I've always liked that the Termitary and the Abattoir are right next to each other, it really shows how the two contrast but also how the two are similar. Both monolithic structures are where the kin do their work, and the work is similarly bloody in both structures. The very shapes of the structures symbolise how they differ, the Abattoir is round, and connected to the earth, it resembles a heart. The Termitary on the other hand is just a couple of giant cubes, it resembles the factory's, showing how Big Vlad wants to industrialise the Kin. The Kin can't truly worship Mother Boddho in the Termitary, the concrete walls block her, she can't reach her children. The Kin in the Termitary serve Big Vlad instead, who is also strangely similar to Mother Boddho. Both Vlad and Mother Boddho want the Kin to work as a collective, they don't want the Kin to embrace or express individuality, but something about the two differ and I'm not entirely sure how. The Kin clearly hate working in the Termitary, but are fine to work in the Abattoir, why is this? I'm not completely certain. If you consider that the Abattoir heavily resembles a heart, then maybe the Termitary could represent the lungs? Now this might get a little crude, but here me out. Bachelor compares the Abattoir to an ass, seeing it as the bottom of the town with the Polyhedron being the crown sitting at the top, but what if it's the other way around? What if the Abattoir and the Termitary are the heart and lungs, near the centre of the torso, and the Polyhedron down towards the bottom, perhaps representing a penis? Many see a penis as a tool for creation, and the Kains see the Polyhedron less as their magnum opus and more as a springboard where they can expand and create new, even more magnificent things. So why do children inhabit it? Perhaps they represent seed? The children will be the ones to create the future, they will conceive a new town, a new society from the Polyhedron and it will be birthed on the other side of the river. Perhaps the river that the Polyhedron sits in the middle of could represent a vagina? (again, forgive the crudeness.) This also works with the metanarrative, in the Nocturnal ending the Polyhedron is occupied by the Devisers, the creators of the game, they take the form of the children, reinforcing the idea that the children are creators. Nikolay Dybowsky has expressed his interest in young artists, to quote his deep game manifesto: "Art is like a wandering soul, moving from old bodies, to young ones. It finds new forms and transforms them according to its own laws." Here's a link to the full manifesto. old.ice-pick.com/ore10_eng.htm Sorry for such a long and messy comment, and I don't even know if I conveyed these ideas in even a semi understandable fashion, but whatever.
A fascinating comment. I wish I had the energy right now to respond to it in a meaningful and coherent fashion. I will do my best anyway. I think a quality of a good work of art is that it has multiple interpretations. Of course, not every interpretation can be correct, but I think yours holds water. I've certainly voiced similar opinions about the first part of your comment, I think in my Artemy analysis videos. The Kin hate working in the Termitary because it is a symbolically "civilizing" force, a large, depressing-looking bunkhouse where Big Vlad jams them in like sardines in order to make the biggest profit. In the context of the game, the Townspeople represent a more modern society, whereas the Kin obviously represent something slightly "baser", I suppose you could say, a step away from industrialization and back towards nature. Pathologic basically allows you to make your own judgement about which ideology is more appealing, however, which is what I find so interesting. I think your theory about the Abattoir and Termitary being different body parts could technically be refuted by the map of the Town, which itself (in-game) shows the bull's head as being where the Kains live (which is fitting, as they are the intellectual ruling family), while the bowels are represented by the Abattoir, where more bodily processes occur and things churn; blood and shit and death, and so on. But what draws me to your idea is this idea of the youth. I do agree that young artists have the capability to do great things, and so your idea of the Polyhedron as a phallic symbol (which, of course, tall buildings like skyscrapers generally seem to be), is interesting. The fact that the Powers that Be occupy it at all times is of course a key part of the story - their presence on it in the Nocturnal ending is the same as finding them at the center of it in the original game. For me the Polyhedron represents the imagination of the child, just as you argue. When it is destroyed, the game ends. Life moves on. You have, I think, further inspired me to do a video on the ideological struggle and the way it is represented through, among other things, architecture in Pathologic. Hopefully I can release something like that early next year.
If the Polyhedron is a metaphor for living vicariously through video games then I'd say it's more like a womb. Not sure if this is completely my own speculation, I have a vague recollection of hearing it compared to video games by Dybowsky somewhere... could be making that up, though. "Nikolay Dybowsky has expressed his interest in young artists" has not aged well, unfortunately.
Nothing quite like stepping into a place filled with the already-doomed. This track does do a great job of influencing the mood and accompanying the grim and dark images you see within.
They both do different things very well. The original creates the sense of alienation very well - of a place growing new bones through its flesh, the electronic beats smashing through the older instruments. The newer game creates a sense of a distant home - somewhere you've been once before, but it has since been lost to not only you, but many of its current inhabitants. Both are amazing.
@@HorrorGameAnalysis I wonder if they change the soundtrack for the bachelor. It makes sense for the haruspex to have more natural sounding music since he's local, but having a bit more electronic instruments would make a lot of sense for the bachelor since he's from the capital and a utopian
I've always liked that the Termitary and the Abattoir are right next to each other, it really shows how the two contrast but also how the two are similar.
Both monolithic structures are where the kin do their work, and the work is similarly bloody in both structures. The very shapes of the structures symbolise how they differ, the Abattoir is round, and connected to the earth, it resembles a heart. The Termitary on the other hand is just a couple of giant cubes, it resembles the factory's, showing how Big Vlad wants to industrialise the Kin. The Kin can't truly worship Mother Boddho in the Termitary, the concrete walls block her, she can't reach her children. The Kin in the Termitary serve Big Vlad instead, who is also strangely similar to Mother Boddho. Both Vlad and Mother Boddho want the Kin to work as a collective, they don't want the Kin to embrace or express individuality, but something about the two differ and I'm not entirely sure how. The Kin clearly hate working in the Termitary, but are fine to work in the Abattoir, why is this? I'm not completely certain.
If you consider that the Abattoir heavily resembles a heart, then maybe the Termitary could represent the lungs?
Now this might get a little crude, but here me out. Bachelor compares the Abattoir to an ass, seeing it as the bottom of the town with the Polyhedron being the crown sitting at the top, but what if it's the other way around? What if the Abattoir and the Termitary are the heart and lungs, near the centre of the torso, and the Polyhedron down towards the bottom, perhaps representing a penis? Many see a penis as a tool for creation, and the Kains see the Polyhedron less as their magnum opus and more as a springboard where they can expand and create new, even more magnificent things. So why do children inhabit it? Perhaps they represent seed? The children will be the ones to create the future, they will conceive a new town, a new society from the Polyhedron and it will be birthed on the other side of the river. Perhaps the river that the Polyhedron sits in the middle of could represent a vagina? (again, forgive the crudeness.)
This also works with the metanarrative, in the Nocturnal ending the Polyhedron is occupied by the Devisers, the creators of the game, they take the form of the children, reinforcing the idea that the children are creators. Nikolay Dybowsky has expressed his interest in young artists, to quote his deep game manifesto: "Art is like a wandering soul, moving from old bodies, to young ones. It finds new forms and transforms them according to its own laws." Here's a link to the full manifesto.
old.ice-pick.com/ore10_eng.htm
Sorry for such a long and messy comment, and I don't even know if I conveyed these ideas in even a semi understandable fashion, but whatever.
A fascinating comment. I wish I had the energy right now to respond to it in a meaningful and coherent fashion. I will do my best anyway.
I think a quality of a good work of art is that it has multiple interpretations. Of course, not every interpretation can be correct, but I think yours holds water. I've certainly voiced similar opinions about the first part of your comment, I think in my Artemy analysis videos. The Kin hate working in the Termitary because it is a symbolically "civilizing" force, a large, depressing-looking bunkhouse where Big Vlad jams them in like sardines in order to make the biggest profit. In the context of the game, the Townspeople represent a more modern society, whereas the Kin obviously represent something slightly "baser", I suppose you could say, a step away from industrialization and back towards nature. Pathologic basically allows you to make your own judgement about which ideology is more appealing, however, which is what I find so interesting.
I think your theory about the Abattoir and Termitary being different body parts could technically be refuted by the map of the Town, which itself (in-game) shows the bull's head as being where the Kains live (which is fitting, as they are the intellectual ruling family), while the bowels are represented by the Abattoir, where more bodily processes occur and things churn; blood and shit and death, and so on. But what draws me to your idea is this idea of the youth. I do agree that young artists have the capability to do great things, and so your idea of the Polyhedron as a phallic symbol (which, of course, tall buildings like skyscrapers generally seem to be), is interesting. The fact that the Powers that Be occupy it at all times is of course a key part of the story - their presence on it in the Nocturnal ending is the same as finding them at the center of it in the original game. For me the Polyhedron represents the imagination of the child, just as you argue. When it is destroyed, the game ends. Life moves on.
You have, I think, further inspired me to do a video on the ideological struggle and the way it is represented through, among other things, architecture in Pathologic. Hopefully I can release something like that early next year.
If the Polyhedron is a metaphor for living vicariously through video games then I'd say it's more like a womb. Not sure if this is completely my own speculation, I have a vague recollection of hearing it compared to video games by Dybowsky somewhere... could be making that up, though.
"Nikolay Dybowsky has expressed his interest in young artists" has not aged well, unfortunately.
just walking into the termitary makes me completely terrified of everything within. this track is a large, large part of it.
Nothing quite like stepping into a place filled with the already-doomed. This track does do a great job of influencing the mood and accompanying the grim and dark images you see within.
I still can't decide which game's soundtrack I like more.
They both do different things very well.
The original creates the sense of alienation very well - of a place growing new bones through its flesh, the electronic beats smashing through the older instruments.
The newer game creates a sense of a distant home - somewhere you've been once before, but it has since been lost to not only you, but many of its current inhabitants.
Both are amazing.
@@HorrorGameAnalysis I wonder if they change the soundtrack for the bachelor. It makes sense for the haruspex to have more natural sounding music since he's local, but having a bit more electronic instruments would make a lot of sense for the bachelor since he's from the capital and a utopian
если бы вы знали как я люблю саундтрек термитника вы бы расплакались (я тоже)
Love this one
Damn this shits fire