In Sound Mind

I got this for free on Epic, reviewing their version. I had no expectations when I started playing. Actually I expected to play 10 minutes, uninstall, and forget I ever had this game. But it drew me in with it's atmosphere, and I stuck around all the way to the finish. In Sound Mind plays a lot like the newest Resident Evil Games (7&8). It's light on combat and heavy on suspense and puzzle solveing. It differs from Resident Evil in that every Level has its featured tool and there is minimal backtracking. Aside from a gun and flashlight, you will gradually find tools based on your antagonists that will help you defeat them. And you can use all your tools to fing more gear in the Hub that serves as an interlude between levels. It's a not terribly scary game. Much more suspense than horror. Little if any blood or gore. There are some jumpscares, where the antagonist will poof into existence just to make you piss yourself, but he can't actually hurt you untill the end of the game. Good soundtrack and sound design. Poor optimisation. I depending on the area averaged 40-50 fps. Low replay value. Anyway, I had fun but not $35 worth of fun. Snag it on sale. It's definitely worth playing at least once.

"In Sound Mind" is quite a complex game in which you, as a former therapist, get to the bottom of the deaths of some of your patients. Did your treatment really drive to them death - or is there more to it than that. That's what you have to find out in this puzzle and exploration game that defines itself as a horror game, but isn't, because there is never any scare, panic or fear. In fact I was very annoyed by the monsters that appeared unnecessarily. And what's with the nonsense with the boss fights? Unfortunately, there is a clear point deduction for this. Otherwise there are levels per patient with huge, varied areas to explore. The puzzles are very good and the surreal, mysterious basic story is conveyed quite well. Additionally the game mechanics are very cleverly expanded with more tools each level, which is very motivating. All in all a very good experience. Deductions as said for the ridiculous fight scenes and the lighthouse level which is pretty bad. But the player shouldn't think that a new real horror game like "Amnesia: The Dark Descent" awaits him here, rather an exploration and detective game like "Infra".

So... if you like story driven horror game that has a simple puzzles and villians with sad background story. Combat through the enemies and overcome obstacles with gadgets. Unexpected events that doesn't only scare you, but also humors you. Go for it, but take your time while exploring. Allowing to find secrets that upgrade your skills and makes it more worthwile, which also deepens the lore. Took 12 hours to end it with all the upgraes and vinlys, at normal difficult. Good: - Making jokes does not water down the horrofying atmosphere. - Adding colorfull theme and soundtrack towards every character makes it... unique. - Sad background lore of villians makes its lore deeper. - Story in this game is good, its just a good twist. - Not many overused horror elements in it either, which is also outstanding. - Easy puzzles or obstacles to defeat or getting gadgets to explore different areas. - Upgrading your skills by finding special pills are around the levels. Gives u more reason to revisit/explore. - Unique gadgets, like a mirror that shows your back and secrets? I will not try to give away too much info. - Did not find one bug/problems. A big plus, for an indie developer! - Cat. Just pet it to the max. Purfect. Neutral: - Some note/lore can be edgy/cringe. This does not apply for everyone. Bad: - Getting to some pills took time. Couldn't do it without walkthrough. Now, would the creators kindly make another game like this. A pretty please? Don't force me to use a tape player!

Perfectly balanced, excellently paced. Every aspect of the game is at least a 8/10. aside from perhaps, optimization. What stands out though is how well paced experience it is. Too rarely developers just mush a bunch of elements together and let the player go crazy with it. But then it just feels like running around and "performing actions" without doing anything meaningful. Even when the game shouldn't - it feels "sandboxy" meaning you can do a lot of stuff, but few things carry any weight to them. With "In sound mind" you never lose that cinematic feel to the game. At the same time the game doesn't hold your hand. You figure stuff on your own and have fun doing it. I was going to call it a "walking simulator" but that would be unfair as there's too much action in here. But a funny thought came to mind. This is what Silent Hill should look like. Of course it should be more creepy and so on, but as for how the player is guided through the whole experience, how the story is intervowen into gameplay, how gameplay elements have double meanings, how there are clever hints and nuances - that's just *chef's kiss*. Watch and learn, Konami. in "In sound mind" the whoule journey, it's twists and turns feel hand crafted. The game never gets boring. Nothing feels "samey", I mean I don't see a point in having more than one playthrough, but just one took me about 18 hours so even if you fare better (faster) you still get plenty bang for your buck. Also I really enjoyed the difficulty of both the puzzles and combat. Excellent combination of challenging and enjoyable. My only gripe is probably the optimization, as the game gets a bit janky. Then again I'm not exactly using a high end rig, so there's that. Higly reccomended.