The Pathologic games are cult classics, beloved by fans for deep characters, branching narrative choices, and punishing consequences. On Monday, developer Ice-Pick Lodge announced the release of Pathologic 3, which is scheduled to release in 2025. While the Pathologic games are notoriously tough, this one provides the player with a powerful new tool: time travel.
The original Pathologic tells three stories from three very different points of view: the Bachelor, the Haruspex, and the Changeling. Pathologic 2 was an expanded and far more accessible re-telling of the game from the point of view of the Haruspex, a local healer with deep roots in the small town. Pathologic 3 puts players in the shoes of the Bachelor, Daniil Dankovsky, a city slicker and doctor obsessed with defeating death.
Much like the previous installments, Pathologic 3 tasks the Bachelor with saving the town within twelve days. However, time travel will let him go back and influence key events, reshaping the story. The Bachelor also has access to more sophisticated tools than the Haruspex did in Pathologic 2. Players will have to diagnose and treat patients, use a microscope to develop treatments, and employ quarantines and patrols to control the population.
Pathologic 2 was originally funded through a Kickstarter, and fans who backed the original crowdfunding campaign will get Pathologic 3 for free. The Bachelor previously starred in The Marble Nest, a gameplay demo for Kickstarter backers. Now, Dankovsky gets to star in his own game, which will no doubt be as harrowing and horrifying as its predecessors.
