Looking for similar recommendations

[manollette]

Slightly off topic (and off language, from the looks of it) post, but I finally snagged Pathologic 2 when it was on sale, and I fell in love with it. Two decades of gaming, and I've never found a game that I can compare it to; it's incredibly unique. I was wondering if anyone had any similar games they could recommend. I've got a good chunk of other spooky, borderline-horror games that I've enjoyed, but this one is definitely going to set me on another horror game kick.

[manollette]

Oh, probably relevant - as far as off the top of my head goes, I've played Darkwood, The Forest, Layers of Fear, Amnesia, The Evil Within (also great), outlast, penumbra, Stalker, and Soma (also also great)

[DerkestUnderd]

Pathologic 1. I found the original thanks to Hbomberguy's 2 hour video essay and thought I'd give it a go, maybe complete the Bachelor playthrough. Ended up making it one of only three games I've 100%d.

In the original you have the option of playing as Dankovsky, Burakh or Clara, and eventually their stories will all be in Pathologic 2. From playing only a couple of days of Pathologic 2 I can already tell you that so much has changed it'll be a fresh experience for you. If you're brave go in without a guide but know that the systems are much simpler. Characters are similar but have been changed subtly and even the map is a little different.

Of what I've heard so far I prefer the original's music, but it did come out in 2005, so it might not be quite as scary as you'd like. All the same I definitely recommend it, especially as cheap as it is right now

[Garamoth]

Publicado originalmente por manollette:

I've played Darkwood, The Forest, Layers of Fear, Amnesia, The Evil Within (also great), outlast, penumbra, Stalker, and Soma (also also great)

Oh geez... you kind of already have it covered. Darkwood is the most similar game that comes to mind.

You can try The Void, their previous game. It's the only thing that has the same Icepick Lodge "feel" of eloquently having your face slowly dragged through mud.

But going in other tangents, you could check out Cradle, The Cat Lady, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter or the Metro series.

[Komaru]

I was about to say Dark Souls, but it seems that you have already played those, even though I can't see them on your steam list. But have you played Demon's Souls? Demon's Souls has thicker atmosphere than Dark Souls. Also Bloodborne. Bloodborne is borderline horror when it comes to atmosphere.

If you liked Stalker, you could also try first two Metro games, since they are so similar, they could easily be from the same universe.

Also what about a videogame called Ico from the makers of Shadow of the Colossus?
Ico also has damn thick atmosphere, just like Dark Souls and Pathologic 2.

Also I know this isn't really a videogame, but you could also watch an anime series called Texhnolyze. That anime is very similar to Pathologic 2. Just replace the sickness, with some killer robots that appear at the end of the show.

[manollette]

Publicado originalmente por DerkestUnderd:

Pathologic 1. I found the original thanks to Hbomberguy's 2 hour video essay and thought I'd give it a go, maybe complete the Bachelor playthrough. Ended up making it one of only three games I've 100%d.

Dang...guess I need to give it another go. I actually snagged the first one a couple years ago, tried it, and couldn't get into it. Being familiar with this one might change that now; I'm not averted to older games

[manollette]

Publicado originalmente por Garamoth:

But going in other tangents, you could check out Cradle, The Cat Lady, The Vanishing of Ethan Carter or the Metro series.

Definitely need to give Metro Exodus a go; played the others and loved them as well. Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Cat Lady are both in my library now; couldn't get into the latter, but it keeps getting recommended so I'll have to give it a try. Thanks!

[Garamoth]

Now that I think about it, This War of Mine is a similar game: survive a dangerous situation for X days by scavenging, trading, etc. I don't like that game too much, though. It's not nearly as imaginative, for one.

[manollette]

Publicado originalmente por Garamoth:

Now that I think about it, This War of Mine is a similar game: survive a dangerous situation for X days by scavenging, trading, etc. I don't like that game too much, though. It's not nearly as imaginative, for one.

Man, lots of games I spaced on mentioning. Have played that one to death, and actually have the board game for it on my shelf as well. Definitely a better board game than video, though I love both.

[StrayDogFreedom]

It's not similar in gameplay but I'd say Sunless Sea has a similar soul

[superjunk]

I agree about Sunless Sea

[Begemot]

Call of Cthulhu and to a less degree Darkest Dungeon.

[manollette]

Lol what I'm getting out of this is that I've tried all of the similar games, and that there's nothing left for me to live for. Think Call of Cthulhu is the only one here I haven't tried (think I ignored it based on the general consensus that it's a sub-par walking simulator, but I've got it on my wishlist now).

[Garamoth]

Don't despair!

How about Baroque? Maybe even the PS1 version if you know Japanese.

[manollette]

Haha I'm unfortunately limited to PC options these days. I take it from the aesthetic I'm seeing on the Steam results combined with what the original looked like, there's no PC port?

[StrayDogFreedom]

I'd look into the YouTube game reviewer "Grim Bear", he often plays indie games that seem similar in tone or attitude as Pathologic 2