The Path is well worth the $10 from the two chapters I've played, but it's not at all for the impatient.
It's pure exploration and atmosphere in terms of what you're doing and while not scary so far, it succeeds in being creepy and disturbing purely by implication and tricks of gameplay and colour.
Oh and the sound, the sound and art direction are just superb. I didn't want to buy the full version of The Graveyard just to see what death added to the equation, but by having more 'meat' and game elements, (meaningless as some might be in the end) it does a lot to help push you along and keep exploring without relying on time limits or enemies to keep you going.
The lack of active threats, but emphasis on dread and hesitation is a fine choice and it's something I wish more games that want to scare you would do. I'd love to play a Silent Hill game that didn't actually require me to put up with clunky combat and silly puzzles, but just did the shit that makes the series, and games like it, appealing to so many people who play it in spite of the gameplay.
I don't like every choice The Path made gameplay wise, such as limiting your speed at moments, but you tend to grasp why they did it and respect that it was a done to further the impact of a moment, and isn't there just because it's part of a preset horror game checklist.
I especially love the lack of enemies, as after a while bandaged men in straight jackets and scary cleavage nurses boil down to Goombas and Koopas in different skins. Designers break their own atmosphere by adhering to a requirement of enemy tiers or having enemies at all and I think this limits the appeal of horror games overall.
A horror movie doesn't make you to actively participate in the danger, but you fully participate in the suspense and dread, The Path requires you to do the latter, mostly succeeds even in my limited experience with it and it should be noted by any game designers looking to take a ball and scare the fuck out of as wide an audience as possible with it.
