In Sound Mind (2021)

This is a soundly-balanced First-Person Adventure game. It combined Portal 2 like puzzles and environmental hazards to overcome that at times feel similar to half-life. It's got decent but smart and simple level design. It has just the right amount of lore and notes, collectibles etc. The only faults I'd give it are that the FPS elements area bit difficult because enemies are quite dodgy, fortunately the game isn't very hard and combat is an occasional bit.

The game also has light metroidvania elements where the building you explore slowly opens up. It doesn't really play like survival horror but fools you into thinking that's what it might be like.

If you like puzzle first person games in the vein of Stanley Parable, Portal 2, Infra or Narrative-focused games this is worth checking out.

You play the role of clinical psychotherapist, and you sort of explore the minds of your patients in each level, battling their demons and coming to a kind of climax and subsequent denouement. I thought the game did a pretty good job illustrating various mental disorders. (Do be aware that is a major plot element of the game.) There is a lot of well written metaphor and symbolism.

The music and atmosphere in this game is quite good. Its usually creepy or foreboding. The collectible music is also quite pleasing and worth looking for. Not sure I can say the same for those pill upgrades, though

There is even a collectible record for each patient that plays 'their song' and I thought this was maybe the most well done and executed aspect of the game. I mean, it would be awesome if maybe EVERY videogame had collectible in game music you can unlock and play and its written from the perspective of each of the major characters in the game... Genius.

The game looks pretty good on low settings. I had bad performance issues on default but cranked it down and it stopped the weird hitching. I don't generally fault game for technical issues like this but yeah, it seems to be an issue other people have, too.

So, if you like these kinds of games that I mention, check it out. It was better than I expected, and well worth the 12-15 hours or so it takes to complete.

When I started this game, I was absolutely blown away. The two beginning areas are so well-designed on both a puzzle and aesthetic level. But I was shocked how horrendous the rest of the game is.

The first two areas have this Resident Evil 1/2 remake vibe - super creepy and mysterious. The puzzles are really fun and satisfying. But then the next areas became way too open, monotonous, and felt like a different dev team. After the third area (lighthouse) I though - ok, maybe that was a fluke. But the next two areas had the same feel. A huge outdoor space, boring puzzles, monotonous bosses, and zero atmosphere.

After the 2nd to last area, I bailed. I had zero fun and the game became a complete slog. I don’t understand how that happened. I’m curious if others feel differently, but to me it feels super objectively bad.

Playing the game for the first time, it might seem to you that it's a walking simulator, but as it goes on, you'll be surprised at the amount of gameplay it offers. In many ways, it is similar to the latest Resident Evil games.

The game puts you in the shoes of a clinical psychologist, Desmond, who (what do you know) has amnesia. Sure, we have seen that countless times, but it's what comes next that matters, right? At first, it does give you an Amnesia: The Dark Descent feeling, but as you explore the first area, which serves as the hub, you realize it's more Resident Evil than Amnesia.

There are four other areas in the game, each one representing the memories of one of Desmond's clients. They each have their distinctive design and feeling, heavily influenced by games like Alan Wake and Half-Life (and probably others I couldn't figure out). In each level, there is a nemesis that can't be brought down by conventional weapons, and this is where the game offers its biggest innovation. Instead of guns, you'll have to use a mirror shard, flares, pills, and a radio to defeat the nemeses in each level. These newly acquired weapons are used to unlock other areas in the hub or the other levels.

The rest of the gameplay consists of sporadic shooting of regular enemies (of which there are two types), collecting items to improve stats as well as optional items, and a good deal of puzzles. The puzzles aren't particularly hard, but they can be obtuse at times, and they vary from simple to complex. There's a cat in the game who tells you to git gud, and it doesn't make much sense when she does, but you'll see what she meant later on, as the difficulty increases in the later levels. You might die a few times to the final boss.

Sound is very good, blending well with the idiosyncrasies of each level. The music is usually minimalistic, but evocative. There also vinyl collectibles, which contain songs of different genres, with very meaningful lyrics relating to the situations of the clients, Desmond, and one other character. A great touch.

Graphics, physics and mechanics are nothing to write home about. Quite outdated.

For me, the greatest feeling a story can offer is when the big reveal makes you see the series of previous events from an entirely different perspective. Alas, that doesn't happen here. The big reveal is based on Jungian mumbo-jumbo combined with CIB (the game's CIA) secret experiments, which our protagonist counters with positive psychology mumbo-jumbo. It's darkness vs. the light, psychobabble version. However, the game is also about dealing with the loss of a cat, which is the much better theme.

In Sound Mind is a pretty sound game, offering a good deal of survival horror, puzzles, action sequences, and atmosphere. The underwhelming story is counterbalanced by the original weapons you get to use and the distinct levels, each with their own well made design. I hadn't heard of this game before it was offered for free on EGS, which is a bit surprising. It's no masterpiece, but I definitely don't feel I've wasted my time on it.