I regret buying this on sale. This game has so much love and soul in it.

Every once in a while, you stumble upon a hidden gem that blows you away. This is one of those cases. I'll divide this review into three parts: open info, spoiler info and super-spoilers. Read the spoilers if you want to know a bit more of what's happening. Read the super-spoiler if you've already beaten the game. That being said, I recommend that you stop reading RIGHT NOW and go in blind. Hey, if you hate it, there's a refund button, right? But you won't.

Ok, so let me preface this. I've played a lot of horror games in my life. One of my favorite genres, honestly. This allowed me at a certain point to gain eyesight to differentiate between horror games and horror-themed games. What's a horror game? Think Silent Hill 1-4. What's horror-themed? Think Resident Evil post 3, Killing Floor, Dead by Daylight, Alan Wake. Nothing wrong with that, I do like horror-themed games as much as I like horror games. One aims to scare you, the other puts you in a setting that the character might find unsettling.

I would classify "In Sound Mind" as a Horror-themed Psychological Thriller. Think Eternal Darkness. It's not scary. I mean, I don't know you. It might be scary for you. But if you play a lot of horror games, don't expect to be scared.

This game is about a character finding themselves in an unsettling situation.

So, why is this game Overwhelmingly Positive? For so many good reasons. It's sort of an intersection of many gaming influences. I got strong vibes of Alan Wake, Half-Life 2, Resident Evil 7-ish, Someday You'll Return, The Medium, The Evil Within and I'm sure some other major things I've missed. The developers are clearly very well-versed in gaming culture, or, rather, the cultural and design heritage of gaming, and it shows. They not only understand it, they build upon it.

Broad strokes? You're in a building full of puzzles trying to progress the story. Slight metroidvania vibes par for the course for horror games. I've played on Hard and it's not hard, but I am very experienced, so perhaps you'll have a different experience. The puzzles are great. They are varied, immersive, innovative and fun to solve. It's surprisingly lengthy, but not in the way that overstays its welcome. It's just a quality game with lots of content that is all great and varied. I was excited to do every side activity you could find.

One really smart and welcome gameplay decision: fairly early you get an item that allows you to find collectibles. Thank you, devs!

The music in this game is astonishing. Especially the songs you hear that you get as a reward for doing major things in the story. I often default to gaming while having a video on another monitor, but, credit where it's due, this game had all of my attention all the time. When I got another song to listen to, I was excited to go and listen to it.

Visuals? Technically speaking, it's not that impressive. It's ok, it's not ugly, but nothing to write home about. However, the developers use special effects, shadows, direction to great effect. I've caught myself just basking in the beauty numerous times during my time with this game. There are clearly, no offense, narcissists in the dev team who truly, fully, deeply understand beauty. I was thinking, "I wish I saw this in VR".

I won't touch upon the story in this section, but it's really, really good. Now, characters are all interesting, not deep per se, but well-written and compelling. Good writing, good dialogue. One character stands out: the antagonist. That guy adds so much to the experience. He keeps trolling, mocking, harassing you with phone calls and showing up and I was always looking forward to our next meeting. What a character. So much charisma. They hit the nail on the head there.

But, as any good horror(-themed) games, this one also excels in humour. The see-saw of humour and tension is perfect. On that note, this is one of the few games that got me by jump-scaring me with a still object. And then subverting that jump-scare instantly to the point I felt genuinely impressed and warm inside.

Downsides? The combat isn't anything to write home about. It works, it's not annoying, it's passable. However, the gameplay is stellar. I didn't bring up Half-Life 2 for nothing. There are some seriously talented game designers on the dev team. There are so many creative gaming situation here that don't really repeat or overstay their welcome. It's a REALLY FUN game to play. I felt younger playing In Sound Mind because it made me feel the joy of gaming I usually felt back in my teen years. Valve should really look into hiring these people. They are that good.

I also wish there were Dualshock/Dualsense icon input images, but it's a moot point, I ended up using KB/M for the game anyway.

There is a cat you can pet regularly.

Techincal side of things, no problems. No crashes, no lag, no stutter, nothing. It just runs smoothly.

Spoilers starting. I'm going to describe the gameplay loop and try not to touch too much upon the story.

Ok, so you're in a building, you're a therapist, the kind that talks to people to help them with their issues. You try to get out of your predicament, and certain doors in the building lead to memories of your therapy sessions with your patients and to their past. This allows you to explore additional locations. These locations are varied and offer different vibes, visuals and mechanics. That's the loop, you go in, relive what happened and get a new tool that allows you to access new areas. After that, you get their psych eval and a vinyl with an original song themed around them.

Super-spoilers. Read this only if you have beaten the game:

There is a moment that is heavily telegraphed between the final boss battle and the end, an emotional moment. I've recently went through what the protagonist did in that regard and this game had a therapeutic effect on me. I was finally able to process what happened to him and me after basically ignoring it for a few months (death part, not the other part of it). Thank you, devs.

Do a sequel or make more games! 9.5/10 DESPITE technical issues. Also, the developers really, really respect and love cats. They deserve your money.

Achievements: Easily doable in 15 hours, not sure if there are missables, but you can replay sections. Good achievement design overall.

Edit: This game desrves a BAFTA award. Went straight to my favorites on Steam. Also, if you complete it, there is an amazing animation music video you unlock. This game is so good.

I regret buying this on sale. This game has so much love and soul in it. Every once in a while, you stumble upon a hidden gem that blows you away. This is one of those cases. I'll divide this review into three parts: open info, spoiler info and super-spoilers. Read the spoilers if you want to know a bit more of what's happening. Read the super-spoiler if you've already beaten the game. That being said, I recommend that you stop reading RIGHT NOW and go in blind. Hey, if you hate it, there's a refund button, right? But you won't. Ok, so let me preface this. I've played a lot of horror games in my life. One of my favorite genres, honestly. This allowed me at a certain point to gain eyesight to differentiate between horror games and horror-themed games. What's a horror game? Think Silent Hill 1-4. What's horror-themed? Think Resident Evil post 3, Killing Floor, Dead by Daylight, Alan Wake. Nothing wrong with that, I do like horror-themed games as much as I like horror games. One aims to scare you, the other puts you in a setting that the character might find unsettling. I would classify "In Sound Mind" as a Horror-themed Psychological Thriller. Think Eternal Darkness. It's not scary. I mean, I don't know you. It might be scary for you. But if you play a lot of horror games, don't expect to be scared. This game is about a character finding themselves in an unsettling situation. So, why is this game Overwhelmingly Positive? For so many good reasons. It's sort of an intersection of many gaming influences. I got strong vibes of Alan Wake, Half-Life 2, Resident Evil 7-ish, Someday You'll Return, The Medium, The Evil Within and I'm sure some other major things I've missed. The developers are clearly very well-versed in gaming culture, or, rather, the cultural and design heritage of gaming, and it shows. They not only understand it, they build upon it. Broad strokes? You're in a building full of puzzles trying to progress the story. Slight metroidvania vibes par for the course for horror games. I've played on Hard and it's not hard, but I am very experienced, so perhaps you'll have a different experience. The puzzles are great. They are varied, immersive, innovative and fun to solve. It's surprisingly lengthy, but not in the way that overstays its welcome. It's just a quality game with lots of content that is all great and varied. I was excited to do every side activity you could find. One really smart and welcome gameplay decision: fairly early you get an item that allows you to find collectibles. Thank you, devs! The music in this game is astonishing. Especially the songs you hear that you get as a reward for doing major things in the story. I often default to gaming while having a video on another monitor, but, credit where it's due, this game had all of my attention all the time. When I got another song to listen to, I was excited to go and listen to it. Visuals? Technically speaking, it's not that impressive. It's ok, it's not ugly, but nothing to write home about. However, the developers use special effects, shadows, direction to great effect. I've caught myself just basking in the beauty numerous times during my time with this game. There are clearly, no offense, narcissists in the dev team who truly, fully, deeply understand beauty. I was thinking, "I wish I saw this in VR". I won't touch upon the story in this section, but it's really, really good. Now, characters are all interesting, not deep per se, but well-written and compelling. Good writing, good dialogue. One character stands out: the antagonist. That guy adds so much to the experience. He keeps trolling, mocking, harassing you with phone calls and showing up and I was always looking forward to our next meeting. What a character. So much charisma. They hit the nail on the head there. But, as any good horror(-themed) games, this one also excels in humour. The see-saw of humour and tension is perfect. On that note, this is one of the few games that got me by jump-scaring me with a still object. And then subverting that jump-scare instantly to the point I felt genuinely impressed and warm inside. Downsides? The combat isn't anything to write home about. It works, it's not annoying, it's passable. However, the gameplay is stellar. I didn't bring up Half-Life 2 for nothing. There are some seriously talented game designers on the dev team. There are so many creative gaming situation here that don't really repeat or overstay their welcome. It's a REALLY FUN game to play. I felt younger playing In Sound Mind because it made me feel the joy of gaming I usually felt back in my teen years. Valve should really look into hiring these people. They are that good. I also wish there were Dualshock/Dualsense icon input images, but it's a moot point, I ended up using KB/M for the game anyway. There is a cat you can pet regularly. Techincal side of things, no problems. No crashes, no lag, no stutter, nothing. It just runs smoothly. Spoilers starting. I'm going to describe the gameplay loop and try not to touch too much upon the story. [spoiler] Ok, so you're in a building, you're a therapist, the kind that talks to people to help them with their issues. You try to get out of your predicament, and certain doors in the building lead to memories of your therapy sessions with your patients and to their past. This allows you to explore additional locations. These locations are varied and offer different vibes, visuals and mechanics. That's the loop, you go in, relive what happened and get a new tool that allows you to access new areas. After that, you get their psych eval and a vinyl with an original song themed around them. [/spoiler] Super-spoilers. Read this only if you have beaten the game: [spoiler] There is a moment that is heavily telegraphed between the final boss battle and the end, an emotional moment. I've recently went through what the protagonist did in that regard and this game had a therapeutic effect on me. I was finally able to process what happened to him and me after basically ignoring it for a few months (death part, not the other part of it). Thank you, devs. [/spoiler] Do a sequel or make more games! 9.5/10 DESPITE technical issues. Also, the developers really, really respect and love cats. They deserve your money. Achievements: Easily doable in 15 hours, not sure if there are missables, but you can replay sections. Good achievement design overall. Edit: This game desrves a BAFTA award. Went straight to my favorites on Steam. Also, if you complete it, there is an amazing animation music video you unlock. This game is so good.