The Pathless Reviews
The Pathless is fun for a bit, but I didn’t find any of the detail or smoothness our reviewer loved about the PS5 version. I would recommend avoiding the Switch version over any of the other ones. It’s a game best played docked anyways. If you’re at all curious, you might enjoy The Pathless, but its presentation is far from breathtaking on the Switch.
Ultimately The Pathless is a very good game, with exceptional art direction and an interesting (if a bit shallow) story. I loved the interactions between The Hunter and her eagle, and found the boss battles to be a high point. The game’s six hour runtime helps to keep the somewhat repetitive gameplay loop from becoming tedious, but it also means it’s more difficult to justify the game’s $40 price tag. I believe that with some expanded lore and a lot more variety in the puzzles on display, Giant Squid could have easily stretched the game out to 10-15 hours. Still, The Pathless is undeniably a great game and a worthy (and unique) addition to the PS5 launch lineup.
The Pathless suffers from several things: repetitive puzzles, lack of depth in terms of abilities, complete absence of mini-map and fast-travel, some boring sections, and rather short length. But at the same time this game has a rather unique charm to it, which is a good enough reason to actually return to it again and again.
Review in Russian | Read full review
The Pathless is an incredible experience, and easily one of the best launch titles available on the PS5 in what is already an excellent selection. A wondrous, beautiful open world with innumerable locations and secrets to uncover is placed alongside a moving narrative further heightened by an unexpectedly tender relationship between player and bird. And that's to say nothing of the game's exquisite use of colour, or the beautiful and wickedly unique soundtrack. The Pathless excels on all fronts.
The Pathless is a lovely game that just begs to be explored. The serenity it can provide and the satisfying feeling of locating rewards make it an experience that can be easily recommended.
The Pathless makes a fantastic first impression, with its arresting visuals, fun mechanics, and fascinating dark world. The game's middle section does start to drift a bit, but it sticks the landing with a great final level and an electrifying and emotionally-satisfying climax. Like The Pathless' feathery co-star, Giant Squid has raised their game to lofty new heights.
In a world of icon-strewn maps and point to point gameplay, The Pathless encourages discovery through environmental clues and great design, setting you free of modern game shackles. It's beautiful, touching and the fast-paced gameplay is brilliant. There is nothing like The Pathless on the market at the minute and I think most people will find something about it to love. I certainly did
The Pathless is a remarkably well-designed game, guiding the player forward with intuitive design while providing plenty of opportunity to experiment and play. With a great locomotion system and an amazing soundtrack, The Pathless will easily see players losing hours while under its hypnotic spell. Fun and rewarding puzzles, a nice story line, and plenty to see and do make The Pathless a great game, regardless of which system you play it on.
The Pathless is a great game. It’s beyond stunning, with a remarkable soundtrack and phenomenal sense of place. Refined traversal mechanics do a lot of the heavy lifting, while puzzles and boss battles could use an extra dose of variety. Though the formula gets tired by the end of the tale, The Pathless proudly stands among giants of the genre like Journey.
The Pathless does one thing extremely well, which is to create a sense of racing – almost dancing – through its huge open world. The player's journey is mainly one of getting to know that sensation and learning to harness it to traverse epic environments. However, the protagonist's journey has little to do with that feeling, which is perhaps why the story doesn't land. The game sounds exceptional and looks great in this impressive port. However, the puzzles rarely stimulate the imagination and are fussy to play, while boss encounters are overlong and repetitive. Although it has its significant successes, The Pathless unfortunately doesn't manage to become more than the sum of its parts.
The Pathless is as majestic as it is haunting. It's ruminative and captivating. Above all, it's one of the most incredible meditative adventures ever created.
The Pathless ultimately buries anything it might have to say in a stupefying level of cliché.
Somewhere between Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Shadow of the Colossus and Journey, The Pathless is a beautiful and very pleasant experience, that feels very clever, smooth and relaxing. If you feel the need to travel somewhere else in this complicated time, just give a chance to this game.
Review in French | Read full review
It's the absence of stand-out creature encounters that weighs heavy on The Pathless as a whole. And there's a redundancy to said moments that never rears its head when freely exploring and solving puzzles. Undoubtedly, the exploration and puzzle-solving represent The Pathless at its best. Giant Squid's latest manages to perfectly capture the calm before the storm, along with the post-battle respite that few games master in equal measure. In that case, it would seem the disappointing creature confrontations do serve a greater purpose to some degree.
Whether in a boss fight or out in the wild, one area where The Pathless does deliver consistently is in its score. The music by Journey composer Austin Wintory is somewhat sparse, but never fails to ramp up the game’s feeling of danger and adventure whenever it swells up. The Pathless may have a bit of an identity crisis, with its disconnected segments never really combining to their full potential, but its impressive presentation and exhilarating speed make it worth a try nonetheless.
The Pathless is a beautiful and epic adventure from the people behind Abzu. A must have for every indie lover.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
The Pathless is an excellent game for the camper in me that wants to spend some time exploring outside.
The Pathless is still a fun game after all these years. It is driven by a deep story and simple gameplay mechanics. While I would have loved to see a bit more life in the world, the gameplay is still very much engaging and endearing.
The Pathless’ story and movement mechanics are where it truly shines. Exploring the landscape at superhuman speed feels like absolute magic and makes the game’s large surface easy to explore. Full of colour, beautiful landscapes, and mysterious gods and puzzles, The Pathless is sure to keep you engaged from beginning to end.