State of Mind Review
Game Details
Title: State of Mind
Developer: Daedalic Entertainment
Publisher: Daedalic Entertainment
Website: Daedalic.com
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Age Rating: PEGI 16
Release Date: 15/08/18
Price: £35.99. I was very kindly provided with a review code for this game.
State of Mind is a game set in the futuristic world of Berlin, in 2048. Your life is completely automated, you have robot assistants, your food is printed, the pictures on the walls are holographic. Droids roam the street and have taken most of the jobs, leaving many people homeless. Drones fly around, seemingly monitoring and policing.
You are Richard Nolan, a journalist for a publication called The Voice. You have woken up, after a car accident. Life has taken a turn for the worse and this game is about the journey to discover where your wife and child have disappeared to, whilst trying to get your fragmented memories, and life back together.
The game looks gorgeous! I found myself staring at the screen, making use of the Switch’s screenshot button, every couple of minutes. It is presented in a unique, polygon style, which the developers say is ‘designed to represent the fragmented nature of Richard’s world’. The world is alive, and as you see in the slideshow below, the graphics are stunning.
The soundtrack is great and certainly adds to the futuristic feeling of the game. As your moving your way around the city, propaganda messages about; nano scans, trips to Mars, Eastern and Western drone battles, delivered in robotic tones, can be heard.
The game does take a while to get going, and as it does, it teaches you the core mechanics. I did find myself wandering around quite a lot, searching for what to do next. However, the game will give you hints and tips as to what to do next.
There are some really unique experiences in the game, for example, hacking and controlling drones to scan people in a nightclub. As you can see in the picture below, scanning someone tells you all of their personal and medical details. I also enjoyed recreating memories by selecting 3D data fragments.
The game allows you to use a number of gadgets, including your CloudCall device. You can listen to messages, read mail and call people. If they’re online, a holographic representation of them is shown.
As a lover of gadgets and technology, I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in Berlin, 2048. However, the game did make me think that maybe we need to be a bit careful with how far we’re going in terms of an automated life.
The game offers a vivid, sometimes scary, glimpse into the not so distant future. It did start off a little slow, however, it does pick up the pace and provides a worthwhile experience.
A good game keeps your mind working, even after you’ve switched it off. This game certainly achieves that.
Rapid Reviews Rating
You can purchase State of Mind from the Nintendo eShop at the following link, https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch/State-of-Mind-1409017.html
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