In Sound Mind Review - Frightening Therapy Sessions

Fear is in your mind, see you. Dark corridors and decrepit basements are frightening only because we make them so in our heads. In Sound Mind is a horror game that makes real terrors of the human psyche. Or at least, it is the mission statement, the main motive. In truth, I found the fears somewhat erased because of some key design decisions. On the other hand, in Sound Mind creates a convincing and powerful vision of manifest psychological suffering.

You play Desmond, a therapist who investigates the circumstances surrounding the death of his patients. Well, in fact, you explore a persistent nightmarish hallucination that is linked to your patients and their death, one way or another. Each band you collect transports you when it has been recorded, giving you another chance to mitigate their suffering. It turns out that people damaged with violent impulses create dark and terrible worlds. These are magnificent and haunting kingdoms, but they are not terribly scary after a while. As soon as I have given me an agency, it has reduced these horrible appearances to a problem to solve. The more you give power to the player, the more he can overcome his fears easily.

For example, a ghost? Who can move at high speed and find you as soon as you make noise? Terrible. But once you realize that the ghost takes only ten percent of your health bar, who cares? In addition, it is completely overwhelmed by its own reflection. She abandons once she is seen in the mirror. This is a rhythm problem in his heart. Rather than a series of terrifying and fatal errors, my meeting with this spirit has been prolonged and indulgent. Although it may be my own bias at work, seeking pure horror in what is clearly a puzzle / mystery title.

In fact, in Sound Mind changes completely likely, albeit slowly. Between the introduction and the first real chapter, it becomes clear that you are supposed to clean this cursed kingdom. So powerful, the frightening atmosphere is slowly defeated by your progress. Whenever you buy a new capacity, one more element is rendered. Too dark? There is a flashlight and tons of batteries. To be hunted by man shadows? Here is a firearm! As in a real therapy session, these terrible horrors are exposed and eliminated over time.

To this end, the slowly changing tone of In Sound Mind takes all its meaning. Just as it happens with your patients, your own fears are conquered in real time. What you have left is still beautiful enough. These are wild and incredible worlds, filled with terrible dangers and claims forces. The psychosis of each patient manifests itself uniquely. Things like shame, isolation and violent self hatred are all converted into difficult and fascinating steps. Your time in these steps is somewhat prolonged thanks to heavy puzzle elements, which also suffer from rhythm problems.

Puzzles are a natural choice for horror games. You are pushed to explore each room to find a solution, forcing you in deeply disturbing spaces that you would otherwise avoid. The disadvantage comes when you are stuck properly. This frightening storage room seems outright regular once you have surveyed its depths a dozen times. Too much return behind a step of his frightful pace, see you. Maybe the most warned puzzle fans among you will never meet this specific grievance. For me, it was a way more to overthrow the atmosphere by mechanics.

For me, in Sound Mind has never found the place I expected. The horror elements are attenuated by the rhythm and the mechanics, the frustration finally replaced fear. On the other hand, there is a solid psychological thriller buried in there. Powered by the mystery of your circumstances, you slowly illuminate this monstrous kingdom. In doing so, your own role in this murderous and cerebral history is discovered. As the atmosphere, the story is interrupted by mechanics, but the writing is well-run. These worlds are not frightening in itself, but they aspire you, rewarding the patient exploration with fascinating revelations. Any account does, in Sound Mind was not the game I was expecting. But I still found to move forward, impatient to discover a little more. If you have an appetite for cerebral horror and riddling resolution, in Sound Mind could be exactly what you are looking for.