Not sure if its the right forum to post - but I struggled in Chapter 1 with the Pathos mechanic. I could not absorb any pathos statements whatsoever - tried for a good 15 mins - so I am sure its not just my drunken targeting.
I was playing on Mean Logic Difficulty - so for the round with the pathos statements it might be that having a full set of truth bullets made it impossible? That's just a shot in the dark though - either way couldn't get the Pathos mechanic to work.
I hade issues with that as well while playing on a controller. After switching to keyboard I realized I needed to be very precise with my aim and hold down the button for it to work. I also had problems with the slow-mo mechanic at the time I think, so it might be a technical issue and different for everyone.
Anyway, switching to keyboard and aiming with the mouse while holding down the button worked for me after some trial and error (probably like 5-15 minutes of trying :/ )