The Pathless is a really solid idea wrapped around a fascinating gameplay mechanic.
Integrating a bow and an eagle as a core to the entire experience works surprisingly well.
Overall, the entire idea works fluidly and I am going to look at what makes The Pathless such an interesting game.
The Pathless Time Stamps
- 0:00 Welcome to The Pathless
- 1:50 A Forest on Fire and a Boss to Remember
- 10:25 Exploring the World and Solving Puzzles with your Eagle Friend
- 18:10 Entering the Bosses Domain
- 19:54 Is The Pathless Amazing?
The Pathless Article Links
- An Eagle, Bow and a Silent Main Character Versus the World
- The Open World of The Pathless
- Is The Pathless Amazing?
The Pathless at a Glance
Let’s grab our bows, pet our eagles, and glide into The Pathless to see if it’s cut to be amazing.
An Eagle, Bow and a Silent Main Character Versus the World
The first thing worth pointing out is just how awesome the game looks. It has a beautiful art style that shines through every inch of the open-world.
From the main character–who is silent and nameless, but is referred to as the Hunter–to the eagle, everything has this sense of belonging to match the story happening around you.
The gameplay for The Pathless is pretty simple, you have a bow and you shoot things; not very complicated. The fun comes in when you have to manage this while also fighting the big bosses that roam the world.
Three main bosses roam around the world and the cool part is that they can sneak up on you at any time.
If you’re not paying attention then you get taken into a world on fire and have to safely hide to survive and get out.
The eagle gets torn away and you need to save it, all while finding the means to defeat the giant boss.
From here you need to avoid the boss’s spotlight and make your way to the eagle safely. You can see this in action at 18:20 of the video.
Going back a bit at 1:12 I explain how the movement in the open-world works.
It boils down to holding the trigger until a circle fills up. This means you have the perfect aim to hit whatever you’re aiming at.
There are a bunch of dots scattered around the map and you need to shoot them with your bow to help you move faster.
Using this is cool as you propel yourself faster and faster to traverse the world and even solve the many puzzles hidden.
Looking at 2:00 of the video we see a chase sequence going after the first boss of the game Cernos.
This is a pretty cool fight sequence involving a chase that ultimately turns into a big, climactic fight. It includes some fun timings to avoid attacks, utilizing the flaps from the eagle, and mastering the bow strikes to form a play experience that truly keeps you on your toes.
Once you take down the bosses the next part of the map opens up and we’re free to roam a new section of the open-world!
The Open World of The Pathless
The open-world is the name of the game in The Pathless and it is where you’re going to be spending the most time throughout the journey.
From here you’ll use speed, bow skills, smarts, and of course the eagle to solve the many puzzles scattered around the world.
To give an example, at 11:39 of the video I run into a pillar of fire with a few pillars behind that are not lit up.
The trick is to fire an arrow at the right angle to have it bounce the flame to the other pillars so all can catch fire.
Once that’s completed, you’re rewarded with an icon that you can use to open up the many towers around the world. I’m sure that sounds very familiar to all of my Breath of the Wild players.
At 17:51 I discover that I do not have enough to unlock and free the tower, but that’s okay! The basic point is to go around solving puzzles to clear towers and then eventually take down the boss.
Once all the towers in the area are ready, you can take on the boss just like we saw earlier.
Is The Pathless Amazing?
The Pathless is a fun time from the gameplay to the world and everything in between.
No one can deny how much fun it is to roam around, take in the scenery, and relax with your eagle buddy when the opportunity arises.
Take all that into an interesting story worth seeing to the end. Solid boss fights, crazy intense stealth moments, and more add up to be something worth playing.
I enjoyed my time with The Pathless and this is one journey I’ll remember for a while!
