The Path

Now This Is an odd one, in many, many ways. Basically a twisted retelling of the Red Riding Hood story, The Path is sedate, relaxed, and very messed up.

After choosing one of six girls, your character is dropped off in a dark forest on the titular path. Your objective is spelt out right at the start: "Go to grandmother's house. Stay on the path." Of course, the first thing you do (after getting used to the slightly odd controls) is take your girl off The Path and into the far more interesting woods. Then things get very strange. There's no challenge here. There's no risk, no enemies, no real puzzles to solve and no Game Over. The Path is all about story and slow exploration, and is, if nothing else,

a unique game. It seems childlike and innocent at the start (if you don't move, a girl in white will come along and literally hold your hand) but quickly turns much darker.

While there isn't any sex or violence some very adult themes are explored, and when you finally get to granny's house it really takes a turn towards horror, removing all control from you except for moving forward. The game's main problem is repetition. While each girl is a different experience, it does boil down to wandering around a dark wood for hours trying to find items or places of interest.

That said, The Path is strangely intoxicating and is certainly an original, properly adult game (something that's all too rare), but it can get boring, fairly quickly. If you have a lot of patience, follow The Path. If not, bugger off and pick up an FPS.