery is only hindered by a lack of depth in terms of things to interact with, repetitive objectives and sometimes boring puzzles. However the game also shines in those same aspects which I appreciated. Dialogue is limited and much of the story is pieced together through finding spirits of the deceased and pretty much using your imagination to fill in the past and present blanks of the story. I played a game called "Jusant" a couple of years ago where storytelling is done the same way. You don't interact with any people but storytelling is done through finding notes or spirits in the case of The Pathless.

Overall, The Pathless is imaginative, calming, and at times breathtaking. Boss battles were pretty awesome too. Worth playing on a sale. They put in a lot of passion into the game so $40 for a 20 hours is reasonable if that is your thing. I won't say you may not get bored with the puzzles and the rinse and repeat objectives of each part of the world but you do get some great story telling and intense moments when trying to avoid danger.

Worth a play, for sure if you have the patience and are fans of Journey, Abzu, Sword of the Sea.

I don’t think that I have ever been this scared in a game that is not a horror game. Running around and collecting the idols that I needed to, then out of no where the beast gets closer. As hard as I try to out run it, it was often for nothing. The fear kicks in so heavily when all of the lights change and the music gets cynical. The impact that the moments of fear into the perfect timing of an arrow to finish off the boss was incredible.

I often try to avoid any kind of reviews of games until I finish the game myself, or it’s at an appropriate timing with the experience that I have had that my opinion is sound. I stumbled on a negative review that mentioned the tedious nature of the puzzles and the lackluster in the boss fights. I think that this game is a perfect culmination of what makes games truly good. Not a game that makes you want to quit because the bosses are so mean, or a game that makes you have to google the solution to every puzzle.

The Pathless provided an experience that is so specific to what Giant Squid is good at. Storytelling. The art encourages the story, the lore encourages the story, the music encourages the story; you get my point. This is truly a game to be proud of, and an experience that I will remember.

BIRD UP!

I can't run Sword of the Sea so I am playing this. Would recommend

Excellent game, love the publisher due to Sword of the Sea. Will insta-buy any game from this publisher. Wonderful work Great Squid (and Annapurna)

If you want to play a different kind of game, this is it. The Pathless has a unique art style that sets it apart from other games. It has intriguing gameplay where you shoot talismans to gain boost which make moving around the open world a blast to go zip through; on the ground, or soar high in the sky on your eagle.

The music is incredible. It's hard to describe but it fits really well with whats going on and is epic. It's extremely rare for me to actually want to listen to game soundtracks but I probably would with this game, and same with the most recent Sword of The Sea.

I also enjoyed the puzzles. Not too hard to figure out but required enough thought to be satisfying.

Now, I didn't like the flap upgrades that you get at certain periods of the game, or did I like collecting for the upgrade either. That wasn't satisfying enough to me to make me want to explore the world. I would have preferred new abilities or enhance speed with running or shoot more arrows at a time.

I also think the boss fights drag on. They're a spectacle and great, amazing actually. They just have one too many phases which hurts the pacing.

So, it has amazing visuals, gameplay, music, just be prepared to get potentially winded on the boss fights or expect good upgrades that enhances the gameplay.

TLDR: A generally short and nice game with some issues that are frustrating

Overall i wish the game would be more confident about its strength, which is the movement. Broadly speaking, anytime the game takes that away, locks your camera and forces you to do things a certain way, it sucks. As many other reviewers pointed out, this is mostly the bossfights. These are generally okay but can get annoying in the worst ways. The "Intro" of hunting them is generally great, because it very much is just playing the game. It weaves in nicely. Hell, id say the boss fights would improve if this was all the boss fight. The boss arenas are just tedious at worst and okay at best.

The other frustration point for me is the annoying minigame that starts when you get caught "in the zone" which is a moving threat zone that roams around the map. If you get caught, It starts a stealth section that isnt hard and really just wastes your time. This whole mechanic could have been cut out and the game would have been better. Especially since the zone moves and can interrupt the exploring and puzzling, which is quite nice. Its not super complex, but decent.

At times i almost wanted to stop playing because some parts were just annoying but i didnt and it was well worth it. The last beast fight and final boss are both pretty okay, if maybe a bit too long. And the final final boss is actually well done.

The art of the game is top notch. A beautiful art style, that gets even better later on. Great fitting music. Looks great on an ultrawide screen and just exploring and enjoying the scenery is lovely. Sometimes stopping to solve puzzles or check things out. It works well. And it pains me to see how good this game could have been if they would have just cut out some of the nonsense.

I think its a solid 7-8/10 that you can play through on a few evening. Its not perfect but worth a play.

Very nice, will 100% eventually

Immaculate. An eternal favourite of mine. The aesthetics, world, soundtrack, art direction, and atmosphere make it a work of art. The twin elements of avoiding the roaming bosses/storms and solving the most charming little puzzles pair beautifully with each other. Since my first play-through I've learned to sort out the level boss first THEN fully explore the level, so as to remove that constant pressure (and bring a little sunlight to that area).

There's also a lot of hidden little elements that reward whimsy and frolicking. Stepping stones that you can jump across for treats. Missing statues you can stand in place of for a second or two for more goodies. Discrete paving stones you can follow in cute little patterns for the same rewards. None of it is announced by any indicators or tell-tales, you just have to enjoy yourself and find out.

Few other fun points, things I love about this:

The eagle companion is super cute, and feels great when helping you in puzzles. You whistle and it picks things up, you whistle again and it drops them. It feels smooth, fluid, natural.

There's a secret, hidden collectable in each level that, when completed, opens the door to a lovely easter egg and interesting lore tidbit (hint: take a closer look at the giant statues where you first find the eagle)

Exploring is really incentivized by giving you not only progress towards higher jump heights but also unique abilities for each area you fully complete / solve all the puzzles in. I can't tell you how many games have messed this up by making rewards/collectables either cosmetic or irrelevant to gameplay (e.g Jedi Survivor)

The story itself is complete. Both epic and cosy, and extremely well told by stone signs and the remnant thoughts of deceased bodies.

The spirit vision thing is a great tool for making exploration much more intuitive, it even highlights where you've been via glowing paths. I'm usually not one to even try 100%ing areas in games, but this made it possible.

I could go on, but this game is an absolute masterpiece and will always be a personal GOAT for me. I can't recommend it enough.