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 In case you stumbled on this old thread, there's an active one here DEMO OUT NOW GAME OUT NOW STEAM GOG     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECSwEgzeEug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aTYm0YOTXQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQIWmfC_CCw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd7HEMm7Xmg  tl;dr Pathologic is a surreal Russian survival thriller game about spending twelve days in an insane town being consumed by a plague. The gameplay is brutal and the writing is some of the best ever. If you enjoy survival games and/or have any interest whatsoever in video games as a medium for storytelling, you owe it to yourself to play either the original game or the upcoming remake (Pathologic 2). The latter is coming out on May 23rd on Steam and GOG for $35 (for steam specifically there's a 10% preorder discount and another 10% if you own the Classic HD version already.) Almost 5 years after the Kickstarter and 14(!) years after the original, it's finally almost here! ITT I would love to talk about any and all of the various past and forthcoming versions of the game. Whether you're a fan, you've heard of the first game but assumed it was too archaic to stomach, or you're just wondering what this weird Russian thing is, welcome to Town on Gorkhon. Short Pitch Somewhere in a very Slavic steppe, nestled in the bend of the Gorkhon river, sleeps a town cut off from the rest of the world. It has no name and does not need one, for no reasonable person from the Capital or beyond would ever dream of setting foot there. Its life is grueling and bleak. Its economy is based on exports of meat sliced open by a distinguished caste of butchers in the bowels of a pagan-temple-turned-slaughterhouse. The ruling houses bicker over petty power struggles, as well as which among them will lead the apocalypse. The villagers fear clay demons and have banned the digging of wells and the owning of sharp objects. Their children have grown bored of it all and now live in a floating tower made entirely of glass (or paper, depending on who you ask.) Every night, the Mimes perform to an empty audience in the Theater. Fate conspires to bring to the town an outbreak of the Sand Pest, a plague so lethal it even makes the buildings sick. In the same breath, it brings three healers with distinct ideas of how to fight the terrifying disease. First there is the Haruspex, a local-born shaman-turned-surgeon who comes home for the first time in years to find himself wrongly accused of his own father's murder. The Bachelor, a rationalist dandy with a degree in medicine from the Capital, flees to the town in pursuit of evidence for his controversial theories on the nature of human mortality. And the young Changeling awakens in a freshly-dug grave, with nothing to her name besides the clothes on her back and the power to work miracles with her divine (or perhaps demonic) touch. They share a common goal, but death is a fearsome enemy and their approaches are mutually exclusive. Only one will succeed in the end. You must survive 12 in-game days in this strange, beautiful, dismal place as it descends from merely dismal into full plague-stricken hell-on-earth anarchy. The full suite of typical survival meters - hunger, thirst, exhaustion, tumors, etc. - will drag you towards death with every step, and prices for food and medicine soar unpredictably as chaos spreads. You can turn to barter with people on the street, but that necessitates learning the bizarre economic rhythms of the town (children will gladly give you their morphine and bullets in exchange for nuts) and maintaining a high reputation (do not lie, do not steal, do not kill, and do NOT under any circumstances perform an autopsy.) All of this is threaded together by time, which flows ever forward, and if you fail to complete a goal before the deadline- up to and including the main quest- then the world will simply move on. The atmosphere is smotheringly oppressive. Desperation and tragedy are omnipresent. As a rule, characters speak in riddles. Important game mechanics will be explained to you poorly if at all. Everything is janky to a greater or lesser degree. You're pretty much constantly confused, starving, dying of plague, falling asleep standing up, being chased by angry townsfolk, on fire, or multiple or all of the above. Mistakes can be extremely punishing, up to and including putting your game in an unwinnable state. All in all, it's a very grueling and very Russian experience. Pathologic 2 is supposed to be a more reasonable experience, but it probably won't be that much more reasonable. So why would you want to inflict this game on yourself? All of the above serves to make the game amazingly atmospheric, and the original also has one of the best scripts ever. There is immense beauty, cleverness, and ambition beneath the offputting exterior- a giant cast of great characters, masterful worldbuilding, and an intricately imagined town brimming with art of all kinds. It's epic in scope, overflowing with ideas, and it longs to challenge you in a variety of ways. There's nothing quite like Pathologic (though I think one good point of comparison in the gaming space is Deadly Premonition, another janky cult classic about the mystery of a weird town, which basically was to Japan as Pathologic is to Russia). It's unabashedly not for everyone and unabashedly flawed, but if you give it a chance you might be surprised by the degree to which it gets its hooks in. Must I play the original? Should I? You definitely don't have to. Pathologic 2 is a reinterpretation of Pathologic 1 featuring the same characters and overall plot but...remixed and redeveloped, so to speak. So you won't be missing out on anything if you skip the latter. As for if you SHOULD play it... how do you feel about Eurojank? Are you willing to spend hours and hours and hours trudging around without a run button avoiding one-hit-kill knife-throwing bandits and doing quests for assholes? Because for a certain taste there's a lot to love about the the experience, though people with less patience may have better things to do with their lives. It's cheap, has an amazing gameplay:cost ratio, and runs on a toaster, though, so if you do decide to play it, make sure to read the Before I Play guide here to save yourself a lot of headache, and don't be afraid to look up a walkthrough if you're stuck. Versions of Pathologic The various versions of the game now out seem to confuse a lot of people (deservedly), so here's a quick breakdown: Pathologic (2005): The original release- acclaimed as an instant classic in Russia for a beautiful script and ambitious gameplay, taken mostly as a curiosity in the west due to a botched translation that made an already surreal and difficult game pretty much incomprehensible. Pathologic Classic HD (2015): A re-release of the original, now featuring an excellent English translation handled in-house at Ice Pick Lodge as well as some quality of life improvements on the technical side courtesy of Devolver. This is definitely, unquestionably the version you should seek out and play if you want the full original Pathologic experience. It's cheap, extremely long (like 70 hours or so for all three campaigns?), and is a landmark achievement in games IMO. Pathologic Tabletop (2016): A physical board game for 2-4 players: 1 person plays as the sand plague, and 1-3 others play as the healers featured in the game. It owns. HMU if you want to play this in tabletop sim. The Marble Nest (2017): A standalone tech demo/vertical slice/weird short experience for Pathologic 2. It’s perhaps 2 hours long for a full playthrough and it’s a great distillation of the Pathologic experience. Caveat emptor: it runs like crap. For some reason it's now hosted on google drive???? Pathologic 2 (2019): A complete reimagining of Pathologic for the modern age, aimed at new fans and old alike. Originally successfully funded on Kickstarter in 2015, ultimately split into episodes with the first now completed in partnership with TinyBuild. Everything has been redesigned, reimagined, and modernized, from the gameplay mechanics to the visuals, with an all-new script that may or may not take the setting and setup in very different directions. The demo lets you play through the intro sequence and about half of the first day, probably about 2 hours worth of gameplay, and I enjoyed it so much I had to make this thread. Resources English language Ice Pick Lodge discord servers: 1 / 2 Kickstarter Famous RockPaperShotgun article about Pathologic 2005 A fun and representative review of the original A HUGE video essay covering all three routes of the original as well as its themes and gameplay Pathologic 1 Haruspex Goon Let's Play by HellishWhiskers Pathologic 1 Changeling Goon Let's Play by woodenchicken Thanks to fellow gentle pathogoon youcallthatatwist whose OP I merged into this one! 
No Mods No Masters fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Nov 18, 2021 |
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Apr 24, 2019 07:16
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Anyone tried the demo already? I saw the email about it but haven’t tried it yet. I’m anxiously awaiting the full game, though.
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Apr 24, 2019 12:41
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Same for me, I played a bit of Pahologic 1 so I don't really need the demo to know how it will play, and demos don't make a lot of sense to me in narrative games.
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Apr 24, 2019 14:18
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What a thing to wake up to. The first game was a very unique and interesting experience, even if it was better as an experience than a game. I bought the HD remake and played a bunch of that but never finished it, maybe now I'll do that in anticipation of the sequel. This has been on my wishlist for YEARS, I thought it was abandoned. Definitely gonna try the demo out later! Edit: Also The Void from Ice Pick Lodge is really neat too, if anybody wanted to see what kind of crazy atmosphere the devs are capable of but didn't like the slow burn of pathologic
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Apr 24, 2019 14:26
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I played the demo through to 10AM or so on the first day which took me about an hour, at which point I decided I was more than convinced. Here are some random impressions: -There's a longish on-rails intro sequence which was very cool the first time through but might get old if replayed multiple times. -After that you're out on your own recognizance, doing Haruspex day 1 type things. The town isn't significantly larger than it was in the original I think and has roughly the same layout, but they really took it to the next level in terms of detail. There are a ton of little events to find and named non-adherent NPCs to talk to just walking around. If they can keep the level of detail I saw up for the whole game then I think it'll really be something special. -Shockingly I know, the fistfighting felt pretty clunky and bad. Things felt a lot better with a knife though. -I don't have much of a feel for the economy, but the amount of loot seemed high to me in general. This may be one of the main ways that the experience is being balanced to be more reasonable this time out. Your bars still go down fast as af though. -Performance is still a little shaky, which I have read they're still working on. Hopefully it will be better on release.
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Apr 24, 2019 17:10
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No Mods No Masters posted:I played the demo through to 10AM or so on the first day which took me about an hour, at which point I decided I was more than convinced. Here are some random impressions: I clicked the link and subscribed to the tinybuild thing but they haven't sent me the link for the demo yet and it's been all day  It says on the website that the demo has a unique ending not available in the actual game though, so it might be worth finishing.
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Apr 25, 2019 03:01
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I haven't played any demos or anything for this beyond a couple opportunities at game conventions when they had some playable stuff but I really can't wait for this one. I really, really hope it's going to be special and good.Hobojim posted:Edit: Also The Void from Ice Pick Lodge is really neat too, if anybody wanted to see what kind of crazy atmosphere the devs are capable of but didn't like the slow burn of pathologic The Void is what put these guys on my radar for games and it was absolutely fantastic; I backed Pathologic 2 as a direct result of how good The Void was, almost sight unseen (having known about the original Path at this point but never played it).
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Apr 25, 2019 03:08
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Meiteron posted:I haven't played any demos or anything for this beyond a couple opportunities at game conventions when they had some playable stuff but I really can't wait for this one. I really, really hope it's going to be special and good. Not playing the original was a pretty good choice to be honest. It had a lot of problems. It was really interesting, but they were definitely hamstrung by limited resources. The HD remaster holds up much better, because the writing isn't gibberish like it was in some spots of the original. The Let's Plays listed in the OP are actually really good ways to experience the original though, in my opinion, and I rarely read LPs. I'm playing through The Marble Nest now, and it's pretty good! Optimization aside, anyway. I'm surprised I didn't know this existed.
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Apr 25, 2019 03:23
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Personally I was first exposed to the game via the Bachelor route LP by brassmonkey, which unfortunately predated the let's play archive and decent image hosting services, so it's sadly been rendered unreadable as most of the images have 404ed. It's really a shame, he did a great job introducing the game. The marble nest is a really weird thing, most of all the extent to which it flew under the radar and was subsequently buried. If a few people catch that it exists who missed it I'll consider the thread effort well spent already.
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Apr 25, 2019 04:53
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this is now a thread for cargo! the quest for gravity i love my job
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Apr 25, 2019 05:21
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kinda interesting that they're starting with the haruspex, it always felt appropriate to me to start with the bachelor because he really has no loving clue whats going on
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Apr 25, 2019 23:50
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I played around in the demo some more tonight, here are some more random thoughts: - Only being able to save at adherent houses might be the lowkey biggest change to the flow of the game of all. The first game is a savescummer's paradise, so a little more pressure to live with your moment to moment mistakes will be interesting when poo poo really starts hitting the fan. - Here's a map I found with some of the small events. If you feel like taking a long creepy walk follow the road southeast near the graveyard, the steppe goes way past the bounds of the UI's map. I've also read there's at least one easter egg I missed during the intro sequence but I'm saving it for release  - The demo ending is cute but not anything to beat yourself up over missing IMO. - The various discords seem to be the main place where active english discussion is going on that I've found. Other than here!! No Mods No Masters fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Apr 27, 2019 |
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Apr 27, 2019 06:46
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No Mods No Masters posted:The marble nest is a really weird thing, most of all the extent to which it flew under the radar and was subsequently buried. If a few people catch that it exists who missed it I'll consider the thread effort well spent already. For whatever reason Ice Pick Lodge did most of the burying themselves by taking down the installer. They walked back on it somewhat (hence it being hosted on google docs) after a backlash from the public.
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Apr 27, 2019 13:11
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I still haven't been sent an e-mail for the demo I've subscribed and resubscribed like three times. What a terrible way to distribute a demo. Edit: Never mind, I'm an idiot and it was in my junk folder
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Apr 27, 2019 14:55
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Fitting that you had to relearn pathologic lesson number 1: always 👏 loot 👏 the 👏 junk
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Apr 27, 2019 16:56
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ahhh, playing hte demo just makes me want to play the real game. damnit edit: oh, solved it. duh its kinda odd that the optimal way to run around is to keep your fists out so you can regain stamina faster. and yet i still ran out of time, i think? Verviticus fucked around with this message at 08:33 on Apr 28, 2019 |
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Apr 28, 2019 07:39
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Verviticus posted:kinda interesting that they're starting with the haruspex, it always felt appropriate to me to start with the bachelor because he really has no loving clue whats going on I think it's fitting, especially if it goes Haruspex - Bachelor - Devotress Haruspex: "What the hell is going on? Is it science-based? Is it supernatural?" Bachelor: "Oh it's definitely science all the way." Impostress: "You fool, you absolute moron." 
Archenteron fucked around with this message at 08:34 on Apr 28, 2019 |
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Apr 28, 2019 08:28
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i cant imagine the bachelor would be last. it also feels weird to have the town wanting to murder you 3 minutes into your playthrough
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Apr 28, 2019 08:33
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Wanna get high with Haruspex on twyrine steppe drugs.
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Apr 28, 2019 18:41
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Loved the demo, I am super hyped for next month even though I had a pretty uneven performance through the experience. In a way, it is sort of thematic for Haruspex to be the first. Artemy's story is about coming back home, after all.
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Apr 28, 2019 20:15
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ZearothK posted:In a way, it is sort of thematic for Haruspex to be the first. Artemy's story is about coming back home, after all. That's the way I think too. I mean, Dankovsky is an outsider and doesn't know how anything in the town works, but Burahk had a much, much better reason for sticking around and staying the course. The former made sense as a first playthrough, and that it isn't this time around makes me wonder how things play out for the Bachelor when it comes around. Haven't played the demo yet (saw a playthrough of the marble nest, but that was the rough alpha), and I might not before the game drops because my anticipations high already. I have a tendency to want to see as much as I can and even setting aside the subject matter it looks like this game is designed to make people like me miserable. I can't wait.
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Apr 28, 2019 23:19
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you cant invert the mouse in this game and it makes me mad
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Apr 28, 2019 23:42
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Verviticus posted:you cant invert the mouse in this game and it makes me mad UGH Not buying it until I got notice it can be fixed in a .ini file or something.
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Apr 29, 2019 13:34
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The option to invert is there, it is just, uh, not working. It is supposed to be fixed for the release.
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Apr 29, 2019 15:35
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Who'd have thought the glorious cleansing of the monstrous Inverters starts here Knowing Ice Pick Lodge when you turn Invert on it switches everyone's opinion of you and everyone works together to make a cure
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Apr 29, 2019 15:49
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FINALLY
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Apr 29, 2019 15:57
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I advise everyone to play Marble Nest. It's a sort of short spin off self contained story as a Bachelor which is IMO really good and really loving creepy in typical Ice Pick Lodge style. It is also a chance to see a part of town in new engine. Could be confusing/spoilery if you didnt complete original Pathologic as Bachelor. I am quite glad that the first story is Haruspex. My playthrough as the Bachelor left me so rattled 12 years ago that I decided to come back in a few days and than never did. Sekenr fucked around with this message at 18:30 on May 3, 2019 |
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May 3, 2019 18:26
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Very excited for this. Pathologic 1 holds a special place for me. It's probably the game that most closely matches what you're feeling as a player with what your character is feeling in the setting--confusion, mounting frustration, and creeping desperation. The result is a really draining experience, but one that is ultimately really satisfying. Very unique. If it's anything like the original, though, I'm going to have to psych myself up first to play the sequel.
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May 6, 2019 16:01
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I just hope they decide on different endings for the game. A lot of the P1 endings are massively unsatisfying, kind of pretentious, and are a disservice to the world that'd been crafted.
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May 9, 2019 13:21
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Pre-order is open! If you have Pathologic HD you should be receiving a 20% off coupon by the end of the day, too. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aTYm0YOTXQ
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May 9, 2019 19:42
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ZearothK posted:Pre-order is open! If you have Pathologic HD you should be receiving a 20% off coupon by the end of the day, too. It's also on sale for 10% off, which seems to stack with the coupon. Woo!
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May 9, 2019 22:53
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Coupon gone. 12 days remain
No Mods No Masters fucked around with this message at 16:41 on May 11, 2019 |
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May 11, 2019 16:21
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the demo appears to be loading forever with no end in sight that's disappointing
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May 12, 2019 19:42
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECSwEgzeEug
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May 16, 2019 17:07
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Has anyone gotten their key through the backer website? It keeps on giving me a blank notice when I try to redeem it.
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May 18, 2019 01:41
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I think the keys haven't been distributed yet. From this it sounds like they'll post a kickstarter announcement or something when they're ready
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May 18, 2019 15:31
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They just announced on Discord that the Backer keys are out.
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May 20, 2019 16:45
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Oh, I didn't see that this thread already existed when i made mine. Glad people are interested in the game though! What's, uh... what's the protocol for these situations
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May 20, 2019 16:53
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I can redeem the soundtrack and artbook but not the game 
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May 20, 2019 16:54
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youcallthatatwist posted:Oh, I didn't see that this thread already existed when i made mine. Glad people are interested in the game though! Both OP's have to travel to Kansas and knifefight in front of Lowtax until he decrees enough blood has been shed for him to make a decision.
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May 20, 2019 16:59
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