The Dark Path to the Black Tower

A short but marvelous 2D Exit 8-like game with top notch atmosphere and a delightfully minimalistic pixel art presentation. Anyone who cares for the genre, and is curious on how it can be realized successfully as a 2D sidescroller, should give this game a try!

I loved the eerie and mysterious atmosphere of this game. I can recommend the game for its intriguing world. What I disliked is confusion. A significant part of my gameplay was about completely figuring the lose and progress conditions. When we encounter an anomaly we turn back, okay, that's simple. But which direction are we supposed to go after leaving the anomaly room? Did the game restart because I have failed an anomaly? It takes time to completely figure out the game, especially when you can't be sure if the loop has restarted because you failed to spot an anomaly, or you have just walked to the wrong side than the game wants you to progress. I'm intrigued with the stories we unravel. I wish we could read the notes we collected in the main menu after completing character fates. Because I didn't understand some parts while playing, to be honest, then forgot what I readed. Despite the UI/UX problems, it's a game I liked and will remember forever.

The Dark Path is a very enjoyable addition to the anomaly genre and one that I definitely recommend. Along with the graphic style, which is right up my street, it also has fantastic sound design which really helps to build the atmosphere. You uncover small pieces of lore as you play as well which was another welcome addition to the game and a good number of the anomalies themselves were really memorable which I think is really important for any game of this genre. It's similar to many other games of its type, where you turn back on yourself if you come across something different to normal, but the progression through the stages isn't quite as clear cut as other games in the genre, but you soon figure it out. Overall a great game 😊