History VideoGame / Pathway

''Pathway'' is a TurnBasedTactics {{Roguelike}} released on April 11, 2019 on [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac]], and UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, developed by Robotality and published by Chucklefish. The game is set in 1936's North Africa and Middle East, with secret wars between Nazi Germany and a mysterious Sisterhood competing for [[ArtifactofDoom Artifacts of Doom]]. The story begins when the NonEntityGeneral recruits a team of adventurers to rescue a friend of theirs, Morten, who has been captured by the Nazis. What follows is a race to retrieve four ancient artifacts, each with nigh-supernatural powers, as the adventurers must contend with {{Ghostapo}} Nazis and Necromancer Cultists, along with their own dwindling supplies.

** In similar vein, Ambush ability of Sniper Rifles didn't mention target hit with it will lose all their action points if surviving the shot itself. Aka the very reason why even bother with Ambush in the first place.

* LuckBasedMission: Certain missions are significantly easier if you manage to get a whole party of specific characters. Unfortunately, you can only choose two (and three with Adventurers Wanted! update) of them at the start of each adventure. On the other hand, if you are unlucky, you are going to get the worst choices possible during recruitment, like Omar during the Night of the Black Pharaoh[[note]]He deals less damage to undead, which make 95% of all enemies here[[/note]].

* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: You can't have more than 2 party members at the start of the adventure. Random events in the adventures can add more party members, but you never can have more than 4 party members on the same time. Attempting to recruit someone with a full group opens a window when you can choose to leave someone behind.

* TooAwesomeToUse: High-tier consumables, especially the legendary ones. They have very potent effects, but restocking them is close to impossible and very much luck-based. In fact, they are so efficient, they often heal[=/=]repair more than the needed value, or even total HP of a character or an outfit.

* CompetitiveBalance: Subverted. The stats of the characters don't add up to the same sum, making some simply better than others. This is in ''theory'' balanced by giving those weaker characters special traits and abilities, but ever since Adventurers Wanted! patch overhauled equipment, weapons and armour can provide characters with special abilities they normally don't possess, further unbalancing the roster. Pereira is probably the most prominent example of how poor the balance is - he comes with great, highly useful traits and some of the best stats in the game, tailored for his specific niche a as CloseRangeCombatant.

* ResourcesManagementGameplay: You start with a limited pool of fuel and ammo (initially capped to 20 fuel and 60 bullets, the starting quantity depends on a difficulty meter), and only later it is possible to increase the cap. Travelling between two nodes on the worldmap consumes 1 fuel, and using guns consumes bullets. You can resupply by finding merchants if you're lucky enough (their stock is random, so they don't necessarily carry fuel and bullets), as result of random worldmap events, or as loot earned for winning a tactical encounter. There's also random events which consume more fuel than the 1 unit required to travel to the next node. Before the Adventurers Wanted! update, you also had a ''very'' limited cargo storage in your car, meaning only a small handful of items could be kept around. After that update, cargo capacity can be increased, but all support items use a new resource called supplies, which can destroy your party via attrition if they run out of bandages, armor plates, grenades, etc.

* WeaponOfChoice: Each adventurer can only use specific class of weapons (sometimes unlocked when taking a new ability at level up).

** Legendary consumables. They have extremely powerful effects. In fact, they heal[=/=]repair so much, it's almost always more than needed, often [[UpToEleven more than even max HP a character or an outfit has]]. They are also nigh impossible to restock.[[note]]As of recent updates, all consumable items are now Common, and use one supply[[/note]]

* TwoFistedTales: The game set in North Africa and Middle-East during the 1930s, and you lead a team of adventurers whose goal is to prevent Nazi occultists to gain archaeological treasures. It's basically ''Franchise/IndianaJones: The Roguelike''.

%%* TwoFistedTales: Let's see... The Thirties... Adventures in exotic locations... Nazis as bad guys... It's basically ''Franchise/IndianaJones: The Roguelike''.

* TurnBasedCombat: How the combat sequences are played.
* TwoFistedTales: Let's see... The Thirties... Adventures in exotic locations... Nazis as bad guys... It's basically ''Franchise/IndianaJones: The Roguelike''.
* VendorTrash: The inventory screen has an bottomless "Valuables" bag, in which loot which aren't equipment, money, or usable supply are immediately stored in; you can sell its whole content to the merchants on the worldmap (the same is done automatically when you're back on the main menu at the completion of an adventure). What counts as vendor trash includes precious artifacts, like statues, sarcophaguses, ancient necklaces, etc., as well as actual random trash (wallets, worn gloves, toothbrushes, dog biscuits...). Note that you don't automatically sell everything because (A) there's an undo button for the last inventory item you trashed in case you accidentally threw a legendary in by mistake, and (B) the money cap is a paltry $9,999.

Each character can equip a primary weapon, a secondary support item, and armor. Armor in this game directly subtracts direct damage from attacks, but every attack shears a portion of the armor's durability - with some attacks dealing more armor damage than others- weakening its effectiveness until it is repaired. Each weapon type has its own damage output, range, and unique weapon ability. You also need to manage your fuel, ammo, and supplies; if you run out of fuel, you'll lose health when walking to the next node on foot, if you run out of supplies you won't be able to use your medic bags/repair kits/grenades, and if you run out of ammo, you're screwed (unless you really like knives).

''Pathway'' is a TurnBasedTactics {{Roguelike}} released on April 11, 2019 on [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac]], and UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, developed by Robotality and published by Chucklefish. The game consists in leading a team of adventurers in 1936's North Africa and Middle East, competing against Nazi Germany to prevent them to gain treasures. The story begins when the NonEntityGeneral recruits a team of adventurers to rescue a friend of theirs, Morten, who has been captured by the Nazis. What follows is a race to retrieve four ancient artifacts, each with nigh-supernatural powers, as the adventurers must contend with {{Ghostapo}} Nazis and Necromancer cultists, along with their own dwindling supplies.

Each character can equip a primary weapon, a secondary support item, and armor. Armor in this game directly subtracts direct damage from attacks, but every attack shears a portion of the armor's durability - with some attacks dealing more armor damage than others- weakening its effectiveness until it is repaired. Assault rifles are all-rounders with a handy burst-fire mode to mow down lines of enemies, shotguns deal more damage and can cone-hit at the cost of range and weakness to armored units, pistols are generally weaker in damage but hold more ammo and can double-hit, Sniper rifles are also weaker than their counterparts and use more ammo but have massive range and can overwatch, knives are melee-only but don't use ammo and can be equipped as your secondary item, and energy weapons don't need ammo and can shoot in a straight line across the map. You also need to manage your fuel and ammo supply; if you run out of fuel, you'll lose health when walking to the next node on foot, and if you run out of ammo, you're screwed (unless you really like knives).

** Shani has a 25% damage bonus against undead. Unfortunately, she's also a melee-only character. Starting from tier 2, undead enemies have either counter-attack capability if not slain in fist hit or explode after dying, dealing damage to everyone standing next to them. This means Shani is almost guaranteed to get hit back. Oh, and she [[GlassCannon can only use light armour.]]

** Legendary consumables. They have extremely powerful effects. In fact, they heal[=/=]repair so much, it's almost always more than needed, often [[UpToEleven more than even max HP a character or an outfit has]]. They are also nigh impossible to restock.

* HyperspaceArsenal: Mostly averted. Adventurers can only carry their gear (a weapon, a tool[=/=]secondary weapon, and an outfit) without having their own personal stash. The Jeep's inventory contains 10 slots (Adventurers Wanted update allows to increase the size of the inventory), though some usable tools can stack. On the other hand, the Valuables bag is bottomless.
* InformedEquipment: Not only do the adventurers' sprites remain identical when you change their weapon and outfit, but several of them have starting outfit which don't even look like their in-game model

* LevelGrinding: Once an adventure is unlocked, it can be replayed as many time as you want. Replaying the shortest and easiest one, "A Friend in Need", with any combination of adventurers available, allows to level up a bit more party members. It's actually adviced to do this, or the random events which allow to recruit another character during an adventure would result in a low level adventurer joining a party during a high level adventure.

* OneHitPolykill: Various weapons come with AreaOfEffect damage, which allows to kill everything caught in it in single go. There are three levels of achievements for multi-kills.

* RiddleForTheAges: You never really learn anything concrete about the ancient precursor race, just that they had ClarkesThirdLaw-level technology. All of it blows up due to aging or mishandling from the Nazis and cultists, so you never learn the truth about how it works or why ancient civilization crumbled to the ground.

* ShortRangeShotgun: They have half the range of other firearms. The damage is however consistent regardless of range and their special ability, Blast, allows to deal it to all the targets within quite large cone-shapred area. Absolutely devastating when used right, but positioning can be tricky.

** Note that energy weapons in particular don't need ammo, that's how high their energy capacity is.

''Pathway'' is a TurnBasedTactics {{Roguelike}} released on April 11, 2019 on [[UsefulNotes/IBMPersonalComputer PC]], [[UsefulNotes/MacOS Mac]], and UsefulNotes/{{Linux}}, developed by Robotality and published by Chucklefish. The game consists in leading a team of adventurers in 1936's North Africa and Middle East, competing against Nazi Germany to prevent them to gain treasures. The story begins when the NonEntityGeneral recruits a team of adventurers to rescue a friend of him/her, Morten, who has been captured by the Nazis.

As a {{Roguelike}}, the game uses a procedurally-generated map made of nodes which effect is randomly chosen when you enter them (treasure discovery, combat, or just no effect), beside the nodes which effect is shown on the map (resting area, merchant...). Also, sometimes a node features a challenge which gives unique reward if one of your player characters has a specific skill (for instance, "intimidation" to force a captured Nazi to give information). Outside combat sequences, all is done through a StoryBranching interface. You also need to manage your fuel and ammo supply.

The story is split in 5 campaigns ("adventures"); finishing one for the first time unlocks the next one. Experience levels, money, and loot are kept between campaigns. The first adventure happens on a single worldmap, while the other ones involve several of them.