The Medium

Decent game, but optimization is far from optimal.

(I finished the game and wrote the review a couple of hours before the patch 1.1, since I have finished the game I don't plan on playing again, I read around that there are improvements in performance and this makes sense as this is what happend with every game after it gets the first patches. Anyway I already have 5/5 so... nothing to see here for me.) The game was great. It really calls home to a younger me that enjoyed the old adventure point and click adventure games, like Syberia for example. But with fewer puzzles, which I don't find bad as I prefer it this way. The story was interesting, sure enough I don't recall anything like that in games that I have played. The atmosphere was really cinematic, the fixed camera added to that, you focus on what the game want you to focus and this adds a ton. Now on the graphics settings side, well... I can only forgive how heavy the game is because they are a smaller studio. To simulate both worlds at the same time was like rendering 4K and show only 1080p wasn't really good resource management, my system Ryzen 5 2600, 16GB RAM, 5500XT 4GB, Crucial MX500 SSD) was playing nice at 1080p and all high, till the first time I got both worlds up and running, I'm sure I dropped as low as 10-15fps at some point (stupid xbox app in windows doesn't have fps counter and prevent gog galaxy overlay) and I had to drastically cut down on settings. In the end I managed to play nicely at 720p with fidelityFX 150% and render settings at medium (low settings is so crap that are not playable). There have to be a workaround for this problem, but probably require a proprietary game engine and more money than the studio could invest. If I was getting that game from some big publisher that could find a solution to that problem I could cut stars. But for now it's a 5/5 for me, if you can run it, that's it.

This game does some thing like the visual design and music well but story is pretty straightforward and while I read many people have a problem with the themes I don't find them problematic. What I find problematic however is the pacing and writing. I won't even tell you what is wrong with it exactly but I didn't find the characters that interesting nor did I care for them and the story went from convoluted and the "I don't understand who is who and why it matters" to suddenly being completely obvious and not exciting at all. Gameplay wise it's a point and click walking simulator and feels really cheap. If it at least had some good puzzles then it could justify it but these were kindergarden tier puzzles. Game uses split screen for about a third of it's lenght which is why I think it also has a fixed camera and a third person perspective. While it does a good job at showcasing visuals it completely kills the very little tension this game could have as a horror. There were at best 2 moments where you could get spooked and both of them were lazy jumpscares. There is also a question of optimization. You need some NASA computer to get stable 30fps at max settings in this game. These graphics don't justify it. TL;DR GRAPHICS/VISUAL DESIGN = 9/10 (Game looks great, the only things I noticed to be a bit off are animations especially when Marienne talks or when we play as Thomas) MUSIC/AUDIO DESIGN = 7/10 (It's simple but absolutely enough. However, FOR THE MOST PART nothing powerful enough to make me feel that it adds to the scene or gameplay or being memorable after finishing the game) GAMEPLAY = 3/10 (you literally walk from place A to B and click a button or watch a cutscene) STORY/WRITING (broadly) = 6/10 (I don't even know, I like some motives and some parts felt... shallow) OVERALL = 6

This game starts really good, giving me silent hill vibes, two worlds mechanic seems really interesting at first, and I couldn't wait to see what else this game has to offer. The more I played this game, the more I got dissapointed, all puzzles are so simple I dont even know I can call them puzzles, two worlds mechanic seems to just be there for cool visuals (which are great!). There are also moments in this game where you must hide\run from a moster, and the moster, while being visually very scary, can't really do anything to you, if you dont specifically try to run into it. The last portion of the game is also filled with filler activities. Overall, I loved the story, but I had to force myself to finish this game, even though it is pretty short.

TL;DR: It's like you're a player in a railroading GM's campaign setting. Do not buy this game at full price. Get it on sale or GamePass and play it for the story. The game looks and sounds great and I found the story to be really engaging. I wanted to know the truth and kept playing the Medium because of it. However, there is almost no true gameplay to be had and the 'puzzles' are barely even that. You are simply along for the ride, never in any real danger and when you are, the segments are poorly executed. Another example is balancing on narrow walkways: as far as I can tell, you can't fall off, but there's no indicator to show if you're walking straight enough and after the umpteenth time you realize these things are just there to pad the game's length. While I found the story very entrancing, the fact that you have no input of consequence begins to wear near the end and there is no sense of satisfaction after ending the game. There is no real closure, by which I mean that I was not left with the feeling "I just did that!" like I would have with most games. You just get to the end of the book/movie and are left wondering. Then there's the performance issues. I played the GamePass version, so I couldn't tweak the game at all. In some parts I had to pause and unpause the game to get Marianne to say her lines, so I could continue. And that wasn't in a visually demanding spot either, it was in an enclosed area...