Archive of our old blog (2005-2010)
C.T. Hutt interviews us “on the social and artistic merits of video games.”
We had always assumed that the industry was perfectly content making hardcore games for hardcore gamers. But things may be changing. We used to be firmly on Chris Crawford’s side when he claimed that the future of the interactive medium lies outside of videogames. But we’re not so sure anymore. Maybe there is room for expansion. We’ll see.
Videogames may be successful at the moment. But they have not penetrated in society the way that cinema, literature and music have. Games are still a marginal medium. They can remain so for a long time. Or they can disappear altogether (it has happened before). It would be a shame if this wonderful interactive technology would be limited to the current types of videogames, or disappear if videogames stop being successful.
The Japanese games blog ZillionMonkey has published an (English language) interview with us. Have a look.
Publilcations great and small gather to discuss the wonders of The Path, apparently the It Game of the game blogosphere (Slate). 
It still amazes us that mainstream magazines like PC Format award The Path with Gold. That thing that is wrong with the games industry, well, it’s definitely not caused by the games press, who is meeting our little experiment with open arms.
The Path is also starting to get noticed in the more general press. Which makes us very happy because we really hope that it is a game that non-gamers will appreciate too.
The Path is thoroughly gynocentric in its design, character direction, music, etc. (…) You don’t have to be a female gamer, though, to appreciate The Path’s take on literary symbolism, Gothic sensibility, and relaxing pace of play.
Rebecca Wigandt on Gamer’s Intuition
The Path is a sort of anti-game in a way, a game turned inside out in service to something deeply personal, human and disturbing.
Mike “Scout” Gust on Tap-Repeatedly
The Path, in my opinion, transcended everything I’ve ever thought a computer game to be and instantly planted itself into my thought patterns.
What’s more, certain independent games are entering a phase – familiar to historians of jazz, comics and indeed 20th-century literature – of vigorous experimentation with techniques of narrative. (An evening with the frightening and baffling The Path, rather like an Angela Carter story siphoned through The Sims, will show you what I mean.)
Telling a story through open interactive medium is not a simple task, but Tale of Tales pulls it off using atmosphere and implication. They also leave plenty for the reader’s imagination. Love or hate the experience, The Path is a marker in the evolution of storytelling.
DG Shrock on Writing for Torre
Man muss sich in jedem Fall auf The Path einlassen, muss in den Wald ganz eintauchen und den Alltag hinter sich lassen. Wem das gelingt, den erwartet ein ganz besonderes Erlebnis.
Noli_me_tangere on Resurrection: dead
The Path, in sostanza, è la Corazzata Potemkin del videogioco. Pretenzioso, soporifero, sconclusionato, per chiunque sia alla ricerca di un normale videogame. Elegante, ipnotico, onirico, per chiunque sia alla ricerca di un’esperienza audiovisiva.
What I experienced was nothing short of breathtaking: entire worlds of narratives and areas to explore unrestrained by contrived and cliched gaming tasks (such as “defeat this monster, progress to the next level” etc).
The animations are beautiful. The music can be chilling. The words and images grow increasingly disturbing, and sometimes sexual, though opaque. When it’s all over, there’s a lot to think about, which turns out to be a more enjoyable exercise than actually playing The Path.
I’m really torn on The Path. I don’t know what to do about it.
Akela Talamasca on Big Download
Many won’t enjoy it and some won’t understand, but this is an important step in the evolution of gaming. This sort of experimentation deserves recognition and reward and I only hope we’ll see more like it.
Dave James in PC Format 227 (June 2009)
The Path probeert je duidelijk te maken dat je je eigen levensweg moet bepalen en niet altijd naar anderen moet luisteren, zelfs al weet je dat het naar je eigen ondergang zal leiden. Zware kost dus, afwisselen met Braid is dan ook toegelaten.
Bart Van Heymbeeck in PG Gameplay 157 (May 2009)
There was also a 4 page review plus interview in the Ukrainian Gameplay magazine. Apparently, according to our esteemed colleague of Ice-Pick Lodge, they rated The Path the same as Killzone 2. 😀
As an art house project The Path can be considered quite successful. The work of Tale of Tales is preserved thanks to the vagueness of the game’s genre. It’s difficult to review something that has nothing to be compared with. If you’re looking for a new experience, then consider your $10 well spent.
Kirill Tokarev in Gameplay
Maybe we’re a little bit like scientists in a lab. We set up all the elements that are required for an experiment and then we run the test and accept whatever comes out of it. Sometimes the outcome is more interesting than other times. But no outcome is wrong.
Pedro Giglio picked our brains in English and Portuguese. And extracts a list of favourite game designers from us.
Our favorite German games magazine gave The Path their coveted “Gee loves me!” sticker. This and much more in today’s episode of The Path in The Press.
The Path poses many intriguing questions about the division between art and game, it is also a horror game of the finest degree, it doesn’t have any shocking scare moments. Rather, it unsettles and unnerves you in many ways.
Es ist eine interaktive Erzählung, eine Geschichte, die man sich selbst erzählt.
Carsten Görig on Spiegel Online
But is it a game, per se? Probably not, yet the game mechanics are key to its success.
En The Path se habla de la vida, de la muerte, del amor y de la sexualidad haciendo uso de un simbolismo sugerente como en muy pocos otros medios se encuentra, y al contrario que en muchas ocasiones en las que se intenta emplear escudándose en un sobrecargado diseño y exageradas pretensiones, funciona.
Aitor Fernández on Eurogamer.es
Be sure to approach this short horror game as an experimental interactive narrative rather than a typical video game with clear goals and rewards, and you won’t be disappointed.
Das genussvolle und bisweilen verängstigte Herumirren, die Ziellosigkeit und die Langsamkeit gehören nicht nur zu “The Path”, sie machen das Spiel aus.
To classify Tale of Tales masterpiece of interactive adventure in storytelling artwork as a game forces expectations on The Path and these expectations would do more harm than good to this brilliant and memorable experience.
Mit diesem wirklich gelungenen Experiment im Bereich interaktiver Selbstfindung zeigen „Tale of Tales“, dass man in der festgefahrenen Branche durchaus noch Neues schaffen kann.
(…) it is obvious from the outset that developer Tale of Tales have made a conscious decision to attempt to shatter any conventions you may previously have held regarding gameplay and narrative.
Het oogt en klinkt prachtig, en speelt uniek.
There’s also an interview with Auriea on Gamereactor TV, filmed at our booth at the Independent Games Festival.
And once more, for the record:
Without titles like The Path, games risk being relegated to permanent insularity. Audiences and designers who care about games must play– and buy – these kinds of games, and accept their role in the future legitimacy of the medium.
Audiences constantly demand video games fight familiar boundaries. We’re sick of the same old, same old. We want creativity, artistic integrity, elegance and depth–or do we? Do players know what they’re asking for when they look for “more” from games? And if this is really what we want, then what’s with the mixed reception–both cultural and economic–when we get it?
Leigh Alexander asks the question on Kotaku. And she elaborates further while illustrating her points with our little baby The Path. It’s an interesting question and one that we have certainly pondered as well. Ever since we made contact with the games industry we have been wondering about the odd contrast between a strong desire for exploring the medium’s potential and the incredibly small number of fresh games. This is not just about the “dreaded” A word. This is simply about doing something new, something fresh, something that moves people, that touches them. It’s so rare.
Dutch television station VPRO has made a documentary about the latest GDC in San Francisco. You can watch it online too. The show is in Dutch but many of the interviewees speak English (it’s subtitled). While the documentary is not about independent games, the program is part of series about trendspotting. So they quickly end up in the IGF pavilion.
We’re in it it too.
And so is Robin.
And Jonathan Blow, Kellee Santiago, Phil Fish, Eric Zimmerman, Heather Kelley, Erik Svedäng, Kyle Gabler, etc
More press about The Path. Bring the Universal Translator online!
Wonderful things have been written about our game. In some beautiful and strange languages. And in English. Makes us glow with pride! Someone called The Path the “Un Chien Andalou” of computer games. Citizen Kane, move over! 😉 And we’ve heard somewhere that Tale of Tales is to indie games what indie games are to mainstream games. But I forgot where I read that. If you know, please let us know. It’s a great quote.
Alright. Let the spectacle commence!
Czech:
Ve hře najdeme spoustu jednoduše geniálních nápadů, které nenásilným způsobem uvádí hráče do role spolutvůrce vlastního zážitku bez toho, aby musel na něco klikat, nebo cokoliv používat.
Swedish:
Det är deras sårbarhet som gör spelet så starkt. Det är här sex flickor, på väg genom barndomen och tonåren, som man möter under en kort stund. På väg genom livet.
Norwegian:
The Path er ingen hyggelig opplevelse. Snarere tvert i mot. Det tar for seg noen av de verste temaene du kan tenke deg, og det gjør det på en måte som kan få deg til å føle deg skyldig og skitten.
German:
The Path ist ein viel subtileres Horrorspiel, ohne Schockmomente, ohne gewalttätige Monster – es geht euch stattdessen viel lieber direkt vom Computerbildschirm unter die Haut.
Polish:
Nie mam co do tego żadnych wątpliwości. „The Path” (ang. ścieżka), autorskie dzieło Auriee Harvey i Michaëla Samyna ze studia Tale of Tales, będzie kiedyś postrzegane przez historyków interaktywnego wideo jako milowy krok w rozwoju tego medium. To, przy zachowaniu proporcji, „Pies andaluzyjski” gier komputerowych – utwór głęboko symboliczny, ekspresyjny, osadzony w poetyce sennych wizji, wykorzystujący nowatorskie techniki narracji.
Singaporian:
The Path is probably the best independent game ever made. And it’s one of the best adventure games, period, even when compared against the big boys. But it’s also an outstanding piece of non-linearinteractive narrative, which proves again that entertainment can legitimately doubleas art. Playing The Path is as rewarding as reading a literary novel.
Christopher Lim in The Business Times
(bolded by us, hey it’s our blog! ;p )
And English:
The artwork in The Path is exquisite and an example of how subtlety can be more effective than state-of-the-art-graphics.
Tale of Tales reminds us that we can encounter meaning even when we stray from the path of convention and explore the medium that is more expansive than we often recognize.
Jorge Albor on Experience Points
An interview for those who need to Know:
We never ever set out to make obscure or confusing work. We want our work to be pleasant, to make you feel good. It makes us feel good to play The Path and we know that many people feel the same. But other people are confused and weirded out by the game, sometimes even depressed. We’re a bit disappointed by that.
Interview with Dan Liebman on Dark Zero
And we’re continuing our monthly subscription to Games TM:
Some more reviews, ponderings, daydreams and an interview about The Path.
This is one of the most interesting things you’ll see on a PC this year. […] More artists, and more game developers, should be this brave.
[As] a piece of interactive art – it’s a piece of software truly worth celebrating – and those that play it to the end will find something truly memorable, unlike so many games that are forgotten as soon as the end credits roll.
Do not even try to fight against the pace, just surrender. If you’d never call a game “beautiful” or “touching”, probably it is too late for you to play The Path. Or maybe you are not ready yet.
The joy of it comes not from the way in which the journey ends but rather in the full immersion that one experiences on the way.
The effort put into The Path is equal to the enjoyment received. Look at the game like a difficult piece of literature that needs to be sampled over and over again. This isn’t John Grisham, it’s Leo Tolstoy.
Aaron Thayer on The Silicon Sasquatch
The Path’s ideas aren’t built around gameplay; its gameplay is built around ideas.
Blind nach den Grenzen tasten, als Spielfigur erwachsen werden: Keine sehr angenehme Erfahrung, aber eine, wie man sie nur in ganz wenigen Computerspielen macht.
Achim Fehrenbach on Lords of Zock
Mimo prostej z pozoru historii The Path jest bardzo wielowymiarowa i metaforyczna. Na dodatek bardziej babska, niż jakakolwiek inna gra w którą miałam okazję grać. To opowieść o dorastaniu i utracie niewinności. To również historia poznawania świata od jego złej strony.
Kaja Szafrańska on Game Corner
And an interview with Joe Martin on Bit-Tech Net:
Observing art is a playful activity. But its rules are a lot looser than those of most games because art is about the viewer. And video games tend to be a bit too forceful, too insistent on their own meaning and story. There’s not enough room for play in games to allow them to become art.
Here’s some video reviews of The Path. Video is kind of a frustrating medium because Google doesn’t have a translation machine for it. So I recommend you just press play on all of these simultaneously to get the overall effect.
The Escapist (English):
Game Corner (Polish)
PC Guru (Hungarian):
NoobToob (English):