I got sidetracked from playing FFVI by a game called Pathologic Classic HD. I heard Pathologic was a cult classic and meant to play it for years, but never got around to it. Now that the remake is in the works, I got this original HD version, since I heard that the remake will be pretty much an entirely different game and I have no faith in companies repeating their success with cult classic games.
What can I say? No description can do it justice. This game is unique. People who made it obviously didn't care for commercial success, they cared to make a solid game. It's strongly narrative-driven, the dialogues are written in old-fashioned speech (I suspect the setting is 1920-30 years), and the game is incredibly realistic.
I can't really describe it, except saying that it doesn't feel like a game at all. It feels like a simulator of real life. Missions in the game don't feel like missions, they completely blend in with the narrative. Going from point A to point B doesn't feel like going from point A to point B, instead it's like a real life walk and a lot of things happen along the way, so that each walk to some place feels realistic and unique.
Perhaps the only game that comes close to this one in quality is Deadly Premonition. It was a little awkward, though, as you had to actively pursue the side content to get the full narrative out of the game.
At one point I was so impressed with the plot of Pathologic that I woke up at night and marveled about it, feeling eerie. Never happened to me before.
So basically, it's now my number one game in terms of story and realism. Unfortunately, that means my previous picks are much more hackneyed and shallow than I ever thought.
I know this is not a full game description, but a normal description just wouldn't do it justice. I just recommend the game to people who like utmost realism, true-to-life stories that can't be predicted or guessed, lifelike characters and issues. The devs call this game 'A simulator of survival in a situation of emergency', which is kind of true, but they forgot to add that it's a realistic simulator.
Why isn't this game famous? I don't get it. No money for PR at all? I should've played it years ago. When I first started it (on Saturday morning) I only realized that 12 hours have passed in the evening. Never happened to me before. I even forgot to eat!
