State of Mind (video game)

State of Mind is a 2018 graphic adventure game developed and published by Daedalic Entertainment. A cyberpunk story set in the near future, the game explores transhumanist themes.[1] The main character in the game, Richard Nolan, is voiced by Doug Cockle, most notable for being the voice actor of Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher video game series.[2][3]

State of Mind
British PlayStation 4 cover art
Developer(s)Daedalic Entertainment
Publisher(s)Daedalic Entertainment
Director(s)Martin Ganteföhr
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleaseAugust 15, 2018
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single player

Development

Development of State of Mind was led by Martin Ganteföhr,[1] creator of the 2004 adventure game The Moment of Silence.[4] Production began in 2015.[5] The game was developed with Unreal Engine 4.[6] State of Mind features a low-poly art style inspired in part by the visuals of That Dragon, Cancer.[7] According to Daedalic's Kai Fiebig, the art style was Ganteföhr's idea, as the fragmented look reflected the game's themes in its portrayal of "a shattered person, a shattered society on the edge of change."[6] The game was released on Nintendo Switch on August 15, 2018 in the west and on November 8, 2018 in Japan.[8][9]

Plot

State of Mind unfolds in Berlin in 2048 and revolves around Richard Nolan, a journalist waking up in a hospital after an explosion, finding out that his family is nowhere to be found. Nolan soon realizes that the world has changed and that technology is taking over. The game focuses on the impact that AI and technology have on humans, as well as coming to terms with in what manner super AI- can adapt to human behavior.[10][11]

Gameplay

The game is played through a third-person perspective. There is no combat involved in the game, instead gameplay mostly revolves around interacting with other characters, solving puzzles and doing mini games. Many things in the world can be scanned and interacted with, which gives the player information about items in the world. Players can, for example, interact with photos of the main character Richard's family. The game also focuses on exploring a wide variety of locations.[12][3]

Critical reception

State of Mind received mixed to positive reviews from video game critics. Aggregating review website Metacritic gave the PC version 69/100,[13] the PlayStation 4 version 67/100,[14] the Xbox One version 73/100[15] and the Nintendo Switch version 63/100.[16]

Writing for Adventure Gamers, Pascal Takaia gave the game a mixed review, praising the transhumanist themes and voice acting, while criticizing the game's narrative, puzzles and characters.[17] Conversely, Jeuxvideo.com gave the game a positive review, particularly praising the game's visuals, story and themes.[18] Roy Woodhouse of Gamereactor acclaimed the game for its gripping sci-fi world and he implied that the game is "thought-provoking and provides emotional and engaging narrative", although calling the puzzles in the game "a little weak".[12] Writing for GameStar, Robin Rüther praised the graphics but criticised the lack of challenge and the mini games.[21] Paula Sprödefeld of PC Games, gave the game 82/100 and commended the story and graphics, while mentioning some complaints regarding the controls.[24] Conversely, Dom Reseigh-Lincoln of Nintendo Life, gave the game a mixed review, saying that " State of Mind has its moments to shine - certain plot beats in the final act do offer some genuine payoff, and some of those visuals are a joy to see running in docked mode or in handheld - but they’re too often lost in a mire of storytelling cliche and science fiction tropes you’ve seen done better countless times before. A set of in-game achievements do help break up the lengthy plot, but the awkward voice acting and lack of cohesion between its gameplay ideas ultimately make for a muddled experience at best ".[2] Writing for VideoGamer, Josh Wish praised the story as well as the art style, while mentioning the puzzles and some story related cliches as negative aspects of the game.[20]

Moreover, Jan Wöbbeking of 4players, gave the PC version of the game 69/100, commending the story but criticizing the mini games as well as the portrayal of characters.[23]

See also

References
  1. Avard, Alex (June 6, 2018). "State of Mind is a small cyberpunk adventure with big ideas about the future of sci-fi". PC Gamer US. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019.
  2. Reseigh-Lincoln, Dom (August 13, 2018). "State of Mind Review (Switch)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on September 26, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  3. Nolan, Darragh (August 16, 2018). "Wot I Think: State Of Mind". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  4. Futter, Michael (June 15, 2018). "Elon Musk and 'State of Mind's' Transhumanism Philosophy". Variety. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019.
  5. Kreienbrink, Matthias (August 15, 2018). "Unmenschliches Berlin". Der Spiegel (in German). Archived from the original on October 26, 2019.
  6. Staff. "Making it in Unreal: behind the faceted face of State of Mind". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on August 20, 2018.
  7. Schwerdtel, Markus (January 21, 2017). "State of Mind - Gespaltener Übermensch". GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on October 26, 2019.
  8. "Deadalic Entertainment Announces State of Mind For Nintendo Switch". Archived from the original on January 16, 2017. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  9. "State of Mind". Nintendo of Japan. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
  10. "A Tale of Transhumanism: State of Mind set to hit console and PC on August 15th". press.daedalic.com. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
  11. "State of Mind". Steam. Archived from the original on March 22, 2020. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  12. Woodhouse, Roy (August 13, 2018). "State of Mind Review - Gamereactor". Gamereactor. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  13. "State of Mind for PC Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  14. "State of Mind for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  15. "State of Mind for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on July 6, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  16. "State of Mind for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  17. Tekaia, Pascal (August 15, 2020). "State of Mind review". Adventure Gamers. Archived from the original on July 2, 2019. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  18. "Test : State of Mind : Une ode à la science-fiction" (in French). Jeuxvideo.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
  19. Reseigh-Lincoln, Dom (2018-08-13). "State of Mind Review (Switch)". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2019-09-26. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  20. Josh Wise. "State of Mind review". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2020-02-20.
  21. Rüther, Robin (August 13, 2018). "State of Mind im Test - Upload fehlgeschlagen". GameStar (in German). Archived from the original on October 28, 2018.
  22. Sprödefeld, Paula (August 13, 2018). "State of Mind im Test: Ein gelungenes Gesamtkonzept á la Black Mirror und Altered Carbon". PC Games (in German). Archived from the original on August 13, 2018.
  23. Wöbbeking, Jan (August 15, 2018). "Test: State of Mind". 4Players (in German). Archived from the original on August 21, 2018.
  24. Sprödefeld, Paula (August 13, 2018). "State of Mind im Test: Ein gelungenes Gesamtkonzept á la Black Mirror und Altered Carbon". PC Games. Archived from the original on October 26, 2019. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
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