Overall, The Medium paces out these shifts rather well. There are times where there are dedicated shifts, you’ll be in either one or the other world, but especially impressive are those moments you are pulled into both at once. Sadness, the spirit that Marianne meets, is one of the few friendly faces on the other side. You’ll need to keep an eye on both for objects to interact with, passages to traverse, and other clues that can help you move forward and navigate the world and its mysteries. The screen will split to show two views of the same location. This allows for some very interesting cutscenes-watching spirits interact with objects in the spirit world and how that affects them in the real world-and makes for some intriguing and engaging puzzles. The biggest unique thing that The Medium does is to not just shift between worlds, but allow Marianne to exist in both simultaneously.
At times it can tread through the topic of psychological traumas with all the grace of a bull in tap shoes (one sequence borders on expressing a sympathy/justification for an abuser based on their own trauma before thankfully steering clear), but it’s generally an interesting and enjoyable, if largely rote, horror narrative. Each subsequent beat generally won’t surprise the player if they’re familiar with how horror developers often draw parallels between psychological trauma and otherworldly horror. The only area the story really falters in is simply rolling through too many generally predictable horror game tropes. There are some other fun surprises in how the story is laid out too, and this clever interweaving kept me engaged throughout. Story is told through persistent narration, as well as comments Marianne makes about the world and situation around her. In fact, it’s enough to be considered a spiritual successor to the Silent Hill franchise, in just about everything but the name.
And once the game introduces the shifts into the spirit world, it really starts to remind one of Silent Hill, a clear influence for Bloober Team on this project. Cinematic camera angles, deliberate actions as you search the environment for story tidbits and ways to move forward.
The narrative takes some interesting twists in how it relays past stories.Īt its outset, The Medium reminded me a lot of a game like Heavy Rain or Until Dawn.
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