I’ve fallen for a game about fighting a deadly plague — and it’s the perfect antidote to the industry’s GenAI blight

I have a confession to make: I haven’t played the first Pathologic. Actually, I have another confession: I have played it, but gave up after a few hours at most, but since it was about a decade ago, I can barely recall any of it, so don't feel it counts. To play and quit on a game somehow feels worse than not having played it at all, especially when it’s a much-loved cult classic.

I feel I should share my lack of experience with the original, given the fever with which its fans cling to it, with a smugness of having played an obscure game that’s a secret masterpiece only the gaming literati know about. Not that I’m criticizing this attitude: judging by everything I’ve read and seen, I wish I had the fortitude to stick with it.

Thankfully, as I ...