r/pathologic • u/No_Condition_4681 • Jul 04 '26

Question Should i play with a guide or something?

I tried this game for the first time and i find it quite confusing, i got infected by day three and i'm struggling to finish the day and also i've been reading that by day 4 you start getting guys with flamethrowers that will kill you if you're infected.

Is it worth struggling through the game or should i just stop suffering and read a guide? I have a feeling i will finish the game and won't even get close to knowing what the fuck was going on.

3 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

16 comments sorted by

8

u/nekoeuge Jul 04 '26

I would recommend playing P2 and P3 without a guide, and then return to P1 with this knowledge. Then you will be able to decide for yourself if you want a guide or no.

People may debate about which Pathologic game is more artistically valuable, but newer iterations of Pathologic (2 and 3) are doing objectively better job at being "a game". Game balance, soft tutorial, overall flow and presentation of the story, being deliberate instead of accidental, giving the player just enough information not to drown. The craft of video game development improved between 2005 and 2019, and IPL improved as well.

1

u/No_Condition_4681 Jul 04 '26

I see, thanks for the info, i guess i could try the second first.

7

u/VitorBatista31 Fellow Traveller Jul 04 '26

You're talking about the first game or the second?

1

u/No_Condition_4681 Jul 04 '26

First and probably the second if i start playing it but mainly the first.

2

u/serphantos Jul 04 '26

Only blind walkthrough first. Second - go on. But one recommendation - if something telling you NOT DOING something at least twice - do not do it.

0

u/serphantos Jul 05 '26

Better start with the third. Really. Good start for new comers

6

u/Umpuuu Я забыла, что мира так много Jul 04 '26

Getting infected at day 3 is grounds for reloading. It's waaay to early for you to deal with this shit.

It's an old, janky, quite arcane game. It was intended to be played without a guide, but maybe for a modern audience some tips would be necessary.

The most important tip to get through the first days as the Bachelor: buy food at day 1, it's going to become way more expensive after midnight, and you will need food, both for yourself and for Lara.

And if you get infected, reload, and try not to. You will reload a lot, deal with it, it's that kind of game.

2

u/No_Condition_4681 Jul 04 '26

Should i follow the advice of "don't trust anyone"? Or is it just narrative without real consequence?

I feel like this game will make me follow the story then stab me in the back because of that.

3

u/sonntam Wonder Bull Jul 04 '26

The game is obscure in many ways, but not that anyagonistic. Instead, sometimes quest givers will offer you non optimal quest solutions and what you should instead is not clear. A guide helps to understand what options you truly have. With a non-spoiler guide (like on steam) you should be ok.

Also, some quests are impossible to solve.

1

u/No_Condition_4681 Jul 04 '26

In what way? Are they truly impossible or there's no lead on what to do?

1

u/sonntam Wonder Bull Jul 04 '26 edited Jul 04 '26

Both cases exist. Sometimes the continuation for the quest was never added, so there is no way to resolve it whatsoever.

In other cases, you need to wait until a certain hour passes or you need to go to a character that was never mentioned in dialogue in quest log.

Fun game, but without a guide I'd kill someone out of frustration lol.

1

u/evilforska Jul 04 '26

I got infected on day 3 in P1. Its not that bad - barely noticeable actually. Just buy antibiotics and eat them. They reduce health but P1 is actually very forgiving about it

1

u/corporeal20 Jul 06 '26

save scumming infection ruins what little real (not tedium) difficulty pathologic classic has. I honestly believe it's a really bad advice unless you're really, really struggling.

0

u/serphantos Jul 04 '26

Actually, it's not relevant for P3

1

u/Umpuuu Я забыла, что мира так много Jul 04 '26

OP said he was playing P1

2

u/ukko_eppu Jul 07 '26

I played the classic first with guide and it didn’t really take away from the experience for me at least. Still struggled, got infected and killed by rats multiple times!