Austin Wintory’s rather subdued soundtrack accompanies the visuals to create a fairy-tale world which is both serene and menacing.

It is truly a visual spectacle to traverse the game’s different plateaus and to notice how the trees shake, the rivers whirl and the snow crunches as you pass them by. The game boasts a gorgeous minimalist acrylic art design which is astonishing even in motion. The first thing that struck me about playing The Pathless was the presentation. Nevertheless, I am tremendously grateful to even be given this option: choosing between modes is the most immediate and most significant difference between the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game. My take is that for a game like this, which prioritises movement and quick inputs above everything else, performance mode is an absolute must. Having played The Pathless on a PS5 I was first confronted with deciding whether or not I wanted to prioritise higher frame rates or higher graphic quality. However, beyond the shine of being one of the first real next-gen games I’ve played so far, I’m disappointed to report that The Pathless ended up being less compelling than either of its spiritual predecessors. The Pathless follows the PlayStation standard of offering both a performance and a resolution mode. I also expected it to add something new to the formula and reinvigorate it – especially since ABZÛ came out all the way back in 2016 and since The Pathless was one of the handful of games that had a next-gen version ready for the launch of the PlayStation 5. So then, since The Pathless at least reaches for the same exact things, I naturally expected the game to be a winner for me. I am absolutely in love with everything that game has to offer: the stunning presentation, the master-class soundtrack from Austin Wintory, the intricate yet subtle backstory and the fluid gameplay. It is important that I now mention that Journey is one of my favourite games of all-time. In fact, the three games all share some of the same talent: Journey art director Matt Nava formed Giant Squid in 2013 which then went on to release ABZÛ in 2016 and now The Pathless in 2020. The Pathless is an action-adventure game which comes in the wake of indie darlings such as Journey and ABZÛ.

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