Murders, slaughter, looting, a plague that decimates the entire town, corpses, mass graves, war, deception, dead babies, hangings—this is all present in Pathologic 2, and even more horrifying stuff!

The rules of this world are brutal and complex, punishing the player for even the slightest moment of negligence. Money, inflation, thirst and the search for food will be a constant problem. Should you break into a house and steal a piece of bread, risking the life of a household member or your own? Should you trade your so important tools with children for a boiled egg, just so you could survive for little while? Planning your route to avoid bandits and infected areas of the town will add pressure to save as many people from the plague as possible, with time running out. If hunger overwhelms you, or you get killed by a bandit or plague, the game punishes you for your death, complicating the rest of your playthrough without the option to reload without consequences (the penalty remains for all previous saves) or taking something unessential for your progress, but important for you (like the ability to hug someone).

Chance to lose the ability to hug someone, and a feeling of dread after learning that you can't do that anymore, is the power of Pathologic 2, because it makes you care for its characters.

Beneath all this nightmare, lies an innocence and warmth that can only exist in a child's mind, or some kind of children's game. A polyhedron defying gravity, inhabited solely by children; a mountain-sized bull named Bos Turokh; Characters that look like villains but are actually gentle and good; worm-people; time travel, prophet rats, ghosts...

This conflict between the rational and irrational horror, and the world of childhood, warmth, and the possibility of change and growth, makes the world of Pathologic 2 so convincing and real! Its brutality in gameplay is justified by the tenderness it shows towards its characters. As a haruspax, a surgeon, you, the player, genuinely want to save these people from the plague. You want to save them all. At first, you don't even know why, because the game draws you into its magic so quickly. It compels you to believe in it.

No matter how hard you fight, or what choice you make when it comes to that (and in the end, a tough choice awaits you), you can’t save everyone. And the game teaches you that. And it hurts.

Murders, slaughter, looting, a plague that decimates the entire town, corpses, mass graves, war, deception, dead babies, hangings—this is all present in Pathologic 2, and even more horrifying stuff! The rules of this world are brutal and complex, punishing the player for even the slightest moment of negligence. Money, inflation, thirst and the search for food will be a constant problem. Should you break into a house and steal a piece of bread, risking the life of a household member or your own? Should you trade your so important tools with children for a boiled egg, just so you could survive for little while? Planning your route to avoid bandits and infected areas of the town will add pressure to save as many people from the plague as possible, with time running out. If hunger overwhelms you, or you get killed by a bandit or plague, the game punishes you for your death, complicating the rest of your playthrough without the option to reload without consequences (the penalty remains for all previous saves) or taking something unessential for your progress, but important for you (like the ability to hug someone). Chance to lose the ability to hug someone, and a feeling of dread after learning that you can't do that anymore, is the power of Pathologic 2, because it makes you care for its characters. Beneath all this nightmare, lies an innocence and warmth that can only exist in a child's mind, or some kind of children's game. A polyhedron defying gravity, inhabited solely by children; a mountain-sized bull named Bos Turokh; Characters that look like villains but are actually gentle and good; worm-people; time travel, prophet rats, ghosts... This conflict between the rational and irrational horror, and the world of childhood, warmth, and the possibility of change and growth, makes the world of Pathologic 2 so convincing and real! Its brutality in gameplay is justified by the tenderness it shows towards its characters. As a haruspax, a surgeon, you, the player, genuinely want to save these people from the plague. You want to save them all. At first, you don't even know why, because the game draws you into its magic so quickly. It compels you to believe in it. No matter how hard you fight, or what choice you make when it comes to that (and in the end, a tough choice awaits you), you can’t save everyone. And the game teaches you that. And it hurts.