Not only of sight and sound, but of mind

There’s always a great feeling when a game takes me by surprise. One that I have never heard of before or one that always flew under my radar and I eventually get to and find it completely endearing. It happens once in a blue moon, but when it does, it sticks with me for a while. That’s exactly what happened when I played In Sound Mind. A game that I had never even heard of before turned out to be a great horror themed experience with some amazing atmosphere and mechanics I never would have thought of.

Players control Dr. Desmond Wales, a psychologist who is navigating a rather hellish world that blends in with reality as well as the psychosis of his patients. This results in familiar areas set in twisted and off-putting demeanors. So, an apartment building with doors leading to other worlds or a closed down supermarket with ghostly apparitions wailing in the aisles.

Platforms: PC, Xbox, PS, Switch
MSRP: $39.99
Price I’d pay: $39.99

Taking cues from the Blooper Team and even some of Condemned games, In Sound Mind is a first-person game, but not always a first-person shooter. It is more of an adventure game where exploration and puzzle solving take precedence over shooting enemies. That’s not to say Dr. Wales can’t defend himself, he gets access to melee and ranged weapons throughout this nightmare, but in the grand scheme of things, this is more of an atmospheric puzzle game.

Players will be collecting items they will need to use in different ways to progress. A good example is the aforementioned supermarket. Desmond must collect coins to use to get items to progress. He must first solve a puzzle regarding the cash registers and scanning products for the correct amount in order to get the precious coin inside the register. This is while he’s trying to keep unkillable ghosts that are constantly chasing off his back by using a piece of a mirror to show the ghost’s reflection because she can’t stand the sight of herself, but I can’t physically look at her because she hates anyone looking at her and it drives her insane. So, I have to hold the mirror up in front of my eyes and look behind me a la Perseus fighting Medusa. When I first did this in the game, I couldn’t help but to think “this is one the most imaginative things I’ve seen in a game.” It keeps going from there. I’m not going to go into detail, because of spoilers, but this game keeps up the tension with some pretty well-thought-out things.

The story is told via levels and a hub world. Desmond’s apartment building is a puzzle in and of itself, but it also serves as a returning place in between patients’ levels. Here, he can obtain new items that allow him to explore more areas, stock up on health, and find upgrade pills that will give him better health, sneaking ability, stamina, and speed. That’s also not to say that I was safe in the apartment building. I am constantly getting phone calls from a villainous voice and a being chased by stalking enemies around nearly every corner.

Now, while I love a lot of this game, there are the few drawbacks. The pacing is decent in some sense, but there was a lot of backtracking. In a game of this kind, one is to expect it, but some of these areas can get rather large and complex and when you have enemies chasing you most of the time, it can just get a little frustrating. There is a small sense of direction, but don’t go in expecting the game to tell you where to go next. Desmond can get a hint or two from his talking cat in his office, but it is never the biggest help and there were times I ended up scouring the apartment complex trying to find the next progression mark. While I respect a game that allows me to fight back, there were sometimes that the gunplay and the melee just didn’t gel with me. Either the aiming was off or a swing from my mirror just didn’t connect even though I’m right on top of the enemy. Luckily, the enemies in this game don’t hit overly hard so it wasn’t a deal breaker at all.

I think the biggest standout is the atmosphere. For a game that has nearly cartoony visuals and NO gore at all (this game is rated T) it still hit those tension marks I would expect from a good horror game. I was thoroughly surprised with the entire experience and just in time for the Halloween season. This is one game that I recommend whole-heartedly for anyone looking for a good psychological horror game that focuses more on exploration and puzzles than full on combat. Don’t sleep on this one. It’s pretty great.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.