Join Horror fan Aoife Wilson as she finishes up her Let’s Play of #TheMedium – a psychological horror game of two halves in which hero Marianne exists in two worlds at once, the so-called ‘normal’ realm, and the spirit realm. Who is The Maw and what went down at the Niwa Hotel? Will Marianne ever stop monologuing? Will she ever break into more than a light jog? Stay tuned for the answers we all need.
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Oh my goodness, Aoife, you deserve a medal for playing through that.
It could've been such a good game and it just…wasn't.
On a second play through you unlock a secret ending that wraps up the most important story thread. Warning spoilers below..
Starts with a creepy corridor. A broken chain on the floor. Then, a car engine is heard.
Cuts to Bolt sitting with sunglasses in a soft top hatchback outside
The chain appears in the passenger seat wearing a head scarf
Belinda Carlisle's Heaven is a place on earth plays. They drive off into a sunset. Fades to black.
It was a mistake having expectations for this game 😅 I knew that a certain issue in particular wasn't handled well bc of Zoe's review of the game but wasn't expecting what actually happened
The ending was lacking to say the least and the game had the potential to be so much better
IMO, Zoe's review of the game was holding back, bloober made misstep after misstep with this, such a shame
Also, would definitely enjoy a stream of Aoife and Zoe tearing the game apart, maybe even suggesting improvements, might offer an element of catharsis to them both and I would certainly enjoy hearing their thoughts a bit more in depth than the review and the gameplay
So im gonna double down on the statement i made yesterday. Thomas Harris had two of his major plots taken in structure. On one hand Richard is almost identical to Hannibal in Hannibal Rising, "a boy in the Baltic experiences the war time violence and horror of Nazi occupation and the Holocausts, is talented with calk, ends up in a mental ward, and is thus turned into a monster." The Maw, a "tortured soul who seeks a skin suit and transitions into new bodies to fulfil his need for identity" is Jamie gum's (buffalo bill) story. The structures are identical in so many key ways, including the issues levied against Harris, a lack of sensitivity toward mental illness as survivors of trauma, flat, almost voiceless female characters who only serve as vehicles for the movement of the plot. Starling is Madeline, Will Graham is Thomas. both made by trauma into empathy machines, but the activity of Thomas has so much more literal power, its a mess.
One think that did strike me is that there is a cultural wealth to the theme of this story, one that is makes me feel uncomfortable out right dismissing all quality elements in the Story. The sheer density of Polish history in this game and how that national trauma is expressed via the "haunting" elements seems like an effort to worth through and understand the nations very real past, from nazi occupation to the Soviet take over. It did strike me that there was some sincere effort to engage in dialog with feelings and tensions that the authors want to explore, and that their sensativity to elements that we in western nations might not be on the same page about.
Still, Thanks for putting up with that Aoife, im glad i can save my money, and sad that the game was so… emmm… difficult.
The game looks and feels amazing on series x. Bloober team need praise. They’re very good at what they do. They’re just experimenting. Plus it’s on gamepass. Win-win imo
Back at it again already? Missed the sound of Marianne's voice? 🤪
I've had a few hours to stew on this, and I'm just left angry and exhausted by this game. I know I had the option of not watching the stream, but it genuinely did feel like we all got to a point where we had to slog on to help support Aoife and each other through to the end. Yes, the game looks gorgeous, and it had so much potential with the story and mechanics (clunky control issues aside), but it just devolved into a badly handled, overly complicated mess. The development team was not equipped to handle the subjects of abuse they portrayed, so everyone watching was left deeply unsettled by subjects that were dealt with terribly and used more as shock value, and it felt almost like abusive behaviour was being excused because the abusers were abused themselves. No. Just, NO. These men did not deserve any part of the sympathetic view the game gave them. It just turned into old, tired tropes that had been done before and should have been dealt with better and with more sensitivity by now. And, ye gods, the 'story'. I still don't know for sure what was going on. Sure, I can tell you the bare bones of the basic plot, but there are so many sub-plots and unrelated characters that were too easy to lose track of, whose stories didn't make sense and might even have been there as red herrings to pad the 'mystery' out. The timeline of events was also difficult to keep track of, I'm pretty sure a lot of it could have been ordered way better to make more sense. We were taken on a convoluted, confusing and frankly gross journey at points with no pay off at all with that utter cop out of an ending. It was probably supposed to be edgy, but just felt like a final insult after a gruelling 7+ hours. These days 7 hours seems short for a game, but trust me when I say it felt a whole lot longer. And not in a good way. Hats off to Aoife, the bolt cutters and everyone in the chat. I genuinely feel like we survived some kind of weird, traumatic experience.
Bolt cutters, the real hero of this story.
I've enjoyed the game on Series X. It's not perfect, but I think there was a lot of false expectancy placed on this as some sort of Silent Hill successor. Fair play to Bloober team for having a go with something new at the start of a new generation. I'd rather see this than another raft of soulless live service cash grabs that will no doubt be served up soon.
I just finished the game and came to see your reactions to certain things. Thanks for getting through it! What a fucking terrible creation this thing is! Bye!
Thank you Aoife. Such a wasted opportunity and I feel a little blackmailed by that final text by the developers on how much effort and love they put into this game.
I've commented elsewhere on the poor treatment of the abuse subject but it was poorly handled.
It never really answered Marieanne's question of why Niwa in the Spirit world was this powerful edifice (which is shown again at the post credits scene just to remind us that there is something else going on). A sequel that may never be made? The hints of the Nazis and the Soviets experiments was not developed. Thomas should have had flashes of that to colour his Spirit world experiences. Instead it made Spirit Thomas (that could have been his Id if they had chosen to develop that) who showed much more control and power than Marieanne but with less of a moral compass. This could have been explored in Marieanne's Spirit alter ego would start to show the same independence and degradation of empathy. It should also have been done as Marieanne encountering Thomas and working with him not having the player being him. The story lost that personal touch once we became Thomas I felt.
I assume the developers took Hitler's plans to build a bunker (a railway tunnel in a mountain was actually built) in Poland similar to the Wolf's Lair as the basis for Thomas' bunker complex but none of the suffering and death experienced by the slave labor was shown or even hinted at. This could have been the underlying impact on the Niwa site but its not even implied. What was the purpose of the fort as well?
Many of the characters were picked up and then discarded. Francis and Nurse Ursula were important but were barely sketched out in the end. Why was Ursula so easy to be possessed. Where are all the other memories of the massacre and her efforts to save them – actually doing her role as a Medium?
Sigh. Full marks for slogging through this game Milady and to Zoe for sticking by her own view point and reviewing this game for what it truly is.
PS Suicide is such a stupid ending and in comic/fantasy lore would only strengthen the Maw (and making it more hungry). How about combining your powers to reject the Maw ladies!? Exorcise the demon with your sisterly love and bond. Killing is a negative energy response! To quote C.S.Lewis "What do they teach children in schools?"
Thank you Aoife for playing this all the way through. I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see this train wreck otherwise and puzzling over it has consumed my entire day.
The chatters got it right that said this was not dark but exploitative and a bunch of men writing women. Of the three voiced female characters (am I forgetting one? I might be) Nurse Ursula is just a thirsty one note side character who's only purpose is to be an early indicator of Richard's pedophilia. Lilianne is only in the story to be victimized. Marianne (the "protagonist") is sidelined for the story of terrible men doing terrible things, only to find that her sole significance to the events is that she is Thomas' daughter. (but she forgot because of soap opera level coma induced amnesia) Worse than no resolution to the narrative is that Marianne herself seems to realize this at the end, affirming that it's HER story only to be robbed of any agency with the bullshit, ambiguous did she/didn't she ending.
I spent the rest of the day after watching this consuming as many reviews as I could find from a bunch of different sources. The amount of times a reviewer put the story in the pro column blew my mind and now I have a headache.
I spent my whole day watching both episodes of this horrendous game 😅😂 Please Aoife, I need you and Zoe to make a video about what shitfest this is! Total and utter disappointment.
I think that with the whole Richard story they weren’t trying to give him a voice or make the player feel sympathy for him; I believe/HOPE that they were saying some abusers at least were abused themselves, but with Thomas’ reactions they were saying it doesn’t matter in the slightest, they CHOSE to become the abuser. This may have been more apparent if they hadn’t given Richard’s backstory anywhere as much time. They needed Thomas to shut down the pity parade sooner and more forcefully.
I really hope that’s what they were doing, either way they did it badly. At best it was inelegant but I personally feel it was repulsive, insulting and outright traumatising for anyone that’s been abused themselves. Not sure I can watch the rest it’s just irrevocably tainted now.
thanks for the playthrough
I'm an hour in and not sure if I'll finish this, but giving you a Like for your stoic perseverance, Aoife! Not at all your fault that the content is lacking. At the very least I can use this game as an example of what not to do when tackling sensitive issues…
EDIT: Okay, I stuck around for the rest of it, which was certainly better after the first hour, but I totally agree about the bleugh ending. It was such an interesting concept and a beautifully rendered world, but the storyline drifted back and forth between gross and weird. Thank you Aoife for going through the whole thing, your comments and sass were probably the best thing in it! Bolt Cutters MVP.
Some of you seem like anything triggers you (not surprising being eurogamer lol). Maybe you should just stop watching or playing anything thats not clear cut and friendly and peace all around type shat.
Well, you surely did brave through after all, not sure I would've the will… Although, it's quite short, thankfully… And I guess I was right in my assessment… What is worse, there's nothing remotely new to this game… The story is just a bunch or cliches and tropes mashed together with a sliver of hope it will hold together (spoilers: it doesn't)… Gameplay, not even worth comment… Maybe the only redeeming quality is, maybe visuals, just maybe, because is not as good throughout the entire experience… Over hyped/glorified walking, sometimes lite jogging, simulator…
The game: siblings
Everyone: pretends to be shocked
Came here for the John Mulaney quotes; was not disappointed!
I was getting Outlast 2 vibes from this second half of the game.
The unsubtle tone. The disjointed plot points. They high production values and low writing quality. The absolute inability to piece together the true narrative. The poor handling of child abuse within power structures. Etc.
Ugh.
Such a disappointment. This game has a truly amazing aesthetic, and an interesting (if sometimes awkwardly implemented) core mechanic. I can forgive a bit of jankiness, but the story is just a mess– which is a shame, because there are some good ideas in there, buried in with the predator apolgism, victim erasure, and cliche twists.
The bits with Thomas particularly seemed like a pacing nightmare. There wasn't enough of him for it to feel like a game with two main characters, but too much of him for brief detours. Also, you lose a lot of narrative inertia when your player character is supposed to on a revenge rampage (on behalf of his daughter, who doesn't get to voice any of her opinions on the matter), but has to spend ten minutes wandering around in circles in a hedge maze first.
I like the idea of the split world being split screen but everything else seems to have been handled clumsily. Plus the lazy writing and whole abuse thing….. Yikes!
I cannot believe I stayed up until 1am to finish watching this and get that non-ending. This game is such a terrible, albeit gorgeous, mess, thanks for slogging through it for us and saving us the cash, Aoife!
If they had fixed the game mechanics a little better to not make everything so goddamn slow, we could have had double the story in the same gametime – and possibly could have properly fleshed out Thomas as a secondary MC and fixed up his backstory and plotlines. Or, given what a convoluted mess was, we should maybe be happy that it's 'only' 7-8 hours long…
Wasn’t Marianne supposed to be pregnant at some point?
The reveal trailer that came out 8 months ago opened with a very pregnant Marianne getting an ultrasound. That’s a major plot change to make months before release, no wonder the story is a mess.
Wow she is annoying. If she would put half as much effort into following the story instead of being "offended" she would not be so clueless 90% of the time.
My impression is that the game starts to fall apart in the Daycare. Richard's act, in my opinion, should have been played out focusing only on Thomas' anger and not giving Richard more screen time than necessary and I think Henry's act could have just been summarised. I think I grasp the metaphor behind both acts (Some people become a monster because of external factors while others are simply monsters) but that doesn't change the sensation that I have that the original ending was scrapped and they got this bleak "Nobody wins" drowning ending.