The world has been plunged into darkness – but enough about 2020, what’s the game about? Easy jokes aside, here you play as the last Hunter. On a quest to restore light to the world, she travels to the source of the all-enshrouding darkness, a cursed isle that none return from, where the worlds of man and spirit intersect. There she must shoot and dash across the realm in search of spirits known as the Tall Ones, with the aim of purging their corruption.
A particular refrain haunts the early areas of the cursed isle and sends me down a memory rabbit hole. The twanging strings echoing through The Pathless’ ruins cast my mind back to Ico and its memorable theme, Castle In The Mist. As I venture into the domain of the first cursed spirit, my thoughts continue to wander: “It’s definitely not a guitar, or a mandolin – but what could it be?” But that’s not all that’s reminiscent of PS2’s own 2002 attempt at myth-making.
The Hunter’s marks aren’t easily cornered. For one thing, each cursed spirit is invincible when you first encounter it, shrouding itself in a raging storm. You need to scour their realm for lightstones and then restore these to the three obelisks dotted around their domain for even a shot at them. Early on, the environmental puzzling required for each lightstone relights parts of my mind palace rarely illuminated since Fumito Ueda’s 2002 fairy tale. Couple that puzzling with characters communicating in a devised language, a puzzle-solving companion you develop a measure of care for, and focussed ‘game design by subtraction,’ and Ico’s influence is clear.
Denne historien er fra January 2021-utgaven av Official PlayStation Magazine - UK Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra January 2021-utgaven av Official PlayStation Magazine - UK Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Batman: Arkham Asylum
15 years!? Holy depressing passing of time, Batman!
The Elder Scrolls Online: Gold Road
Keeping us engaged with the carat-and-stick approach
Alan Wake 2: Night Springs
Keepin' it weird
GRAND THEFT AUTO VI
The ruler of the crime sandbox returns
WARHAMMER 40,000: SPACE MARINE 2
Up to your pauldrons in science-fiction action
DELTA FORCE: HAWK OPS
Teaching an old hawk new tricks
Welcome to the Roughnecks
Blasting bugs and shooting the breeze with Starship Troopers game lead Peter Maurice and star Casper Van Dien
LEGO HORIZON ADVENTURES
Bricks and stones may break robo dino bones
ASSASSIN'S CREED SHADOWS
Presenting protagonist double trouble
Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
A delightfully devilish refresh