![]() I had some bad visual glitches wherein particle effects and shadows were replaced with random rainbow shapes. However, it must be noted that these moments probably make up a quarter to a third of the game itself, and the majority of The Medium is played in one reality.Īll of this being said, The Medium is not perfect. Seeing how the two forms of reality interact with one another is exciting, and the game’s ability to load the worlds almost instantaneously is thoroughly impressive. These make not only for some awe-inspiring moments visually, but also some of the best puzzles in the game. At several points during the game, the player will be able to control both Marianne in the regular world and in the spirit world concurrently. ![]() However, I would be remiss to not mention The Medium’s central selling point – its patented dual reality gameplay. As someone who loves this style of game, I was absolutely delighted with the gameplay (even if the fixed camera took a bit of getting used to), but I must emphasize it is not going to be for everyone. The combat is virtually non-existent barring one section, and the majority of the game consists of solving puzzles, reading lore pieces and exploring linear environments, taking in the atmosphere. While it utilizes mechanics from older survival horror games like an original Resident Evil-style fixed camera, the game is primarily an adventure title, much like Bloober’s previous work. Yes, Yamaoka has composed a wonderful soundtrack and there are some extra surprises for Silent Hill fans, but this is not a survival horror game. For better or worse, do not go into this game expecting Silent Hill. The gameplay, however, is where I think the audience will be divided. This is a story that will shock, surprise and engage many people. Also, above all else, the story itself is appropriately scary and unnerving in the conventional sense as well, meaning those here for creature thrills and haunted hotels will find a lot to enjoy as well, but it never goes for a cheap scare. The story also goes out of its way to humanize its villains, even in spite of the horrific deeds they commit, leading to some of the game’s most impactful and sobering moments. The game does deal with some deeply mature topics, the likes of which I don’t want to delve into for both spoiler reasons and otherwise, but at least in my opinion it handles these themes with tact and respect. I found myself invested deeply in Marianne’s character, and I felt the urge to explore the world to find several artifacts to help uncover the mystery. I was taken aback by how mature, thoughtful and intriguing it was. Along the way, she encounters several unique characters including a young girl named Sadness, and a disturbing creature known as The Maw which will undoubtedly be the source of many nightmares. However, one day out of the blue, she gets a call from a man named Thomas who claims to know about the source of her powers, and implores her to travel to the Hotel Niwa, a site of a massacre five years prior, that may just hold the answers Marianne is looking for. A liaison of sorts between our world and the spirit world, she helps guide restless ghosts into the afterlife. Moving on to the story, The Medium tells the tale of Marianne, a young woman with a unique connection to the spirit world. Still, in terms of visuals overall, The Medium is quite strong and definitely a next-gen game. The only area where the game arguably falters visually speaking is in the character models which, while still good, do stick out a bit and look like they are from a late gen Xbox One game (again, not a bad benchmark they can just pop out a tad). The spirit world – another important part of the game we’ll get to shortly – trades photorealism for a visual design inspired by the works of Polish artist Zdzisław Beksiński it hits just the right notes between unsettling and beautiful. The work done by Bloober is absolutely jaw-dropping, and the expertly integrated ray tracing is a visual delight. And yes, I am including the Demon’s Souls Remake, HITMAN 3 and Spider-Man Miles Morales on PS5 in this comparison. Several of the environments, particularly ones set during daytime, are as close to photorealistic as I’ve seen running on a console. ![]() Beginning with the visuals, The Medium is a complete showstopper in environment design.
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