Early cinema struggled with distinguishing itself as a narrative media that was unique from written and performed literature of its early inception; with many early films relying heavily on the success of narratives from other medias to adapt and then utilizing powerful performances to justify their existence such as that of Cagney's or Bogart's films.

This is not to discredit the immense work and incredibly unique films that came out of that period (or even pre-Talkie films) that really distingushed themselves as unique experiences exclusive to its medium. However, i feel that these are far and few between from this. In saying this i believe that with the passage of time came maturity of the art form; by the end of the 60s film had completely established itself as an artistic medium that deliveres a unique experience.

Video games in my opinion are struggling from a similar issue that early films did in which games; in attempt to establish their identity as a unqiue narrative media have looked to its predecessor to see what makes it unique. Which leaves me to ask: What does the player gain from having control taken from them to watch to animated characters talk at each out from usually a single angle?
What does this interactive media gain from taking control from the player in general? Especially when many such titles already suffer from severe ludo-narrative disonance.

Pathologic introduces the player its premise imediately: you are an actor who must play their part. Pathologic isn't about choosing the right choice that rewards the player for their greed or reloading the game because the outcome wasn't the best.

Pathologic's narrative is about ideological conflict and rising to the challenge when hopelessness is the easiest answer its why it took me a year to beat it. Its gameplay and its narrative are constantly complimenting one another where the objective answer does not always feel like the correct one.

It is hard to reccomend it to everyone but sometimes a game just simply clicks with your preception of reality and its hard to not gush over it.