The Pathless never really tells you what to be looking for, but its visual cues are easy to understand and then apply to increasingly complex puzzles, making even the smallest excursion valuable in some way and often finding fun new layers for repeated puzzle concepts as the adventure goes on. Each location I went to included at least a few notable puzzles, often employing standards like using my surprisingly strong eagle to move parts of the area around to line up a perfect shot, or to run past a series of lanterns in the correct order. “It made each place I ventured intriguing, from crumbling monasteries to dinosaur-sized skeletons to abandoned settlements, because I never knew what collectibles, puzzles, or stories it might hold.

Two main collectibles in particular are plentifully hidden throughout the world: Crystals, which are needed to increase your eagle’s ability to reach new heights, and Lightstones, which are often collected after some intricate but satisfying puzzle and used to cleanse a cursed watchtower in each region. And while you can wander aimlessly, there’s plenty to guide your way and reward your curiosity. But a missed shot here or there rarely tripped me up as I said, The Pathless is all about blazing your own trail around its world, and each failed hit was an excuse to improv my way into a new direction. I never fully mastered the half-fill shot, even despite the PS5’s adaptive triggers offering some haptic indication to let me know when to release. It freed my mind up to think less about the specific points I was shooting at and more about how to move through the gorgeous landscapes ahead of me to create constant, forward momentum. Go Your Own WayBy removing the challenge of aiming and instead putting it on button timing and quick thinking as you decide the route you want to carve out, The Pathless goes all in on the idea that getting from point A to B should be fun, fluid, and with as little hindrance as possible. You just need to hold the right trigger down to fill up a meter, or if your timing is good, let it fill up precisely halfway to get even more speed. Instead, the forgiving third-person camera lets you swing it around to auto-target gems.

5 Images The shooting doesn’t require a lot of skill because developer Giant Squid has completely removed the worry of precision aiming.

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