Review: The Deadly Path (PC)

If you’ve ever found yourself daydreaming about being the boss of a chaotic office where ancient gods call the shots, then, well, The Deadly Path might be your thing. It’s this wild strategy game where you become The Custodian. Picture this: you’re trying to keep a bunch of capricious deities happy while juggling building a dungeon, managing resources, and keeping annoying intruders at bay. It’s like mixing base-building, survival, and a warped sense of humor into a bizarre cocktail. Yeah, I don’t know why that sounds appealing either, but here we are.

At first, I thought, “Wow, this game’s idea is something else!” You’re basically an executive in a gothic horror setting. The strategy setup gives a nod to those board games some of us nerd out about, right? And let’s not even start on the artwork. It’s got this gloomy vibe that’s kinda awesome. Plus, the soundtrack—it’s like you’re at a midnight demon summoning gig. Creepy in a good way, I guess.

But then reality slaps you in the face. Like, the game’s interface? A total chaos zone. Important stuff is hidden away, and I can’t find it half the time. Oh, and sometimes the game just unpauses itself while you’re playing. Imagine all this craziness happening while you’re supposed to be multitasking, and suddenly, glitches everywhere. It’s like asking for anxiety on a platter.

Oh, and can we talk about the difficulty? It’s more like hitting a brick wall. The game introduces new stuff out of the blue, and unless you’re glued to some game guide online (or bother reading old user manuals), you’re just toast. It’s more like figuring stuff out while dodging lava—without a map.

And the grind. My goodness! Early progression? Slower than a zombie on a slow day. You end up almost ready to chuck your mouse through a window because it feels like pushing a boulder uphill. Just too much hassle to unlock new content.

The whole pace thing is weird too. One minute you’re bored, then bam! Crisis mode because some angry cosmic entity throws a fit. The developers couldn’t quite decide if they wanted steady pacing or random explosions of panic.

The Deadly Path could be such a fun trip down mad lane, but it’s kinda stuck in its awkward early phase. If you’re into mess and frustration or mastering apocalyptic micromanagement, dive in. Otherwise, maybe wait until they iron out the chaos a bit.

(Review based on a retail copy—thanks, publisher!)