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Pathologic (More. Utopia – a pun on Thomas More's Utopia and the Russian word for "plague") is a 2005 Survival game game developed by Russian studio Ice-Pick Lodge. The game was released in Russia by Buka Entertainment in June 2005, followed by a localised English release from G2 Games and GMX Games in 2006. An updated version, Pathologic Classic HD, was developed by General Arcade, published by Good Shepard Entertainment, and released in October 2015. A remake was developed by Ice-Pick Lodge in the Unity game engine and released as Pathologic 2 in May 2019 by tinyBuild.
Each character has a different Mission detailed in their quest book, however, the game's objective is to survive the twelve playable days. Pathologic takes place in a perpetual world over a timeframe of twelve in-game days. Throughout each day, the player receives from non-player characters (NPCs); however, the game continues regardless of whether they are completed or not. At exactly midnight of each day, the quests are erased from the player's notebook. Quests are divided into main missions (one per day), which decide if a major character (referred to in-game as the "Bound") will die, and side quests, which allow the player to earn money and items. Completing main quests is essential to uncovering the secrets of the town, as characters who would otherwise reveal information later in the game can fall ill from the plague early.
The game's fluctuating economy represents the harsh forces of supply and demand in an isolated, disease-ridden town. All districts and major buildings of the town are named after body parts and biology. On the edge of town, there is a great building named the Polyhedron, a physically impossible structure used as a fortress by children. On the opposite side lies an ominous cattle-slaughtering Abattoir, with a dormitory known as the Apiary (later re-translated as "Termitary") next to it.
Each character has an assigned group of NPCs - their "Bound" - which they are tasked with keeping safe by completing the main quest every day.
There are four endings available. Each playable character has a designated ending, although any of these three endings may be chosen if the player completes the optional task of keeping the other healer's Bound healthy by the meeting time on the 12th day. The Bachelor's ending allows the town to be destroyed, saving the miraculous Polyhedron. The Haruspex's ending destroys the Polyhedron to allow the production of a panacea, saving the town. The Devotress/Changeling's ending allows both the Polyhedron and the town to coexist, at the cost of sacrificing some of the townspeople. If the player is unable to keep all of their Bound safe, however, the town becomes overrun by pestilence in the fourth "Bad Ending".
In October 2015, Ice-Pick Lodge announced Pathologic Classic HD, a remaster of the original Pathologic developed by General Arcade and published by Gambitious Digital Entertainment. This remaster introduced upgraded visuals, fixed bugs, re-recorded dialog, and a re-translated English script. Pathologic Classic HD was released on 29 October 2015. The remaster received generally favourable reviews according to Metacritic.
Under publisher tinyBuild, the Pathologic remake was retitled Pathologic 2 to be distinguished from Pathologic Classic HD. Pathologic 2 was released on 23 May 2019.
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