Greetings Gamers, Greg here to talk about In Sound Mind, a psychological detective horror from We Create Stuff and Modus games. The creators who brought you the cult classic, Nightmare House 2, bring you this dark and captivating mystery where you are trying to survive this terrifying trip through the psyche.
Overview
You play a psychiatrist who wakes in the basement-level trash area of a strange building, confused and troubled by the haze in your good doctor’s memory. As you progress through the building, you encounter an environment that takes a life of its own bursting with creatures in the shadows and clues to solving the mystery of what is happening. As you find tape recordings of troubled people and listen to their stories to understand how to work your way through the maze of your own mind, remembering things along the way.
GamePlay
In Sound Mind is a first-person psychological horror you are trying to survive. The player is given a flashlight early on only adding to the creepiness of the strange and seemingly haunted building you are exploring. Players will be asked to solve frenetic puzzles and creep through terrifying nightmares to discover what’s really going on. Luckily, your character isn’t defenseless the whole time. As you sold mysteries, you gain handy tools to help cope with the tragic haunting memories your character lives while listening to the tapes. Finding a flashlight that stops a creature in its tracks, a gun for shooting things, or even a piece of mirror for deep reflection… and cutting extremely strong caution tape. Just as a tangent there is tape your character cannot break and I found it insulting immediately, but then they addressed it in the dialog! The Doc saying this is strangely strong police tape or that it must have been mystical. This kind of thing makes me really happy because otherwise, it would have been insulting to the player and the world the player lives in.
Pros
This is a well-executed game that makes it feel really creepy when it’s supposed to scare you and bringing an interesting narrative when it wants to enlighten you a little more about what’s going on. There’s a cat, Tonia, and you can pet it so that’s always a plus. The game offers unique puzzles mechanics, weapons, and boss fights in a series of haunting memories.
Cons
Though the music and sound design were good, I wasn’t a fan of the voice acting from the mystery caller. The voice on the phone sounds a little cheesy and could use another pass. Though a well-executed game overall, some details lacked polish such as the User Interface for the inventory.
Conclusion
A creepy dive into several unique realms of fears that allows us to live on the edge of terror and intrigue. I found the way In Sound Mind decided to tell this story was interesting and engaging because it really transported players to a different world while listening to the pieces of the mystery allowing the imagination to run wild while living key moments of trauma for the people bearing their souls. For these efforts, I’m going to give In Sound Mind a 7/10. If you would like more information or want to know when and where you can get it check out below.
Developer: We Create Stuff
Publisher: Modus Games
Street Date: September 28, 2021; Nintendo Switch version coming 2021
Price: $34.99/ $39.99 Deluxe Edition (PS5/Xbox X/Switch)
Platform: PlayStation 5 / Xbox Series X / PC / Nintendo Switch
Genre: Psychological Horror
ESRB: T (Teen)
Website: www.insoundmind.com
Check Out the In Sound Mind Trailer – https://youtu.be/xibOLSIdrFk
PlayStation 5 Review
I've been a life long nerd and video game junkie known to associate with the likes of Link, Nathan Drake, Batman, and Master Chief. I'm a filmmaker by profession, but spend lots of time behind a controller escaping the real world. @GregVelde on Instagram/Twitter/YouTube
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