A New Day Yesterday: Pathologic

STOP RACIST HUMAN SKIN PHOBIA

"STOP RACIST HUMAN SKIN PHOBIA clearly addresses the issue of irrational prejudice towards the unclothed human body. This racist issue of human self-hatred is the key to why naked humans in public are frequently arrested and imprisoned. This issue of nakedness is an issue of race, namely the human race. Self-hate and self-disgust motivate clothed humans (who hide their naked racial identity) to persecute those brave people who refuse to hide their human flesh. The criminalisation of the naked human body is racism towards the human race. It is discrimination based upon the genetic visual identity of the human body. This is an issue of skin freedom: humans (members of the human race) are currently persecuted because of SKIN irrespective of skin colour!"

18 November, 2009

Pathologic - Contents

As my blog has become flooded with Pathologic entries over the past month and a half, I figured it might be worthwhile to write up a little contents page to put those entries in order. Easier for you (and me) to find them, and easier for random passersby to make sense of them.

My Pathologic experience all started here. I went through each of the three scenarios - first the Bachelor, then the Haruspicus, and finally the Devotress - writing my thoughts down as I went along. Obviously, my ability playing and understanding the game increases throughout, from beginning to end - so expect 'adaptation' type entries early on (particularly throughout the Bachelor's scenario), and 'mastery' type entries later on (such as in the Devotress' scenario). There are certain entries that can or do stand alone, outside of a specific scenario (either in part or in whole), which I'll list here:

Getting to Know the Town - written during the Bachelor scenario, explains the basic layout of the town, and its inhabitants, as I understood it at the time.

The Rat Race - written during the Haruspicus' scenario, describing the rat race 'mini-game' introduced in that scenario.

Infection - discusses infection, the various forms it comes in, and how to deal with it, from the perspective of having beaten the game once (thus knowing most of the tricks).

Linguistic - brief discussion of the game's text and translation, and introduction to the Character Quips entries, which exhibit interesting (both humorous and insightful) quotations from all of the important characters: Part 1 (Utopians), Part 2 (Children), Part 3 (Criminals). May contain plot spoilers (it was written after completing the Bachelor and Haruspicus scenarios, but before starting on the Devotress).

The Juvenile Market - written early in the Devotress' scenario, discusses the mechanics of trading with the kids in town.

Lingering Questions - internal debate concerning general questions about the source of infection, Simon's importance, and other plot spoiling goodness, written a few days into the Devotress' scenario (and pulling on lots of information uncovered in the other two scenarios).

A Staggering Reveal - examination of the "staggering reveal" uncovered in the climax to the excellent three-part RPS review of Pathologic.

Another Note On Infection - more talk of infection, and strategies for dealing with it, written towards the end of the Devotress' scenario (with only one minor Klara-specific spoiler in the first paragraph).

Vanity - Some leftover screencaps and a few beautiful textures ripped from the game. Completely spoiler-free!

Setting the Mood - the last(?) Pathologic entry I've written (not counting this one), consisting of my best screencaps accompanied by my favorite quotes from the game. If you're reading ahead before clicking through to any of these entries (like they taught you to do in school :p), I recommend checking out this entry before any of the others. Then again, there's a little bit of clever juxtaposition in some of the words and images that only seasoned players may pick up. ;)

Now then, onto the player journals (a few of the above listed entries will repeat):