If you’re ready for shorter days and longer nights (at least in the northern hemisphere) as summer finally winds down, developer We Create Stuff believes they have just the game to set the mood. In Sound Mind may not be releasing until the end of September, but we managed to spend some time with a preview build of the upcoming psychological horror game In Sound Mind. Read our thoughts on this surreal game below.
In Sound Mind PS5 Preview – Resilient Mirror
This first-person adventure has gamers playing as a psychiatrist, who has seen several patients that have slowly lost their minds. In the process, the doctor realizes he is also losing his mind. Taped sessions with his patients have seemingly come to life, and he is forced to re-live and survive the horrifying encounters that took place within a sleepy town. While the game starts with the player on the defensive, wielding just a flashlight, later the player can build a gun, collect a gas mask, and most importantly pick up a shard of a mirror.
This mirror serves as a way to cut through various obstacles in the area, and if the player holds it up by holding L2, then enemies can be tracked through walls. This is the unique mechanic seen in this game, and it can serve as a weapon of sorts by deflecting otherworldly attacks. Mostly, though, it serves as a neat way to know when the way is clear. It’s the Swiss army knife of mirrors, really. How it’s able to survive repeated blows to solid wooden planks is a mystery, or at least a good application of game logic.
In Sound Mind relies on psychological horror more than jump scares. At least in what we played, this is done mostly through mannequins. Seeing a room full of them in a mostly dark supermarket is unsettling. Seeing them move on their own while looking through a mirror is a bit more unsettling. But turning around and then suddenly seeing on in a new position is somehow the most unsettling. However, some of these mannequins are surprisingly helpful, such as one suddenly appearing with a much-needed key, or appearing to help the player reach a higher level. How or why these mannequins are around and ready to lend a hand is not explained (at least in the preview we played), but hopefully there’s a good reason for it!
In Sound Mind PS5 Preview – A Mild Challenge
There are puzzles to figure out in In Sound Mind, ranging from quite easy to mildly clever. The puzzles don’t seem to be there to give you too much of a challenge, but rather to perhaps have you explore the area a bit further. Reading notes tossed around near a puzzle are an immense help, such as in one puzzle involving power cycling various rooms but also paying attention to which room has a short circuit. Hopefully some will be more challenging within the full game, but if not, then at least the psychological horror will keep you entertained.
In Sound Mind seems like it will be a fun psychological horror game to play when it releases on September 28th. That’s close enough to Halloween that it’ll set the mood for the spookiest month of the year just a few days later. Some light puzzling in the middle of a mental breakdown will test those whose nerves may have already been in a bad state during a horror game, so perhaps bring a friend along to help you when In Sound Mind releases on September 28th.
In Sound Mind preview build provided by the publisher. Build previewed on a Windows 10 PC.