These divine spirits, known as The Tall Ones, all have their own region of the island, The Hunter needing to find Lightstones around the spirit’s stomping grounds so she can weaken the Godslayer’s hold on them and confront them to properly purify them. This eagle can also flap her wings to carry you higher up in the air similar to a blue talisman, but as you progress in the game she’ll gain the ability to flap her wings more and more to get you even higher.Īs for what you’re doing with all these satisfying movement options, The Hunter’s goal is to help rescue the gods of this land after a being calling themselves The Godslayer corrupted them. An assistant during your journey soon increases your capabilities as well, an eagle joining you as a companion who will fly around beside you and assist by grabbing your hand and allowing you to glide over long distances. Blue talismans introduced later in the adventure give an even larger vertical boost when shot, and the yellow talismans boost your speed instantly to allow you to reach top speed much more easily. If you shoot a talisman while jumping it will give you a boost through the air, The Hunter also able to chain together aerial shots for repeated acrobatic leaps. The seamless arrow shooting to maintain speed already makes the simple act of moving around The Pathless’s island enjoyable, but there are a few more tricks to help you get around its world. Too little pressure on the R2 button and it won’t fire, and if you’re not careful as you dash around the forest, snowy mountains, or other areas, your arrow might hit an object and risk you losing your momentum. The game will notify you when you have a talisman in your sights and you need only draw the arrow for a second to ensure it flies true.
Even in the opening area where there is not much to do but get acquainted with the controls, there is still a tangible thrill to maintaining your speed as you run, and the controls for doing so are fairly simple. Areas in The Pathless are large and open to navigate as you please, but despite there being so much ground to cover, chaining together talisman shots will allow you to fluidly sprint around the island in an exhilarating manner. While The Hunter can manage a good run for a bit, her stamina runs out quickly unless she takes aim and fires an arrow through a talisman, the energy flowing into her and immediately invigorating her so she can not only keep running, but pick up the pace of her movement. When The Hunter travels about the different regions of the island, she can spot small talismans floating all around in the air at predetermined spots.
Needless to say I was curious what would spark a shift towards focusing on combat ideas, but I didn’t expect the main purpose of the bow to actually be movement. Right away with The Pathless though you’ll notice the lead character, a nameless woman known as The Hunter, wields a bow and arrow as a weapon. Giant Squid was founded by former members of thatgamecompany who worked on titles like the Flower where you control a flower petal drifting in the air and Journey where the focus was on a social adventure with someone you couldn’t speak to, and even under the Giant Squid name their work continued to carry on the nonviolent focus with the relaxing scuba diving puzzle adventure Abzû. While The Pathless is only developer Giant Squid’s second game, it actually represents a break away from what its creators are known for.