In Sound Mind

A psychological horror game with a focus on narrative consistency and gameplay variety, In Sound Mind is a great time due to excellent pacing, level design, and pure ingenuity, even if it's not particularly scary.

In Sound Mind is a solid psychological horror with a lot of surprises and it’s an overall great experience.

In Sound Mind takes a very particular approach to horror to become a strange adventure with solid exploration and interesting narrative.

I enjoyed In Sound Mind far more than I expected to, thanks to the great variety to its puzzles and overall atmosphere. While the final revelations didn't blow me away, they did bring a wry smile to my face. In Sound Mind is one of my favourite indie horror games of the past few years and is highly recommended if you’re a fan of the genre.

The true success of In Sound Mind comes from the atmosphere that We Create Stuff has crafted. The puzzles are smart and well-thought-out, the jump scares that the game utilizes don't feel forced or cheesy, and the drastically different style of each tape shines through to create a spooky, complete-feeling game.

In Sound Mind definitely has some limitations in terms of its presentation and combat, but these elements don’t take too much away from what it does well. It’s more of a spooky mystery than a full horror title, and with its hub world, clever secrets, and evolving set of tools, it continually presents new opportunities to interact with its twisted environments. If you like games that try to screw with your head, it’s worth booking a session with Dr. Wales.

It’s a bit disappointing to see that In Sound Mind doesn’t quite transcend outdated horror tropes, even though it has the potential to. But that doesn’t take away from the accomplishments that make it more intriguing than many contemporary titles: its thought-provoking puzzles, and its attempts to tell an engaging story without unnecessarily scaring you to death first.

In Sound Mind is a well-done psychological horror, fun and stimulating from start to finish. It’s less scary than expected and could be improved from a technical standpoint, but the mix of gameplay elements knows how to stimulate the player by offering them a new element to use in each level.

In Sound Mind excels at its atmosphere and characterization of Desmond and the delusions of his patients. Combat can feel a little lackluster, and the story structure is formulaic. However, there is a love of horror on display found in the environments and core design of the experience.

In Sound Mind is a surprisingly compelling title, offering an interesting story and strong horror experience. However, some aspects start to outlive their welcome - if only due to annoyance. Tackling a sensitive subject like mental health, In Sound Mind could have really fallen flat if We Create Stuff didn't handle it well, and while it can come across as heavy-handed at times, this is generally well done and worth experiencing.

In short, it is far from equaling the pillars from which it is inspired (Outlast, Layers of Fear, Silent Hill ...) or even from being a very good game, despite a certain potential.

In Sound Mind is a psychological thriller that tells a twisted story about corrupted and ill minds, but fails to be coherent and often presents bad design choices.

All told, In Sound Mind wasn’t the game I was expecting. But I still found myself pushing forward, eager to uncover a little bit more. If you’ve got any appetite for cerebral horror and puzzle solving, In Sound Mind might be just what you’re looking for.

In Sound Mind tells an interesting story and provides an intriguing combination of first-person exploration, puzzles and shooting, but it fails to have the impact it could’ve had due to bland visuals, mediocre combat, and the fact that it’s a horror game that isn’t very scary.

In Sound Mind is an above-average indie project. It is gratifying that the fear presented in the game does not build on cheap jump scares, but systematically builds a thrilling atmosphere.

In a way, it’s a shame that In Sound Mind has the fundamentals of survival horror down so well I can’t help but imagine how much more compelling it would be if it weren’t let down by its heavy-handed writing and dull enemies.