Narratively, the game develops pretty well, and the links between the various patients and your own situation is slowly revealed. The first true level makes great use of a mirror shard as you have to use it to reveal hidden secrets or disguised items whilst a later one gives you a radio control switch that opens up some innovative electricity-based puzzles. Some require you to utilise vents and short cuts to move around the various levels, whilst others take the form of finding keys to unlock doors, but a few really rise above the norm. Fixing a broken elevator opens up the top floor of the building and reveals you to be a practicing therapist who must look into what has happened to his recent patients and find out how their plight is related to his own. Once you’ve got your bearings and solved the first few environmental puzzles, the narrative really picks up. So far so predictable, but things soon take a turn for the more interesting. In Sound Mind starts off in very familiar territory as you find yourself trapped in a dark building with no idea of how you got there. In short, In Sound Mind is a really pleasant surprise after the likes of Those Who Remain and The Inner Friend. There is an enjoyable mix of environmental headscratchers and explosive combat to be found here, all wrapped up in some impressively polished presentation and a memorable soundtrack. In Sound Mind breaks the mould here by offering a well measured balance of both of these styles. I’ve played a huge number of first person horror games of vastly varying quality and they generally occupy one of two extreme positions: either spooky jump-scare puzzlers or full of high-octane gunplay.
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