Reviewed on Xbox Series S Aptly Medium In The Medium’s microcosm of worlds you see not only the world of the living, but also the world of the dead. Since literally half of this game is played in a world of doom and gloom, levity is hard to come by per say. From the very beginning the game’s opening presents a dark and sinister ambiance that proceeds the entirety of the game. The tone piece is a success throughout so grab your kittens and your bag of laughs, you’re gonna need it. Oh, did I mention that the game requires you to cut through skin flaps? No? Okay. Our protagonist Marianne, is a Medium giving her the ability to exist in the two realms of reality simultaneously. The first time she uses said ability really sells home the potential and groundwork the game is working with with this mechanic. You can easily gauge aspects like presentation, symbolism, puzzles, and even the narrative that could excel utilizing this mechanic to its fullest. Marianne receives a call at her funeral home from a man by the name of Thomas. Thomas insists he knows Marianne’s dark secret and pleads for her assistance in a mysterious location called Niwa, home of the Niwa Massacre. An early encounter presented engaging anxiety inducing effects to the experience. Hallways stretched away into the darkness in a jolt of speed and chilling music really started to pop. Basically, the game really starts off with a lot of promise. I was along for however bleak this game was going to get. Unfortunately, the game takes its time introducing you to anything distinct going forward or the crimson guts of the gameplay later on. The Medium is, well, average. Narrative The story is woven in a way that leads the player to redirect where the narrative is going. You really don’t know where it’s going until you get there. The pacing of clues and beats were placed perfectly throughout and led to a very enjoyable narrative. As odd as it seems, the dual screen's glowing endorsement isn’t in its somber puzzles, but rather its telling of that very narrative. Bloober really does a lot of creative things when including story elements in these reality dualities. My favorite aspect of this comes in the form of junctions. Usually one world can’t really influence the other, but junctions act as tools to do just that. One of the better ones comes in the form of a grandfather clock. Using this clock in the world of the living helps you travel between segments of time in the world of the dead. This leads to the narrative being portrayed in a sort of enticing play by play from someone else's perspective. Other junctions appear throughout the game and I enjoyed each and every one of them. Performance As far as performance goes, I hate to say it, but it is once again, average. My game crashed a few times when loading into new environments or attempting to pick up and play after a quick resume. In a game where dying can be absolutely crucial to the moment to moment gameplay, the load times are as grim as the atmosphere it presents. The performance simply doesn’t compliment the gameplay and it leads to a frustrating experience. Textures almost always pop in late during transitions or in overly dreary environments, leading to a mixed bag in visual prowess. That being said, some moments in the environments, morose or not, are absolutely stunning even on the Series S. When the display was at its peak I didn’t want to look away. In a game featuring gripping moment to moment gameplay at times them controller really overdoes it. It’s clear that these vibrations are meant to add tension to the anxiety inducing segments, but in truth it dampens it. The vibrations are all over the place. You have to use a mechanic called insight, a tool Marianne uses to find key items in the environment, very often. The controller vibrates when insight is in use. When it all blends together, and even when it doesn’t, it is just all a bit much. Gameplay As a player I am usually decent at keeping a level head in horror games or when dealing with scares, but once you interact with a character by the name of The Maw that all goes out the window. I was genuinely anxious when dealing with him and once I did the first time, I was anxious going forward as I didn’t want to run into the morbid fleshling of a character. While none of the jump scares really got me, The Maw is the exception. When you are thrown into chase scenes, specifically with The Maw, it feels as if Marianne has never run before. At times she will just not respond at all, wobble uncontrollably, or start sprinting into a wall that you can’t fix for a while. I know this game is terrifying, but this just isn’t the result of that. There are few enemies like The Maw in the game, but there are some. The gameplay will organically lead you into defeating these boss like beings by simply solving a few puzzles or following a path. Defeating them never feels earned and ultimately leaves you feeling their conclusions are anticlimactic. All the technical issues aside, the one thing I think they should focus on going forward are those very conclusions and interactions with boss like characters. Yet another example of foiled potential in a game with so much promise. An aspect I absolutely need to applaud is the change of pace the game delivers. I mentioned at the top of my review that the game takes its time introducing distinct aspects to the game. This would be one of those distinct aspects. As soon as I thought the gameplay loop was getting a bit too long in the fang, something happened and a super effective cut scene containing nothing more than gripping visuals and some dialogue followed. My experience improved tenfold in almost every element of the game going forward. An element of the gameplay I didn’t enjoy are echoes. Echoes are conversations from troubled souls in the past. They are tied to specific items, and are honestly much cooler in concept. They push the narrative and side stories just fine, but it never feels like more than a means to an end. Echoes were way more effective when paced out. When a lot of echoes are put into a small area the end result is just tiresome. Aside from some spotty VO work, infuriating camera angles, lack of save slots, and nonexistent checkpoints, after the change of pace, the game as a whole really ramps up. The gameplay isn’t perfect, but once again, there's a lot of promise. The high moments are pretty high, but they don’t do enough to dull the lows. Verdict In conclusion, the bulk of the game appears to be better in concept. It just fell short of its potential. A lot of its mechanics, including its main aspect, don’t engage the player enough in meaningful ways. However, the moments that wow you really do just that. The atmosphere is superb and any interaction with The Maw, dying and loading aside, really is chilling and stands out. The Medium doesn’t capitalize on a lot of its potential, but the later half of the game and the narrative as a whole are worth your time if you can trudge your way through its bleak first half. 7 / 10 👌