Andara Bledin In Sound Mind Review

In Sound Mind is a story-rich psychological horror adventure game. It is not a survival game and the focus is on exploration, puzzle-solving, and the unfolding story. The game is accessible to both newcomers and veteran gamers, though some might judge it to not be especially challenging. We Create Stuff is a very small indie studio, and yet, they've released an outstanding game even if they couldn't do everything they wanted. You play as Desmond Wales, a therapist in a small seaside town who must explore and solve puzzles to discover what is going on and to escape his predicament. The puzzles are varied and mostly intuitive, and exploration is rewarded, though nothing is so far off the beaten path as to be difficult to locate. The controls are largely intuitive, but prompts are given for each new item, showing either the keyboard controls, or - if there is a controller attached - the controller commands. (pro-tip - if you don't want to use a controller, unplug it to see the keyboard commands instead) Some items will take some getting used to as you master them, but none are unduly challenging. The graphics are quite good and lend to the desired atmosphere of each area. It's no big studio game, but outstanding for such a small indie. The sound is top notch. From the ever-present environmental noises, to the various sound cues, to the background music. The score and soundtrack are done by The Living Tombstone and well worth the listen outside of the game as well as within. There is also a significant amount of voice acting, and everyone involved is outstanding. Including Mick Lauer as our protagonist. One of the patients is played by TLT member Sam Haft. There is combat within the game, and this is one of the weakest parts, a victim of lack of time and funding to develop further. This leaves the AI for the Inkblots to be fairly simple, and there wasn't the opportunity to have them be more fitting of the region in which they are found. There is also some light platforming, though the stakes are often not particularly high, although there are a few places where you can fall to your death. Death is not especially punishing, dropping you back to the most recent game-designated check point or auto save. Auto-saves are the only saves, so returning to the game will often lead to some slight backtracking, but saves are plentiful enough that it will never be significant. If you are a fan of story-rich experiences, exploration, and puzzles, I can't recommend this game enough. If you are looking for a more combat-heavy intense horror or survival experience, however, you may wish to pass this by for their game, Nightmare House: Reimagined (not yet released at time of review).