pathologic 2 is a horror-themed role-playing game from an indie russian game developer; i got very interested in it during the pandemic but dont enjoy actually playing horror games, only watching, so this play through consumed most of my days/nights.
info from wikipedia:
Pathologic 2 takes place in a small town on the steppe only referred to as the Town on the Gorkhon River, or simply "the town." The culture of the town is a fusion of 20th century technology and architecture with ancient steppe culture and traditions, which bring about customs that greatly affect the course of events in the town. Though the exact location and date are never mentioned, it is very heavily implied by character dialogue and environment clues that the game is set during the Russian Civil War.[6][7]
The world of Pathologic 2 leans heavily into the surreal, meta-commentary and symbolism, frequently making discerning what is fiction and what is "reality" difficult. The events in the town are framed as a play in the style of Bertolt Brecht's "epic theatre," where the player is an "actor" "playing the part" of the player character. The player's "reality" often comes into contact with this framing, with theater-like elements such as spotlights, "scene changes" between day and night and a disembodied stagehand-like voice appearing intermittently throughout the game. At certain points, such as during plays performed in the town's theater or after the player's death, the player encounters the mysterious and supernaturaltheater director Mark Immortell, who is often critical of the player's "acting" and frequently breaks the fourth wall, referring to the game's development, referencing the mechanics and inner workings of the game's systems and referencing events or aspects from the original Pathologic, both contextually and literally.
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thereâs a lot to be said about the detail and mechanics of this game. i didnât think games could be so referential, atmospheric, etc. before finding out this existed. i donât love that i spent time i could have used to, like, better myself watching hours of this shit but whatever - i remember it fondly.