The Medium

The Medium takes place in 1990s Krakow, in the abandoned Niwa Hotel, modeled after the actual former Hotel Cracovia. The main character is Marianne, the titular medium. She experiences visions of the death of an innocent child and sets out to solve the mystery.
✅A big plus is the sound design of the game – throughout the entire game, the soundtrack keeps the tension and uncertainty, which I really liked. Several times while playing with headphones, I got scared.
✅Very engaging storyline – while progressing through the story, we are really curious about what will happen next.
✅The game has a very good dark atmosphere, somewhat capturing the vibe of the Polish People's Republic (PRL).
✅The graphics are excellent.
✅The game offers a balance between the divided screen (not always) of the real world and the spiritual world.
✅The Polish studio also paid attention to Polish history and pop culture, incorporating them in collectables (in notes) and writings on the walls.
✅Well-designed locations inspired by Zdzisław Beksiński.
✅The game also includes a sneaking mechanic to avoid danger, which I consider a plus.
✅Very good acting and dubbing.
✅I really liked that some objects in the real world let us hear what happened before the main character, Marienne, arrived, while in the spiritual world, we could unlock memories of the characters.
✅The fixed camera adds a cinematic feel to the scenes.
✅❌The storyline is linear, and in my opinion, everyone should judge for themselves whether they prefer linear stories or open-world ones, which is why I didn't rate this as either a plus or minus.
❌The puzzles were too simple.
❌Despite having a good computer, the game is very poorly optimized.
❌In my opinion, the price is too high for less than 10 hours of gameplay (better to wait for a sale).
❌The game’s ending was weak and not satisfying for me
❌Im disappointed by the lack of Polish dubbing, especially since the game takes place in Poland and was made by a Polish studio (for Polish players).
✅✅✅ Verdict: Good game
If you have any questions about my reviews, feel free to ask. Im happy to answer them. All reviews are my own!! Best regards, King Viking Bezimienny, Polish Game Reviewer.

You know how most horror games try to scare you with monsters and jump scares? The Medium does something completely different.
At first it looks like a typical supernatural horror game: abandoned buildings, ghosts, creepy atmosphere. But the deeper you get into the story, the more you realize the real horror isn't the monsters.
It's the people.
The game slowly uncovers the story of a young girl named Lily, and honestly, she became one of the most heartbreaking characters I've ever seen in a video game. The more pieces of her life you discover, the more you understand why everything around her fell apart.
What really got me is that the game isn't interested in cheap jump scares. It's about trauma, loneliness, guilt, love, and the terrible things that can happen when someone is left alone with their pain.
I went in expecting horror.
I ended up feeling sorry for the monster.
If you like emotional stories that stay in your head long after the credits roll, I genuinely think you should give it a chance.

---{Graphics}---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☑ Good
☐ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ Free Fire
---{Gameplay}---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It‘s just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't
---{Audio}---
☐ Eargasm
☑ Very good
☐ Good
☐ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf
---{Audience}---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ All
---{PC Requirements}---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☐ Potato
☐ Decent
☑ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer
---{Difficulty}---
☐ Just press 'W'
☐ Easy
☑ Significant brain usage
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls
---{Grind}---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You‘ll need a second live for grinding
---{Story}---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It‘ll replace your life
---{Game Time}---
☐ Really short ( 0 - 2 hours)
☐ Short ( 2 - 8 hours)
☐ Few hours ( 8 - 12 hours)
☑ Not bad duration ( 12 - 20 hours)
☐ Long ( 20 - 50 hours)
☐ Too long ( 50 - 100 hours)
☐ Endless
---{Price}---
☐ It’s free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money
---{Bugs}---
☐ Never heard of
☑ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs
---{80/100}---

Unique game.
The story is good. Despite leaving much unsaid, it touches on some very dark themes rarely found in games. I recommend going out of your way to find all the letters and "Echoes" since they contain a lot of extra information connected to the story, which makes everything come together.

Its visuals are fantastic.
The split-screen mechanic and static camera work well together. I've never played a game that renders two worlds simultaneously like this one does.
Unfortunately, the game suffers from really bad stutters, mostly shader compilation stutters.
This is especially frustrating because it's a one playthrough type of game, and it's so easy to add a shader compilation step for an Unreal Engine game.

If you can look past the stutters, I recommend it. If you got it for free with Chronos: The New Dawn, definitely try it.

I have had The Medium on my wishlist for a very long time. I only recently picked it up, part of a game bundle and I have to say that this is such a unique and cool concept for a game to do. You experience a parallel spirit world while in the real world, both of which are active at the same time during gameplay.
So, is the game worth it in 2021? Is it good? Optimised? Worth the price? Well, below I will let you know based on my own gameplay - completed to 100% in 5.5 hours - so, let's get to it!
Pro's
⚫As mentioned above - you experience the "real world" and a parallel "spirit world" at the exact same point during gameplay. Not only is this unique - the game pulls it off flawlessly. Making you collect "spirit world" items to solve puzzles in the "real world", or, vice versa.
⚫The parallel spirit world is so... gloomy, haunting even. Full of dangers, little collectable notes to reveal the hidden stories of the dead. I think they nailed this concept so well. Not many games do this type of "system" so it's not a "generic" copy and paste game.
⚫The graphics of the overall game are excellent. Not only does the game look good, they worked on another world, another Marianne even.
⚫You know how I said - ANOTHER MARIANNE - you control physical form Marianne and Spirit form Marianne at the same time during the story. Her animations are all spot on for both "worlds". Again, showing expertise.
⚫Going against "MAW" was fun. That "STEALTH" mechanic you needed to do - holding your breath - was just thrilling. Is the monster going to hear me? Is it going to find me? This had me nervous and anxious at times. I loved it!!
⚫The acting from Troy Baker (MAW) is just beyond excellent. Not going to spoil anything but... IS IT BEHIND YOU RIGHT NOW?!?!
Cons
⚫The puzzles lacked... depth? What I am trying to say - nothing challenged me, puzzle wise. It was more of a tedious task just to progress/hinder the player.
⚫The game crashed on my PS5 over and over again. Which is why I never bought it. it's still crashing to this day and even on my PC. It needed a little more optimisation. This can set you back 20-40 minutes worth of progress if you are on Thomas's levels.
⚫The price of the game - in my opinion of course - does not justify 5.5 hours worth of gameplay and lack-thereof replay-ability. (worth it on sale though)
⚫Sometimes the camera angles messed up for me, like walking around the starting apartment and then all of a sudden camera turns around, so does my character, walks out the room, camera turns around again, character turns, goes back in room - REPEAT, till I manage to get a hold of myself. Personally - this was more of a "ME ISSUE", I think.
⚫Compared to other Bloober Team games, the camera angles didn't add any sort of scariness? Dread? Goosebumps? Hair-raising moments? (for lack of better words) - the camera angles didn't make me feel uneasy or un-nerve me at all like a horror game tends to do (and other BT games).
⚫If you miss a note, and you progress to far - there is no way to backtrack to collect it. Once you beat the game there is no chapter select for you to go back and grab missed items. INSTEAD - you are forced to replay the ENTIRE game again. Yes, that's correct - the WHOLE game again. To me, this does not justify "replay-ability" at all (or price).
My Verdict
After waiting almost 5 years to pick up The Medium (after playing it on a PS5 that crashed relentlessly) - Personally - I would not recommend the game for £40. Not a chance. It's way to short and offers no replay-ability - BUT - If the game was around £20 or less, I would recommend the game tenfold.
After playing it to 100% completion in 5.5 hours (crashed 3 times), I can see if you miss a note you are forced to replay the entire game again to find ALL the notes for an achievement... which I think is very... scummy to do in my own opinion of course.
On the otherhand - the game has a pretty good story which kept me gripped and, not once did I want to "leave it, take a break and return tomorrow". It also offers a unique concept of gameplay and an amazing cast to go along with it. Especially Troy Baker's performance as "MAW". 10/10 for that!!
I would however recommend the game, but not for that price. No way.
6.5/10! If it wasn't for the crashing, lack of chapter select (for collectables) and a 5-8 hour story, it would be a 9/10 from me.

An incredibly atmospheric game that took me back to the old days of horror games.
Psychological horror, extremely thrilling storytelling, the feeling being watched and followed all the time. All that is paired with awesome visuals and sounds that perfectly complement every scene. I really felt with Marianne.
If you like atmospheric horror games which use psychological horror instead of constant jumpscares, I can highly recommend this game.

Well honestly this game had a very good potential but considering how amateur was Bloober Team back then, Im not complaining about some weak points of the game and bad performance specially on DX12 version. i just want to say that after Silent Hill 2 remake and Cronos, they are cooking so good that every new title by this studio is highly recommended. Now Bloober has become the king of level design that it just wont let you leave the game and they are making low budget games look like a AAA title just like Cronos. i love you Bloober Team and i hope you guys continue making amazing remakes and original games....