THE PATHLESS ZIP

Pulling back a bow string in-game has never felt so good as it does with the adaptive triggers. Unsurprisingly, the DualSense controller on PlayStation 5 adds a tactile quality to the experience that cannot be understated.

A continuous sequence of hits keeps the momentum up, making for a thrill ride that simply feels great to control.

THE PATHLESS ZIP

Striking the Talismans with arrows builds up a meter, which allows players to zip across the land with ease. In navigating the open-world, the Hunter regularly encounters Talismans shaped like red diamonds. Traditional sprinting is absent in The Pathless as a result, speedier traversal options present themselves via the game’s most important mechanic–the bow and arrow. More than anything, it’s easy to be taken in by the simple yet fun movement and gameplay mechanics. The Pathless sacrifices difficulty at the altar of fun, and it works superbly.The enticing premise and gorgeous landscapes are not all The Pathless has on offer. The cherry on top is the soundtrack, a typically wonderful Austin Wintory score that incorporates the superb sounds of throat singing band Alash. The story comes to a satisfying end, after which I gleefully jumped back in to start mopping up the remainder of the puzzles. The items you collect, and the order in which you collect them, are dependent on nothing more than where your curiosity takes you and in the unlikely event that a puzzle stumps you, there will be another a few minutes' journey or less away. You 'unlock' boss fights by collecting and using certain items, but each area of the map has more than you actually need. While bosses follow a fairly rigid pattern-a chase to hit weak spots, an arena fight to hit weak spots, then one or two final stages to hit weak spots-the bulk of the game does not. The main motivation for the villain's evil deeds is a desire to provide everybody with a strict path to follow in life, which seems to be something of a commentary on Giant Squid's approach to designing the entire game.

Also, one of the boss fights went on a bit too long when I struggled to hit multiple weak spots in a row. I know this is meant to build a bond, but it also becomes annoying after a while. Secondly, once you've got your bird back, you need to cleanse it by simulating a stroking motion all over until all of the curse juice is gone. This becomes tiresome after just a few times. You then need to slowly creep over to rescue it, periodically stopping whenever the big bad’s gaze falls your way. Firstly, before you're ready to face them, an area's boss will sometimes trigger an event whereby you’re separated from your eagle. (Image credit: Giant Squid/Annapurna Interactive) Find your way Sometimes, I'll get the best views soaring through the air, hanging from the feet of my remarkably strong eagle as we gently drift down to our next destination. Outside of puzzles, I enjoy finding the thoughts of dead soldiers frozen in time, and admiring the abandoned temples, curious structures, and skeletons of huge, unknown beasts that have been left lying around. This caused me a bit of a head scratch when I found a weight on the ground, and a pressure plate about a hundred feet in the air. He's only able to carry one thing at a time, so he can't lift you into the air while he's already got something in his talons. Keith will need to move targets, perhaps, or lift weights to bring to pressure plates. You'll need to shoot arrows through consecutive targets, for example, but lining them all up will often involve asking Keith, your eagle (that’s not its name, but let's pretend) to help. Your eagle and your bow tend to be of equal importance in these puzzles.

This isn’t an indication of puzzles that are too easy, rather another sign of the game’s dedication to constant, smooth motion.

They test your brain without being obnoxious I never got stuck for more than a minute or so, and even that was rare. The world offers puzzles in place of enemies, and I enjoyed all of them. (Image credit: Giant Squid/Annapurna Interactive) Eagle aid

The pathless