Games with an incredibly heavy atmosphere

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>>386538839
More than any other.

>>386538839
It's also incredibly tedious.

>>386538839
I always see this game posted in these kind of threads, but never see any discussion about it. Is this a /v/ meme game like Gothic 2?

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Pathologic is a winner, hands down.

That said, these games are also worth mentioning:
The Void
Cryostasis
Silent Hill 2
Thief
STALKER
Homeworld
Bastion
Morrowind

>>386538945
>Is this a /v/ meme game like Gothic 2?
No idea what you mean by "meme game".
Pathologic is exceptionally unfriendly, inaccessible, slow, harsh and incredibly difficult to get into and understand. Very few people around here actually have played it substantially (that is getting to the end at least once - you should theoretically finish it three times - some 70+ hours of content) and most of those people already discussed it here.
Basically, most people who really know the game around here can recognize and remember each other just by posting style, that is how small the fanbase of people who got through it is.

Plenty of people gave it a try, recognized what it's so amazing about it, but rarely ever got far enough to really discuss it. Also, just the sheer scope of it and just how hard it is to wrap your head around also disencourages a lot people from talking about it.

It's a peculiar beast. For vast majority of people, it will always be more of a videogame milestone than something they personally enjoy enough to debate it.

If that is what you call "meme game", then yeah.

>>386538926
dats what makes it so heavy duude

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Josie's on a vacation far away
Come around and talk it over

Remake when?

I tried to get into this like 3 times but the lack of Voiced dialogue and the slow pace kill it for me

>>386539285
>For vast majority of people, it will always be more of a videogame milestone than something they personally enjoy enough to debate it.
That's actually quite literally the definition of a meme game

>>386541346
>Remake when?
Officially scheduled for November this year, but knowing IPL, I would not be getting your hopes up just yet. I'm willing to bet BIG money that it's going to be either delayed some more, or released in a terrible, buggy state and will take half a year of patching to get playable.

Still, this is a game you really don't need to rush for.

>>386541434
Since the word "meme" has been driven completely meaningless, I somehow doubt it. Also, as far as I can tell, it's usually used in a derrogative sense.

>>386541346
there's an hd version

>>386538945
Its an indie walking simulator made by drunk slavs 15 years ago, are you expecting bustling generals? Pathologic threads I've been too rarely exceed 20 posters. Hopefully that would change with remake.

>want to try out Pathologic because /v/ had dozens of threads about it three years ago
>install game
>first few minutes into it
>already feel like I'm hunted and can't deal with the game emotionally
>close and uninstal

How do I get into that game?

>>386539285
You still didn't explain what this game is. All you said is "It's super deep man."

>>386541795
What the fuck do you want to know from the guy then?

It is survival horror mixed with management game with hunger, immunity, sleep and reputation systems.

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>>386541764
Save for a few jumpy moments in infected houses, Pathologic never really tries to be spooky or oppressive. It's a very comfy game, many people try their best at helping Bachelor save the city, not so much with Haruspex though, if you start the game with him you are literally hunted for a while. It's not a horror game at all, its a game about coming to love or hate this peculiar place and weird people with weird traditions that inhabit it.

>>386541332
That song used to play whenever I started my Supra.
Man it gave me such great summer vibes.
Now my Supra is dead, and it is winter.

>>386542193
>No horror.
My mang, no. Don't lie to a man.

>>386542170
Something like this. At least now I kinda know what this game is.

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>>386541795
>You still didn't explain what this game is.
You did not actually ask what it is you fucking retard. Just fucking ask normally next time.

It's an open world first person adventure with survival and rudimentary combat/stealth systems with relatively unique time-centered progression (meaning that rather than progressing by simply reaching milestones, the entire game is on a (generous) timer that only stops when you are in dialogues. It's kinda like the first Dead Rising, except much less strict.

You can "relive" the story (which takes place over the course of 12 days, each roughly 4 hours of real time) as one of three characters - while they all take place on the same time-line, each as a completely unique story with unique quests and events.
You are thrown into a medium-sized city that you can move around more or less freely, and most of the game consists of walking around, talking to characters, doing errands, trading, occasionally getting into fight, and trying not to die. The city is roughly 19th century-esque, pseudo-Russia, and the story revolves around a plague that is slowly decimating it.

The main appeal is in the story-telling: it has writing comparable to classic literature rather than your average game stuff. The main story is a bit Planescape-esque philosophy and metaphysics stuff, but it has some amazing characters and character driven side-stories, surprisingly deep choices-and-consequences, and the narrative is woven into the gameplay very cleverly.

It carries very heavy influences by authors like Kafka, Bulghakov, Bradbury or Borges. The main issue with it is that it's just really slow, as a lot of the downtime is spent literally just walking back and forth between key characters. Finally, aside from maybe the actual survival, which decently well done, the other mechanics (combat and stealth) are really crude.

It really isn't for everyone, but the atmosphere and story/telling is unlike any other game.

>>386538839
Here's 10 off the top of my head:
Exanima
Diablo (the first and only really good one)
Stalker
Metro
Silent Hill 2 (also 4)
Satellite reign
Bladerunner
Demon's souls
Bloodborne
Resident evil (remake feels more grim)

>>386541764
It gets better once you get to know the game and stop feeling so intimidated by it.
Then it gets worse. A LOT worse.

>>386542193
>Pathologic never really tries to be spooky or oppressive.
I disagree. It's by no means a horror, but my god is the atmosphere of the game heavy and bleak. Ignoring the few... unsavory moments it has, the mood of the town, as well as the personal stories of the characters, and ultimately even the core premise... it's all very sad, very depressing and very straining.

>>386542729
By the time of day 8, the game hits you with fucking steel mace across the face and waits...

The Marble Nest is fucking suggesting that the remake will be worse. Much worse.

>>386542876
Yeah, it's pretty amazing how the game can fuck you over even after some 25 hours of playing it, when you really think you've seen it all.
Marble Nest was fucking fantastic too. It gave me a lot of hope - honestly until I played it (four times, and I think I STILL haven't solved all of it) I did not have very high expectations of the remake.
But, after Marble Nest... I think this is going to be the death of me.

>>386542990
I loved how the Daniel trip out with reality shifting between the real executors and The Executor, also the Steppe Witch (I don't remember her name) and the knocking scene was hard as fuck.

I also loved how the entire district transformed after 18 hour and Daniel realising who is going to wait for him in his house that night. (I mean, as you can make him realize by using the right dialogue option)

>>386543161
There were so many cool things, to be honest. Like you hearing the voices of children tending to Daniil around The Shell.
But my absolute FAVORITE was the Crisis Committee, and how it actually felt like Daniil has a responsibility and power in the city: that he is not just an errant boy, but somebody who actually has authority.

Also, that scene towards they end when you learn that the Committee is giving conflicting orders - and then you find the whole team (of already bumbling morons) has been replaced by fucking actors just taking the piss out of everyone... Man that was awesome. That was the fucking Kafka I always loved most about the game.

In general, the dialogue seemed to be really improved, including Daniil's fucking sacrasm-o-meter.

>>386543508
The actors generally seems to have now important part in the game now, as they seems to generally talk with Daniel, not the actor/player.

The thing that I love is that creators implies that Marble Nest may be only possibly a VARIATION of fucking day during game. Imagine, fucking possible fuckery they can do with this.

Also that we still aren't sure what kind of dream is it, if it is really Daniel being ill or possibly some kind of Steppe fuckery included into acid dreaming.

>>386543947
>as they seems to generally talk with Daniel, not the actor/player.
That was actually true of the original game too. It literally stars with breaking the fourth wall when the two actors introduce you to the gameplay mechanics. And it comes back as particularly important in the ending.

As for Marble Nest, I don't think we'll get any more explanation than we already got, It was, after all, a investor/press oriented showcase. And ultimately, it really all boils down to the meta-narrative explanation - it's a game and Daniil/player is captured in eternal cycle of bullshit until they realize that acceptance of the absurdity and non-compliance with the rules is the only way to get out of it.
I think there is not that much else to expand upon.
That said, there are some other interesting subjects of speculation. My favorite is that Marble Nest, unlike the original, actually makes NUMEROUS references to real world history and events. They make jokes about Poe, they talk about Greek philosophers...

Original Pathologic very carefully avoided any reference to anything from real world history. It clearly too inspiration (like the Student Revolts being clearly inspired by 1899 strike in Czar Russia).
But it never named or reffered anything real.

Now - this might be just aesthetic change, which might come with the switch of the writers. But somehow, I suspect it's not just that. And combined with the old ARG they made back with the kickstarter...
It makes me feel like they are planning some complete "this time it actually takes place in real world" fuckery.

>>386544675
It had few subtle tips that it actually MAY be in alternative history Earth, somewhere in Russia. It is left out for player to decide, as the devs said.

I really liked that they double confirmed two things with the Powers That Be (that the children in sclupture are their metaphore, but they are MUCH more and player isn't only actor, but he is something much more.)

Generally, Powers That Be creeps me out. They are behind locking down Daniel first place where they actually ALMOST found the way to gain immortality and get knocked out by Inqusition only to get send to the Town and get in middle of the plague. That and letters he gets from the agents of Powers you can actually track down in the middle of town after you talk with Inq. lady. (They are dressed in Excecutor robes, actually)

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>most people who really know the game around here can recognize and remember each other just by posting style
>>386542601
>Kafka, Bulghakov, Bradbury and Borges
Oh, I know EXACTLY who you are.
I think you recommended me a bunch of authors and anime a while back, and I've been greatly enjoying it. So, many thanks for that !

>>386545525
Fucking hell, awesome. Every time I make these kinds of recommendations, I actually kinda dread that I've just wasted someone's time, as my tastes are hardly universal. Glad to hear that I haven't missed the mark entirely.

>>386545525
>>386545627

Also, I wanted to say that fucking Nikolai is weird bro.

>>386538839
This is one of those games where the word "cringe" is acceptable, it's genuinely disturbing.

>>386542601
Pretty sure the authors only ever cited Dostoevsky, although the game was clearly inspired by Camus' Plague

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>>386546261
>that fucking Nikolai is weird
Who, dybowski ?
If being weird is what it takes to give us games like pathologic, then by all means, let him be the weird one.
As another anon once said, "a game made by crazy people for crazy people".

>>386546261
>Also, I wanted to say that fucking Nikolai is weird bro.
As I don't have access to most of the materials about IPL (can't speak Russian, which means like 90% of all the interviews and articles about them are inaccessible to me), I can't judge much about him. He seems nice. I've heard that as a kid he nearly died of tuberculosis, and spend some time in a dirty Sanatorium full of kids who were more-or-less expected not to make it, so the adults did not supervise them (thinking they are better off just freely enjoying what time they left).
I've also heard the very idea for Pathologic came to him in a dream, which he used as a basis for a role-playing session for his friends. It was so successful that he decided to adopt it as a play, but eventually realized that it does not work without interaction and decided to make the game.
But I never got any confirmations for either.

>>386546506
Yeah, Demons were pretty vital inspiration from what I've heard. I also know that he mentioned Bradbury, and I always though the inspirations from Kafka, Borges, Beckett and Brecht were pretty self-evident.
I did wonder if Platonov's Chevengur was among their reading lists though. Recently I've came across a short story by one lesser-known south American writer from 40's/50's that was LITERALLY the story of Polyhedron too (I can't remember the name of the author, but the story was about a machine that worked precisely and exactly on the principle of Polyhedron). Might have been a coincidence, though.
After all, All authors are one author and every work is just part of one giant book collectively written.

>>386547128
Nikolai is weird, but he is really bro. I really like the guy, my friend had interview with him and another gal from ice pick, I think her name was Alexandra (she is cuttie!)

Also, he likes Thief 1 and 2. Basically called it one of hits that also inspired game a bit.

He can't be bad.

>>386547340
Other games he mentioned (back on their old, now defunct website that also used to showcase their old deep-game manifesto) were Silent Hill 2 and surprisingly enough, Fallout 2.

Damn, the thread ended up like every IPL threads. Same people who bump into each other every time, for years now...

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>>386547340
This interview ?
http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=10552

>>386547128
Can't speak russian either, but have you seen this one ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lju7ErGgE5s
There's subtitles, and Nikolay speaks about a few interesting things.
In particular, why he wrote the IPL "manifesto".

>>386547762
>but have you seen this one ?
Nope. On it now, thank you. I am actually curious about the Manifesto thing, because I don't see it mentioned anywhere anymore. Seems like they put it completely behind them.

>>386538945
>but never see any discussion about it
There were quite a few threads before and after the release of HD remaster

>>386547762
Yes, this one. I know JarlFrank, he is true bro, too.

I actually posted it in one of thread for first time and invited JF to that thread, too.

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>>386547695
>Same people who bump into each other every time
Has anyone ever seen Vladworth in recent years ?

>>386548194
Not in several years, not even on Steam, come to think of it.
God, to think of the fact that I've been there when he first announced his intention to re-translate Pathologic. Fuck me it has been a long time.

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>>386538839
Agreed.

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>>386543508
>Daniil's fucking sacrasm-o-meter
Most of his banter with random NPC's is golden.

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>>386538839
Pathologic never once absorbed me in its atmosphere
The actual game itself is so flawed I wasn't able to soak up and enjoy the atmosphere. I didn't feel the same frustration and anger Daniil would be feeling like so many here claim, it was frustration that was taking me out of the game world and making me think more about how shit the survival elements are and how infected zones are an annoying inconvenience rather than something to genuinely fear.
The characters only momentarily mention interesting concepts before they're forgotten about the next day or even after you end the conversation in some cases, the dialogue is far too sparse in a game so focused on characters and storytelling.
The splitting of the game into three paths with wildly different interactions is interesting until you actually play it. Making the decision to draw the game out so far just doesn't make the time and effort required worth it in the slightest, by the time I had uncovered the mysteries of the town I wasn't interested anymore and was more relieved I had finally forced myself through such a slog. It lacked the focus (no pun) and density I wanted and ended up feeling diluted, especially since two thirds of the game never got the same development time or attention as the first.
There's also just simply not enough going on in the world. The game implied, at least to me, that were events going on in the game world you can easily miss out on that could affect characters or offer difficult decision making and immerse the player (pic related, what I wanted), this actually just turns out to be side quests that aren't very easy to miss out on. By the end I was just going through the motions and completing objectives with little difficulty.
Pathologic really could have been sublime if it wasn't trapped in such a painfully uninteresting and mediocre game. I seriously hope the remake makes the first game redundant and offers the "true" experience that was intended from the beginning.

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This is now a Pathologic thread

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>>386548798
Can't appreciate that, sadly.

Though my personal favorite from Marble Nest was the one with the leader of the Orderly ("If you don't listen, the news will inform of your untimely death as well..." and his comments on the idea of organizing a masquerade ball in the plagued city.

>>386549156
>It's over. No reason to struggle further.
>Who'd think like that will surely die. And anyone who'd propagate such thoughts will get arrested.
>Only the blind don't see that the plague is the punishing hand of fate. It has no natural causes. Human mind can't explain the mechanics of how it spreads.
>Don't measure the limits of the human mind with your own yardstick.

>>386548963
Some of these complaints are valid. Most of them can be explained (though not necessarily excused) by lack of funding and experience for what was such an insanely ambitious project.
The most valid complaint, I'd say, is the fact that the three campaigns aren't equally fleshed out. It's also something the developers actually recognized as the biggest flaw since. Daniil's scenario is noticeable more fleshed out, while the remaining two feel like filling in the gaps in his story, while clocking at an equal lenghts of play time.

Few things I can't agree though. Even if the content is unbalanced, the benefits of dividing the story into three HUGELY outweight the problem. The tri-persona narrative and issue of perception and limited view is nearly as integral as the time-driven narrative, and combined form the reason why Pathologic is so insanely gripping to most players who give it the time.
As for the number of events - it of course is not as good as it could be. That is because in theory, there is no limit to the amount of content that could have been present through it. You are however not right that it's restricted only to sidequests though. There are other events, such as the sacrifice of the Auroch in later-mid game, that are not connected to any sidequests for Daniil - it's just an event you can come across, or miss. The reason why this content is limited is also simple: resource allocation. Limited resources, ambitious scale - it was clear that priorities had to be made. Hell, even with priorities set on core systems, they still had to cut corners on some of the main content on the other two characters.

As for interesting themes being brought up and dropped, this is something I can't agree at ALL. I don't think the game wastes any ideas. The themes are either set up to tantalize (rather than exhaust), or they are brought up again. I think it's use of subjects is really great, in fact.
(cont.)

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>>386548963
Pathologic was a rather fun-less game very much by design, as far as we know the same is planned for the remake.

>>386548963
The main complaint that you raise seem to be that it's just not worth it. And this is something I will disagree the most.
For all it's flaws, for all it's slog, for all it's rough edges, Pathologic has one advantage that very few other games have:
It actually gives you a damn reason to keep playing. Because it presents themes, characters, subjects and moments that have worth. To me, that is thousand times more valuable than ANY smooth gameplay, because fun game will be forgotten in a week, maybe a month or a year. Pathologic is a game of events, moments and interactions that I will remember for the rest of my life. It's been ten years since I played it and I still vividly remember my anger at Fat Vlad when he told me he decided to establish an infection ward in Lara's house. Or the realization of my own insignificance when the Inquisitor told me that after all the fucking work, she's letting Haruspex handle the Abattoir.

Pathologic gives you enough reasons to keep playing that all the other issues, as severe as they are, seem pretty trivial in the end. Can't think of anything more valuable ANY medium can offer in the end. I don't remember - after those years - slogging through the slow pace - but the moments of pay-off I will remember for long time. And there are moments of pay-off.

Also, the actual survival systems were pretty damn good, at least until you learned how to break the economy on second or third playthrough. In fact even today, the survival mechanics are some of the best in the industry.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect the remake to be particularly different, by the way. Hopefully the other two campaigns are going to be more balanced, hopefully the game won't struggle so badly with combat and U.I., but I think the design philosophy is remaining the same. It's a game for meaningful content, not for amusing interaction.

The scariest part of the game lies in the infected districts, and I'm not talking about the angel clouds with the not-so-subtle skull faces but rather the people who at first glance seems like a depressing concept until you realize that they're tryng to infect you.

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>>386551450
They are not trying to infect you, they just want a cuddle. You would want a hug too if you were dying.
But no, I don't think that is the scariest thing about the game. Pic related. But don't open unless you finished Bachelors campaign.

>>386551683
What the fuck was this anyways

>>386548963
I agree, for the most part, though I'll add that a lot of the gameplay issues can be fixed relatively easily. Stuff like improving the combat/accuracy of weapons is obvious, but they could also vary up the patterns of the looters in infected zones so it's more than just opening the door and fighting one right away. The silly way that the plague chases you could be swapped with something like a smaller bar and visible plague zones that prioritize tactics over tedious dodging. Hell, I'd even consider implementing an occasional autosave, since dying to something stupid like an unseen bottle to the head and having to recover a day's worth of progress is immensely frustrating.

>>386551115
>the actual survival systems were pretty damn good
In what sense? I found that it's excellent until you get a few days in and realize you're just doing the same tasks that don't add any sense of tension or fun only to see more of the story. Maybe if the barter system was more complex, it would be enjoyable.

>>386551932
Fuck if I know. I never finished the damn Clara route.
What I do know is that it's the game giving me an absolute middle finger fifteen hours in and probably making me most uncomfortable and creeped out I've ever been from a game.

>>386552007
>In what sense?
Unless you figure out how to break them, or just approach the damn game in a very meta way, they are actually pretty tight and result in very unpleasant scenario.
I remember pretty vividly the feeling of sitting on the edge of my bed counting pills and trying to figure out which combo of medicine is NOT going to kill me in my sleep. The fact that you can't fully cure the plague without sacrificing vital items (and probably throwing away most of your health), the fact that you rarely have enough money to make entirely sure that you won't go hungry (unless you are an absolute fucking asshole), the fact that there is a SENSIBLE time management to everything forcing you to plan ahead and weight things, the non-straight-forward nature of the effects of the pills... all of that is pretty damn good. Especially on your initial playthrough.

I don't think survival mechanics actually made me as engrossed in a game as they did with this one. They actually fit the rest of the gameplay - by forcing to you weight your time, weight your resources which can be utilized later down the line as part of the actual narrative. That is a good integration of the systems.

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>>386548963
While I don't feel that way myself, you bring up several valid complaints. However :
>flawed gameplay
I could argue that it's by design, but I would just make a fool of myself. The gameplay and the mechanics ARE tedious and unpolished, that's a fact. However, wether it was intentional or not, that's just a part of the Pathologic "experience" for me, and for others too, I think. Come to think of it, that really sounds like a bullshit excuse to give IPL some praise for trivial things. Oh well..

>splitting the game into three paths
There really should be more interplay between the different parts. As it is, we have three different stories that only share a setting. Which is fine, but having more interaction between the characters/paths might have been used to fill in what sometimes is just empty padding.
The sheer commitment required for a full playthrough is also why I still haven't completed Changeling.

>interesting concepts are immediately forgotten
Did you really feel that way ? While I agree that the Bound will sometimes come up with dialogue that is so vague and out of context that it almost seems nonsensical, ( "Saburov ! I need a hospital to treat the sick !" "Why the hurry ? Would you not rather discuss the nature of the soul with me ?" or something like that...) , I think that the actual important dialogue, i.e. the plot dialogue, is fairly consistent and has a a good pacing. You can't learn everything in one place, so you have to speak to several people on several days to get the full picture.

In the end, I suppose it's as you say : the best thing we all can hope for is that the remake will make the original redundant.

>>386538839
For me:
Axiom Verge
Super Metroid
Bloodborne
Silent Hill 1, 2 and 3
The original Abe's Odyssey
American McGee's Alice
Deadly Premonition
The first Resident evil (remake or original)

It's a mixture of great art direction/style mixed with dread/ horror/ mystery that draws me in.
I remember playing Super Metroid for the first time. I didn't know what Metroid was. You just come across the 4 boss statues with ominous music, with no explanation. It pushes you on to want to unlock more so you can find out what the hell those things are.

Looking forward to getting around to playing Stalker and Pathologic.

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>>386538839

>>386552482
Alice hasn't dated well, but when it came out, and I was about 13, it just felt so hopeless and opressive.
Much like Abe's Odyssey.
They paint such a picture of their world, you think as a young kid playing, you'll never be able to make a difference.

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>>386538839
Pathlogic was nice but it needed way too much dialogue to set the atmosphere

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>>386551683
>Daniil's face was literally melting off when he was near that thing

>>386550738
>>386551115
I didn't want to zip through a fun-filled survival fps, I think you misunderstood my point.
Things like barely scraping by at the end of the day, the exhausting trek back and forth across town, people fucking you over and wasting your time, people trying to kill you for no particular reason, getting fucked over at every turn etc are things that make the experience ENJOYABLE because that's what the experience is about, but superficially there is absolutely nothing interesting going on and it disconnects me from the games world.
Without the immersion these things become annoying inconveniences like I said, when they should be much more than that and should have a heavy emotional impact on the player.
Compare this to the remake which actually has the visual and sound design to back up the game mechanically.
Development limitations are an unfortunate reality but they don't excuse the problems present nor does it mean there are no possible alternatives that could have been taken.
I really didn't feel anything when the game kept throwing left hooks at me because of the game was so fundamentally flawed I couldn't emotionally invest myself in the experience.
If anything I don't think the game was unforgiving enough, if it went to an absolute extreme and completely shat on you every second of your miserable time playing the thing it may have outweighed my gripes.

>>386552773
I don't think there was too much dialogue, but as the developers themselves admited, it was a bit clunky in presentation. Relying too heavily on monologues and walls of text rather than something that would flow more naturally.

Otherwise, I liked the approach. I particularly enjoyed how the game effectively teaches you that "this is a game where weird things are talked about, but not really shown" for half a scenario, then just slaps you in the face with those few physically present, but utterly surreal moments/items.

I find the balance between leaving things to your imagination, and letting you decide what is "metaphorical or mythological language, and what is real magic" method works exceptionally well.

>>386541346
Why do you need voiced dialog? It's usually nice, but reading is always much faster anyway.

>>386552482
>>386552617
I remember my dad finding a disc (maybe a bootleg or something? have no recollection of where the hell it came from) of Alice and giving it to me unknowing of what it was when I was around 6 or 7, absolutely blew me away and scarred me for life.

>>386552085
>15 hours
Wait don't you meet the albino on like day 3?
Please dont shoot, it dindunuffin

>>386545627
You seem like smart, nihilistic man with wicked sense of humor, recommend this tard some anime to watch and writers to read?

I have a feeling one of these days I'm going to encounter someone with the raven's mask from the kickstarter and when I do I'll return home and cry for not getting such a cool mask. ;_;
Also when is the remaster going to be released is it next year?

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>>386545627
>>386553916
this. interested in the possible insight

>>386553916
Ah... If you have a bit of patience, I'll get to it. Just need to sort some things out. Also remember what was it that I used to be recommending in this threads and put it together.

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>>386553916
>>386555143
>>386555268
Not the guy himself, but allow me to give the same suggestions that I was given.

Anime/manga:
>Haibane Renmei
>Kino's Journey i.e. Kino no Tabi
>Serial Experiment Lain
>Angel's Egg
>Mushishi
>Sky crawlers

Authors:
>Franz Kafka
Starting point for kafka since most of his works are huge : Countryside Doctor or Contemplations (both are short story collections)
>Jorge Luis Borges
Starting point : Ficciones, circular ruins or secret miracle
>Bruno Schulz
>Milorad pavic
>Mikhail Bulghakov
>Andrey Platonov
>Ray Bradbury
>Kobo AbeHiroshi Mori
>Mario de Sa-Carneiro
>Haruki Murakami

STALKER
Cryptworlds

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This made me shit brix

>>386555509
Kafka's books aren't huge, and they're way better than his short stories. I'd recommend the Trial and The Castle instead

What the fuck was their problem?

>>386538839
I'm on Bachelor day 11. The game is relentlessly tedious and often frustrating. I've spent most of my time walking around plague clouds, dodging fart ghosts and rats, and hunting down children to buy bullets and drugs from. The plot varies from vague to utterly incoherent, particularly when the topic of miracles and souls comes up. It might be fitting that the mysticism is largely lost on me during my playthrough as the bachelor.

Are the other characters worth playing? Is it just more of the tedium set to a different story?

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>>386556903
fug

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>>386555509
Oh, damn.
Yep, that is the list.
You sure do remember. Though I really don't remember recommending Carniero. I don't even remember reading him.

But yeah. That is most of the list.
I think I would could add to the list:
>Italo Calvino
>Alejo Carpentier
>Yevgeny Zamyatin
>Karel Čapek
>Michail Ajvaz
>Flannery O'Connor

Though Zamyatin might be really stretching the "relevance" to Pathologic.
Also, one name that was not mentioned yet is - of course, Dostojevsky.

As for Anime, I can't add anything as I haven't watched anything but Ghost Stories over the past few years.
I had seen two great animated western movies that I can really recommend to those who like fairytales:
>Secret of Kells
>Song of the Sea
Not really related to Pathologic or other authors named, though.

I would also probably recommend a few games on this subject, two in particular:
>Kentucky Route Zero
>Cryostasis

For those interested in more theoretical approach, there is also a psychologist whose work I completely fell in love with, and who does a really interesting analysis of themes that are in many way related to the core themes of Pathologic.
His name is Jordan Peterson. He became very notorious for his recent massive upheaval due to his stance on PC culture and his war on the SJW's, but really, it's his theory on mythology and personality that I really appreciate. ALL of his lectures are on Youtube, Bible Series and the most recent Maps of Meanings curriculum are my personal favorites.

>>386556387
I really strongly disagree. His absolute best stories are things like "Worries of a Family Man", "Jackals and Arabs", "Old Manuscript" and the subtle, short but amazingly clever first works - collected as "Musings".
I like his long works too, but I think the really short stories are really where he shines most.

Anyway, I hope this helps/picks someone interest.

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>>386556998

>>386556913
Same tedium. If the game did not grip you so far, it's not going to improve with other characters. And while the mystical and symbolic elements are expanded upon, they don't make them more easy to understand either.

I'd say finish the game as Daniil, count your loses, and give it a rest. You can give the remake a try to see if it sits better with you once it's out, or maybe re-visit it sometimes in the future, but as of now, I'd definitely not advice pushing yourself to start a new playthrough.

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>>386553916
>>386555143
So yeah, it's more or less all here:
>>386555509
>>386557084
I did realize one more AMAZING manga missing from the list though. It's called
>Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou

If you want any details on any of this, to give you idea what the works are roughly like, or what individual works from which authors you might want to try, I'll be pretty happy to expand. Just remember that I'm literally mentally ill and you can't blame me for absolutely hating most of the stuff once you try it.

>>386556903
>What the fuck was their problem?
Not enough color to go around.

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Singular bump with the best girl before I let go of the thread...

>>386538839
Why do people like this game?
I'm not hating or shitposting. I bought the game and played for about 2 hours, everything was literally " Go and talk to that guy, then go and talk to this guy" for 2 whole hours.

>>386558891
First two days aren't really representative of the game, they're a kind of badly paced introduction.

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>>386558891
Well, reading the thread should probably give you an idea. >>386542601 in particular.

Maybe we are insane.
It's the narrative and the way the player interacts with it as being just another character in it, rather than being the center, ironically making you feel much more important and much more involved by NOT being about you.
It's the settings that play on some really deeply buried notes in people.
It's the themes that slowly emerge, that will be deeply fun for those who actually don't mind intellectual masturbation of semiotics, mythology and philosophy.
It's the characters that have some of the most interesting, sad, complex tales you'll find in a game.
At least, that is what drew me in.
And no doubt, all of this shit is burried pretty deep under layers of clunkiness and tedium. And it just isn't appealing to everyone. In fact I think it's only appealing to very, very small niche of people.

I was hooked pretty much from the get go. I think I realized that this game is going to be an obsession for me about the time I first saw Polyhedron emerging from the laughable view distance.

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T H I C K

>>386557576
Your tastes really aren't as far out as you think they are my man.

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>>386561049
I know, I'm intentionally exaggerating to make myself sound more special.
I think that particularly to people from Central and Eastern Europe, most of my tastes are pretty normal for a person a little more into literature and anime.
Hell, if you look at the authors, I can guarantee to you that most of them actually knew or know about most of the others and drew considerable inspiration from one another.

Plus, I've always argued there is a strange shared commonality between many of these works, and that person who discovers one of them is likely to eventually be drawn to the others.

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>>386557679
Plenty of color to go around, lazy brothers should learn how to farm.
Why were we the only one with the ability to give anyways? I doubt they only sufficed with random seed hunting.

>>386557084
>>386555509
any more russian authors? I remember some particular book catching my eye from one of these threads but I can't remember..

Well, it was a nice thread.

>>386562748
>Why were we the only one with the ability to give anyways?
Because you are the only one who came from above, and not crawled from bellow. Presumably, you are actually the only one who is alive - you can give away, and thus create. Brothers can exclusively take, or maintain status quo. It's implied that the whole world was created for you anyway.

>>386562759
Well, I'm a massive fan of Dostojevsky, Chekhov, Gorky, Bulghakov and Platonov, but that is where my expertise kinda ends.

Tolstoy, Gogol and Pushkin are all also classics, though not my personal favorites.
People fucking LOVE Nabokov too, but I never particularly loved his style either.

Solzhenitsyn on the other hand is GOD DAMN BRILLIANT. But depressing as fuck.

Recently I've read Sorokin, who is very interesting (combines themes of surreal, dystopian, cyberpunk and magical fiction with MASSIVE and fucking bitting social satire and commentary. Enough to be considered one of the greatest public enemies among contemporary Russian nationalists). His works sure as fuck have a bite and will be particularly appealing by the (good) use of traditionally genre fiction elements.
The issue is that he is just FUCKING VULGAR AND DISGUSTING AS SHIT. I know it's intentional, I know it has a good point, but that does not make me want to throw up reading Day of the Oprichnik any less.

And speaking of throwing up, "Naked Girl Pioneer" by Kononov is an... interesting read. Especially if you are of the more perverse kind. Just know that in English translation, they silently changed the age of main protagonist, from fresh 13 to 16. It's also a proud member of THE THREE BOOKS THAT MADE ME PHYSICALLY ILL.

You might want to also look into Strugatsky brothers (You know, Stalker and such...) and if you want more lighthearted fiction, I guess Lukyanenko's Watch series isn't AWFUL, though it sure as hell is genre fiction.

That is all I have for now...

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Glad the thread is still up actors.

Have some music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPFOrxXF9YM

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>>386557084
Did you write this thing I screencapped for later reference?

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>>386564673
Yes, and now I'm actually starting to feel a little bit silly.

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>>386564835
Shit, wrong picture.

>>386562759
>>386563796
Let me also add the diaries of Rufin Piotrowski.
Don't know to what extent it is similar to pathologic and/or the other authors covered so far, but it came up in one of these threads when discussing what a dreadful place Siberia is.

>>386565031
>Let me also add the diaries of Rufin Piotrowski.
Great, now I'm marking this as something to look into.
Quick glance at the synopsis made me think of another author, but now we are getting into seriously obscure territory:
Jan Weiss and his "House of Death" and "House of Thousand Floors". He is normally counted as a surreal author, and he wrote several strange, magical or surreal stories inspired by the time he spent in Soviet War camps in Syberia.

But damn, I don't even know if he was ever translated in English. Which is a shame, because he is actually really good.

Man, I really want to play this game again but I promised myself I wouldn't until I get one of my friends to play the bachelor route while I play the shaman route so we can exchange stories like that review giant bomb made.

>>386565373
Come to fucking think of it... Jan Weiss'es "House of Death" is a story set in a middle of Russian Steppes in 1920's, in an isolated town used as incarceration camp, that is been ravaged by plague or disease that seems almost supernatural, and in the end is revealed to be more of a symbolic punishment for arrogance and corruption of those who are living in the camp.

I never fucking realized this. Coincidence... or it's a complete coincidence, but damn if it isn't kinda neat.

>>386566114
It's not that long till the remake comes out...