Pathway

Pathway is a fun and interesting adventure tactics game. The main premise is in getting ourselves a group of adventurers with various skills and perks, and having them traverse the hostile desert areas of Middle East and Africa of the 1930s to complete several campaigns. Think the kind of setting from Indiana Jones and The Mummy. As we move through the desert, we try to uncover secrets of the ancients, whilst battling German Nazis and some supernatural enemies too, such as zombies and the cultists that engage in mysticism.

The gameplay has us go through nodes on the map of an area. Each node represents a location. Each time we move to the next node, we use up fuel, of which we have a limited supply. The nodes give us various story events, which are randomized on each attempt. You may come across a combat encounter, some loot, a merchant, or a story event with a skill check that could yield some rewards. If we engage in combat, it's grid-based and turn-based (though not isometric), and utilises simple cover system that we're all familiar with.

The fun is in experimentation by trying different teams of adventurers. We initially have 6 available, but over time get to unlock many others, and each have their weapon type of choice, as well as special perks and loadout options. For loadout options, some can equip grenades, some can equip medkits, etc. As for perks, these are mainly useful during skill checks. For example, an engineer perk would allow a character to fix something during a story event. And of course the main challenge, besides combat, is in managing your resources - fuel, ammo and supplies (these enable use of medkits and other items). Fuel perhaps is the hardest one to manage as it gets used up every time you move to the next node on the map, so you likely won't be able to visit all the side paths. And if you run out of fuel, you have to walk on foot, which damages party's HP.

It really is a neat and fun adventure game with tactics and management elements, so I'm not sure why it's sitting at "Mostly Positive" rating, as it offers a lot of fun gameplay elements and is well-polished. Sure, it can feel a bit repetitive over time, but most games of this type do. I personally think the campaigns (beyond the first one) can feel quite lengthy, and most combat encounters start to feel samey. But the game allows you to choose some options prior to starting a campaign. You can choose to start with more or fewer supplies for example. And you can make combat encounters shorter or longer (by having fewer or more enemies in each one). The most unfair thing that you *might* feel during the game is running out of fuel and being unable to find any nearby for a while.

The visuals use a charming pixel art style, and the music is pretty much of the heroic adventure style like we heard in Indiana Jones films. Sound effects and UI all work well together to convey the information and other important aspects.

I'm yet to complete all the campaigns, but I'm enjoying the game. It's really worth playing for anyone who is a fan of management and turn-based tactics.

Pathway is a very fun and well-designed turn-based grid strategy game. You can unlock a total of 16 characters, each with their own stats, talents, and skill trees! There are 5 story adventures and a massive number of different events to go through and experience while playing.

The achievements in Pathway are a mixed bag. Outside of progression and hardmode, achievements are either for random events or doing something X number of times. Most of these are fine, but because of the sheer number of events and the rarity of some of them, the event achievements can be frustrating to find. I spent about 20 hours searching for a single event to get the last achievement I needed, and didn't find it before creating an entirely new save file to run through the game again searching for it. There is a player-written guide telling you where you can find each event, but achievement hunting in this game can get a bit frustrating when all you have left are event achievements.

I recommend Pathway to lovers of adventure and turn-based strategy combat.

Great game with absolute gorgeous pixel graphics. The challenging gameplay will keep me from completing it, although I would love to spend more time with it.

It's not Brendan Fraser's The Mummy or Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, but gosh darn it, every campaign is like a little head cannon movie.

I really like the way this game was designed. Lots of freedom of choice and a choose your own adventure. I haven't put a lot of hours in but that's because I don't play a lot of single player turn based games. Would love to see a sequel with co-op because this is an excellent game.

A fun casual game that can be made more challenging using sliders for each adventure for those who want it. The art style is nostalgic and lends to the trope of Indiana Jones-esque adventure. I enjoyed getting into the flow of the mechanics and playing while watching sitcoms or another friend playing their own game. Also a game that doesn't demand much of your attention if you want to play it in the background during workhours.

See a Nazi, punch a Nazi!

fun, witty, rewarding, nice plot lines, too