Wow hi! Just wanted to say THANK YOU for making this video. There's such incredible attention to detail here and I've shared it with the entire team. We've just celebrated 2 years since releasing In Sound Mind and it's been such a journey, and this video honestly helps reflect.
PS- We did consider making the inkblots mechanics shift and change per tape! It really does fit the overall narrative, but we had to make tough calls being a tiny team and couldn't fit everything in. Ended up focusing more on the unique weapons and boss fights.
PPS- Indeed, we used Unity for In Sound Mind. I can't say much yet but we're having an * unreal * time making our next one.

A big theme I noticed was exposure therapy. Each character, through their boss fight, had to be exposed to their fear to overcome it.

The fact they made Agent Rainbow go from the expected “Spooky horror antagonist lurking around every corner” to the “I’m going to troll you so hard” is so fucking hilarious to me

Small correction on Allen: He's not actually dead, he's "just" comatose and in a hospital. Many fans speculate that a possible continuation of ISM could be about Lucas and Desmond trying to save Allen, but yeah, he's still alive

I love how agent rainbow says at the start that "he killed the cat" knowing he's just a representation of Desmond it puts so much more meaning to that statement. (with him accidentally killing his cat and all.)

This is the kind of horror about mental illness that I adore. Not "ohh scary, this person is mentally ill and dangerous" or "youre losing your mind and going coo-coo!!"
Instead, horror centering the actual feelings of those struggling. The horror is the mental illness, not the mentally ill themselves.
As a horror fan who's both extremely passionate ab mental health and who's struggled with mental illness my entire life, I can't get enough of empathetic horror
Edit: I'm at the end fight and man I'm getting emotional

Okay, my PTSD has nothing to do with war, but little details like balloons popping triggering a war flashback? So good, it's clear so much thought has gone into this game

The real Unity horror is the licensing fees we found along the way.

Agent Rainbow's character design HAS to be a Freddy Krueger homage, right? Not just the silhouette, but his voice, his quips, his straight-up silliness, I even see a vague facial resemblance. It's hard to imagine that wasn't their intent. I love it.

I really like that our main character's trauma that he didn't want to remember wasn't overly extreme. It was sadness about losing a partner and a beloved pet. It wasn't like, extreme violent murder or anything. Just... sadness.

It's not that extreme trauma doesn't happen, but to see it be such a simple, mundane sadness, is so wonderful. I adore it.

I really love the fact that the mannequins help you in the store. In so many horror franchises mannequins are vessels for evil and cheap jumpscares, but here they feel more like your friend who forgets to announce their presence while trying to help you, a really neat way to get the player emotionally more invested and fuel curioisty while subverting such an old trope

Creepy, moving mannequins that just want to help you are actually an awesome idea and I am all for that.

I like to think the Mannequins are partly manifesting the trauma of the store employees who can’t forget that woman who died on their shift. Endlessly wondering how they could’ve saved her and trying to find peace by helping Desmond help Virginia.

May not line up with the necessary exposure to Agent Rainbow, but I think it’s fits the theme.

Consider that the mannequins represent the employees at the supermarket and while they seem threatening, they actually are there to help.

That's probably how Virginia thoughts of the actual employees.

The “Here Comes The Saviour” is a genuinely beautiful piece of music, and absolutely marvellous for an Indy project. A lot of talent went into this game

The ship in Allen's nightmare being called the Thanatos is really clever.

Thanatos is the personification of death in Greek mythology and one of his symbols is an inverted torch, which is referenced by the lighthouse, the torch is supposed to guide the living but it can also lead the dead.

not often that horror treats people with mental health issues with this much compassion. really cool of it.

Honestly the ending of "you were a good cat" I found way more emotional than it being a person, just as animals can love you unconditionally and rely on you so much to look after them, that anything that happens to them you feel so much more responsible for.

I'm really surprised you didn't even mention the 6 records/songs you can find in the game, sang by each character themselves. It meant they had to find voice actors who could not only act, but also sing. I've never seen that before, and I really liked that element. It didn't always make sense, there's was no way Lucas's voice actor was also 55 as the character in the game was meant to be with that voice, but it was really cool.

I love that you say “we’re stuck” “we find a key” and all that. It really makes us feel like we’re experiencing the game with you.