Note: This preview includes mid-game spoilers for The Path of Motus.

I’ve written about The Path of Motus before, so I was well aware of the game’s anti-bullying themes before I got to go hands-on with it. Despite knowing that the game’s messaging was clearly about how harmful words and actions can be, I found myself in a familiar role. I was using the DualShock 4’s face buttons in order to shoot projectiles (in the form of words) at enemies that were shouting at me. It was an instinctual action, and one of self-preservation since getting hit by any of their attacks would result in the titular character of Motus dying.
Now if I had actually put a minute of thought into the game, I probably would’ve noticed that fighting bullying with a more shall we say “justified” form of fighting back was pretty clearly contrary to the game’s themes. Even when the game celebrated the fact that I got through an encounter via mere evasion rather than doing damage, I kept going through the motions of attacking every enemy I’ve seen. After all, this wouldn’t be the first game I’ve played that had a real disconnect between its mechanics and story. Games are often conflictual in nature, oftentimes to the point where they undermine themselves. That wasn’t the case here, though. The conflict was purely with how I, the player, was interacting with the game. At its core, The Path of Motus presents a brilliant lesson: just ...