The Path

[Aleister Black]

My first review here, of a game I played some time ago.

The Path

The first thing I have to say about The Path is this: it is strange. It is not a game for everyone. I am not even entirely sure whether it would classify as a 'game', because it lacks many things that are usually included in games, and it sometimes goes into the opposite direction.


Story

The game is based on the tale of the Little Red Riding Hood. The first thing you see when you start the game is a room with 6 girls in it of varying ages. From young to old, there is Robin, Rose, Ginger, Ruby, Carmen and Scarlet. You pick one of these girls to go bring a basket to grandmother, who lives in a house in the forest.

You start at a straight path. The game tells you not to stray from the Path. You follow it and end up at a little house deep in a forest. You walk through the house to find grandmother. The end.






Not quite, as the end screen suggests.

The entire point is to do what the game very clearly tells you not to do: to stray from the path, into the forest. And it is in this forest that the game actually begins. You are lost before you know it. As you walk around, you will see flowers to pick and objects to investigate. These objects will go into your 'basket' and every Girl has her own feelings for any of the objects, and this will show you what her character is like. Eventually, you will run into your wolf. And from there, I'm going to keep my mouth shut as far as the story goes.


Review
The visual style of this game is amazing. It almost has a Tim Burton-esque feel to it, but less comical. It feels scratchy and unreal, almost as if you're walking in a dream. Flowers blink through the trees, only leading you further into the forest. The path itself is sunlit and feels like a safe haven. The forest, on the other hand, is dark and imposing, and all colour drains away the further you go into it. When you run, the camera moves up and the screen turns black slowly, giving you a strange sense of panic.

Adding to the visual style of the game, the music is simply wonderful. It consists of various simple melodies and tunes of hardly a few seconds, but the composition and random playing of these sound bits really complement the safe feeling of the path and the dangerous atmosphere in the forest. There were times when I simply walked around in the forest, savouring the looks and sound of the game.





I admit, though, that this isn't a game for everyone. It's not even really a game. It is an experience, and not always a fun one in the sense that it can get really creepy and disturbing at times. The game never goes as far as to actually show the things it implies, but just go to grandmother's house after encountering the Wolf and you will know what I mean. It is quite different from other games in that it forces you to do what it specifically tells you not to do, which is to get lost in the forest, and encounter your wolf. It never explains the story, or why things are the way they are.

On the other hand, I do not think I have ever played a game that had me thinking for this long. I would lay awake in bed and try to figure out the hidden meaning behind things. I have never played a game that had me freaked out this much. I still recommend it to everyone because I think it is not really a game, it is more like a piece of art in the purest sense of the word: it is something that gets you thinking, like a good book, that pleases the eye, like a painting and that pleases the ear, like a song.

An experience that I am unlikely to forget in a hurry.





I rate it 8 out of 10. If you want to try it, go ahead and download the demo off Steam:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/27040/

For the full game:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/27000/

(It's very cheap, so why don't you go buy it? )

[Sephiroth]

from the screen shots it looks pretty gay xD

[Aleister Black]

The screenshots are only an impression of it. I guess that the Experience (yes, I capitalised it) just isn't for everyone, but still I say: if you want to experience something entirely new that will get you thinking, regardless of whether or not you will like it, you should at least try this game.

Just don't go in expecting action, because there isn't any outright action in this game. You won't get to defeat the wolves or fight grandmother or anything, it's about the experience, and it WILL freak you out sometimes.

[Fuyumine]

Man, I keep hearing good things about this game. I really should check it out! Good review, dude. *Nod, nod.*

[Sephiroth]

so this is like one of these scary games like F.E.A.R. But cut out the action?

[Fuyumine]

From the videos I've seen of this game, the game is much creepier as far as story and atmosphere. But then again, F.E.A.R. contained absolutely no "fear" for me at all.

[Sephiroth]

F.E.A.R was a scary game what have you been inhaling. I played it like at 2AM I was freaken out.

[Aleister Black]

It's more something that gets under your skin. It isn't outright scary or fright-inducing but it has a deeper layer that can and will freak you out at times. For each Girl, there's is a certain chain of events that will lead up to a certain moment where the combination of sound and imagery is just completely out of this world and makes you think about what the hell it is you've just seen.

It's a game that you can discuss with others, measuring your own theories about the game to theirs.

[BlackJack]

F.E.A.R was a scary game what have you been inhaling. I played it like at 2AM I was freaken out.

That's because Cthulhu IS fear! D<

[Fuyumine]

It's more something that gets under your skin. It isn't outright scary or fright-inducing but it has a deeper layer that can and will freak you out at times. For each Girl, there's is a certain chain of events that will lead up to a certain moment where the combination of sound and imagery is just completely out of this world and makes you think about what the hell it is you've just seen.

It's a game that you can discuss with others, measuring your own theories about the game to theirs.

Yeah, that's what I gathered from the videos and such. It appears that the fear factor is much more cerebral, rather than simple jump scenes. =\

That's because Cthulhu IS fear! D<

Ya darn tootin'!

[Aleister Black]

Get the game then mate, then we can compare theories!

[Fuyumine]

Most definitely! Downloading right now. Hopefully my crappy ass graphics card can handle it.

[Aleister Black]

Good to hear, good to hear. Sure it will, it's not a very demanding game when it comes to graphics and physics, it's pretty simple actually, but it works.

I'm curious what your first impressions of the game will be. It certainly won't take you long to download it though, hehe. Even with my shabby internet speed I got it within half an hour.

[Fuyumine]

Mine is taking forever, unfortunately. -_- It's still not finished. It's like... 49% done, though. Just 51% to go!

[Aleister Black]

If you're downloading it through Steam you'd better change your download region mate. If not, it's probably because it's a Belgian games developer; it's quite some distance away, so that could be why it's slower.