Since Pathologic 2’s launch on May 23, many players have bemoaned the game’s crushing difficulty. Developer Ice-Pick Lodge says this difficulty was intentional, stating that “for being the game about a catastrophe, it was always intended to be grueling, stressful, and bleak.”
However, it seems Ice-Pick Lodge may have gone a step too far, as it launched a new update for the game today implementing difficulty sliders for a wide variety of options, such as speed and damage for hunger and exhaustion, immunity recovery, thirst speed, stamina drain when running, and infection growth. This will allow players to ease the most frustrating elements without making the entire game a cakewalk if they don’t want to. Alternatively, players can slide the difficulty up for an even more soul-crushing experience.
Implementing difficulty options can be a controversial subject, but doing so can open up a game to a much wider audience. For some of our opinions on the subject, check out our pieces on why From Software shouldn’t implement easy modes, or on how accessibility is becoming the new standard.
Pathologic 2 is currently available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: Game Informer
