Pathologic: Difference between revisions
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{{tropelist}}
* [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]]: The game notably averts most of these. Many of the gameplay mechanics are surprisingly realistic: the [[In-Universe Game Clock]] is a [[Timed Mission|major constriction]] and is constantly ticking, enemies take few hits to kill but ammunition is scarce, using weapons or wearing clothes decreases their (very limited) durability, being [[Stupid Evil]] and reducing your [[Karma Meter]] will get you killed, etc. This may be one of the many reasons why the game is [[Nintendo Hard|maddeningly difficult]] and no part of it is described as "fun", even by fans.
* [[Adam Smith Hates Your Guts]]: Justified by the epidemic and supplies not coming into the isolated town anymore. Fortunately, the value of your items and the quest rewards scale as well. Also inverted on occasion, where prices will sometimes ''decrease'' on the next day. Increases are far more common though.
** [[Karl Marx Hates Your Guts]]: All shopkeepers except Gryph and the barkeep for Stamatin's pub have the exact same prices for their wares, and ''your'' items will always sell for half the price it takes to buy them.
* [[Alien Geometries]]: The bizarre Polyhedron at the edge of the city.
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* [[Anti-Hero]]: Most characters, including the playable ones. Particularly the Haruspex though, who even starts out with [[Hero with Bad Publicity|critically low Reputation]].
* [[Anyone Can Die]]: In this case, Anyone Could Die based on your actions.
** Though, more specifically, only the characters who would "give their life to you" will "die because of you". Each player character has a set of named NPCs that are important in their tale, and who will live or die based on what the player does.
* [[Back Stab]]: Doing this with any melee weapon (any ''actual'' weapon, that is, not your fists) will result in a [[One-Hit Kill]]. Just hitting the person's back isn't good enough though: you need to hit a ''very'' tiny area located around the base of the neck.
* [[Badass Longcoat]]: Dankovski. Also, damn near everybody who wears a longcoat.
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* [[Cosmic Horror Story]]: Of a rather unusual kind, but it still shows.
* [[Cosmic Plaything]]: [[Fridge Horror|Everyone]], including the player character.
* [[Creepy Child]]: Laska. Ospina too.
* [[Critical Existence Failure]]: Limping around and heavily bleeding from innumerable bruises and cuts? No problem: you'll still be able to walk, aim and fight exactly as well as when you're at 100% health. This wouldn't normally be that notable if it wasn't for the game's otherwise [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality|strict adherence]] [[Averted Trope|to realism]].
** Somewhat averted with the exhaustion and hunger meters: though you won't feel any adverse effects from them until they reach 100%, once they do, your health will begin to drop instead.
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* [[Firing One-Handed]]: Every weapon except the rifle. Yes, even the [[Sawed-Off Shotgun]].
* [[Fragile Speedster]]: The marauder enemies. They're extremely agile and skilled in melee combat (traits bolstered by the fact that you fight them in small, cramped rooms), but can be killed with a single rifle shot anywhere on their body.
* [[Freudian Trio]]: The three lead characters qualify despite the fact that they don't work as a team at all.
** [[The Spock]]: The Bachelor.
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* [[Guide Dang It]]: A lot of sections, especially the effects of items: only a few actually have helpful descriptions, and there's little way to tell which foods are most efficient (bread and smoked meat, by the way). Fortunately, there ''is'' an [https://web.archive.org/web/20130903170718/http://www.pathologic-game.com/path_walkthrough_eng.pdf official guide] that is very helpful.
** There is a specific example that the walkthrough doesn't help with due to a wonky translation: in Day 7 of the Bachelor's scenario, there's a sidequest that involves {{spoiler|collecting the mask and overall of an Executioner}}. However, there's a very narrow window of time for it to actually trigger: you need to talk to Mark Immortal after performing the penultimate step of the day quest, but before actually completing it. Semi-justified, since the sidequest relates to the day quest, but it's still bothersome that the game doesn't tell you this anywhere.
* [[Harmful Healing]]: The childrens' powder is one of the very few ways to {{spoiler|reduce your infection level}}, but it takes ''a lot'' of health (around 90%). Considering what it's made of, it's a miracle it can even heal.
** There's "harmful buffing" as well, of sorts: many medicines that boost your immunity have an adverse effect on your health and exhaustion as well, though not nearly to the extent of the powder.
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* [[Healing Factor]]: Taking painkillers will cause you to regenerate health over time. It's very slow though, don't rely on it. They're best used right before sleeping, especially since [[Harmful Healing|they shoot your exhaustion through the roof as well]].
* [[Healing Hands]]: The [[Squishy Wizard|Devotress']] hands, apparently. Also a subversion, since she can [[Little Miss Badass|incapacitate or even kill]] with them via her [[Psychic Powers]].
* [[Heal Thyself]]: You'll be doing that a lot. The only means of restoring your health though (the actual health, not the infection level) are rest and ''bandages''. That's right, you can even remove the symptoms with a couple of bandages. Perhaps it's not about healing the injury as it is about keeping your body functioning by any means.
* [[Hero with Bad Publicity]]: Unlike Daniel and Klara, Artemiy starts the game wounded, weaponless and with a very low reputation (due to the accusation of being his father's killer). The first challenge in playing his character is basically restoring his reputation to a bearable amount while not getting killed by the [[City Guards]], who will hunt him down at first sight.
* [[Hobbes Was Right]]: The overall decay of both the city and human society within is [[Psychological Horror|downright disturbing]]. ''[[Playing with a Trope|But]]''... the more you explore and learn of the city's mysteries, it's hinted at that:
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* [[Not That Kind of Doctor]]: A rather bizarre variation, in that the Bachelor is referred to as a doctor despite the fact that he's... well, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|a Bachelor Of Medicine]]...
* [[Obvious Beta]]/[[Needs More Love]]: Definitely. The game's innovative and well-written story and atmosphere are often marred by the rather clunky and buggy engine. There are quite a few annoying bugs that can mess up the gameplay or disrupt its otherwise highly immersive atmosphere. And the wobbly and seemingly rushed English translation and dub needlessly add to the already existing issues...
** The HD remake was released in 2015, with correct (well, more correct than before; "Simon is a sorcerer?" is still there) English translation and improved graphics.
* [[Ominous Latin Chanting]]: The main menu theme. The rest of the game features examples of ''[[It Makes Sense in Context|Ominous Steppe Nomad Chanting]]'', interspersed with haunting, predominantly [[One-Woman Wail|female vocals]]. They greatly add to the already gloomy atmosphere of the game.
* [[One-Hit Kill]]: [[Back Stab]]s and [[Boom! Headshot!|headshots]] will result in these.
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* [[The Plague]]: A visible cloud of disease that will actively chase you. ''[[It Got Worse|Or a cloud of disease that sometimes appears as a red angel]]''.
* [[Wizard Needs Food Badly|Player Needs Food Badly]]: You need to eat and even ''sleep'' regularly, since you can die not only from infection or low health, [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything|but from hunger and exhaustion as well]]. And if you're wondering how a person can die from starvation within only a couple days, the Tragedician who explains the game's rules at the beginning basically says [[Hand Wave|"that's just how things are around here."]]
** It's also explained that a local herb called twyre is in heavy bloom during the events of the game, emitting stupefying vapours that cause vital processes to progress faster. It's also part of the reason other characters keep complaining about headaches.
* {{spoiler|[[Powered by a Forsaken Child]]}}: {{spoiler|All of the healers' methods}}.
** Somewhat related, {{spoiler|the Polyhedron is kept up because of a base that goes deep into the earth. This "wound" getting infected is what causes the disease in the first place}}.
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** Here's a quote from [http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/04/11/butchering-pathologic-part-2-the-mind/ a review] that explains this:
{{quote|"In a single word, Pathologic is dark. And not 'we're going to make our sequel a darker, more adult experience' dark. Not 'teen angst' dark. Pathologic is an endlessly bleak game with an atmosphere that smothers all hope. It's 'pensioner breaking a leg in his bedsit and no one finding out until the smell starts to get unbearable' dark."}}
* [[Snark Knight]]: Artemy and Daniil can both snark about the trouble involved in saving the town, depending on which options you pick in their [[Dialogue Tree]]s. Artemy is especially cranky.
* [[Sniper Pistol]]: Averted. Every weapon has an accuracy value (a random variance of how far the bullet actually hits from the crosshairs), and the revolver has the worst accuracy. If you want to snipe, you need to use the rifle, but even that's pretty unreliable at low durability (it's also ''not'' a [[Sniper Rifle]] (i.e. no scope), so aiming over long distances with it can still be difficult).
* [[Spell My Name with an "S"]]: Aglaja/Aglaya/Aglaia. Daniel/Daniil too.
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** [[Knife Nut]]: There are two kinds, both of which have [[Breakable Weapons|limited durability]], undermining their use as [[Emergency Weapon]]s. They can cause a [[One-Hit Kill]] if you use them to attack an ''absurdly tiny'' hitbox located around [[Back Stab|the back of the neck]], but due to the fact that people shift from side to side when walking, as well as the rather long delay when attacking, it's very hard to actually pull it off.
** [[Handgun]]: The derringer is roughly equivalent to the pistol in most shooters, but you can forget about ammo being plentiful.
** [[Sniper Rifle]]: The rifle is hard to classify, actually: while it is the most accurate weapon, it doesn't have a scope, so it's not a [[Sniper Rifle]]. It's not a Marksman Gun either, since it can only hold one bullet at a time.
** [[Sawed-Off Shotgun]]: You only get it halfway through the game, though it is quite effective at killing large mobs.
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[[Category:Survival Horror]]
[[Category:Miscellaneous Games]]
[[Category:Microsoft Windows]]
[[Category:Pathologic]]
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