Once broken through the use of your bow, causes the Hunter to fill up a stamina meter and sprint faster. Immediately, you’ll find yourself privy to an unfathomable number of floating gem’s littered about each area in the game. And, I’m not afraid to admit, that a few of them even stumped me for a while, which only made the eventual “Ah-ha!” moment, that much more rewarding.Īt the center of the experience, what manages to tie together all of the game’s moving parts to create an adventure worth exploring every corner, is the movement system. While, some of the puzzles are certainly more memorable than others and some would disregard them for their simplicity, I personally found them a worthy pallet cleanser. By obtaining the latter, the Hunter can power up several of the towering totem’s found on each of the plateaus to progress the story. However, it is through these puzzles that the Hunter acquires lanterns and more importantly, lightstones. This freedom of exploration, is further accentuated through the absence of a mini map and thankfully, that curiosity is not only encouraged, but satiated, thoroughly.Īs you dash through plains of green and mountain tundra’s, you’ll often stumble upon a wide array of environmental puzzles, discovered by a second vision that highlights points of interest in red. The aforementioned vastness, encourages those who allow themselves to be whisked away by their own curiosity and inane urge to explore, to truly prosper here.

However, the sheer scale and vastness of the island, isn’t just meant for show. The seamlessness of the open world and how organically each section manages to flow into each other, remains one of the game’s most crucial components. With your always reliable bow and trusty eagle at your side, it’s up to you to restore the land and its deities, to their original, unaltered form. A canvas of darkness has washed across the entirety of the land, a darkness that has infected the benevolent deities, which have morphed and twisted into unrecognizable, shadows of their former selves. It’s made apparent as soon as you step foot on the island, the almost irreparable damage that the Godslayer has brought upon this land. An island that has seen its fair share of hunters fail and perish in their attempt to revert the island to its natural state. In essence, The Pathless sees you taking the reins of a nameless hunter traveling with the hope to cleanse an island plunged in darkness. The sprawling world within this compact adventure see’s you traversing a wide array of geography ranging from ice capped mountains, to open pastures, long forgotten ruins and densely packed forests. Once you step off your boat, The Pathless sets you loose within an island devoid of restraint yet, brim with possibility. Now, having made it to the other side of such a hectic launch, I can say with certainty, The Pathless, is not only one of the PlayStation 5’s de facto titles, but also manages to fit snuggly into one of my favorites from 2020. I recall seeing footage here and there, most notably during a State of Play and being wowed by the art style, puzzle solving and sense of freedom and fluidity of movement that the character possessed within the open world.Īll of these individual components coalesced together to form something I wanted to experience on the launch day of my shiny, new PlayStation 5. Having never played Giant Squid’s debut game, Abzu, (blasphemy, I know) I wasn’t completely sure of what to expect coming into The Pathless.

The pathless cernos