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Writer's pictureArielle Danan

You are the curator of your own story: Man Of Medan Review


Intro: The story will find you regardless of place, time or circumstance. As each piece unfolds the concept gets brighter, and the motive and little less hazy. Dark Pictures Anthology: Man Of Medan put us as the player in the forefront of making some rather, gut-wrenching decisions. You are the curator, the storyteller, and the master of your own design. Choose wisely. The Curator of Stories: Short horror anthologies have been instilling fear and joy in the hearts of many for over 200 years. Man of medan, though in a different format still makes a powerful impact on the way horror is written and presented. Now as an interactive media, we can choose a characters’ fate instead of being the bystander that watches helplessly. This game breaks the fourth wall and puts you in the driver’s seat of being the curator for these poor unfortunate souls. The breaking of the fourth wall gives the player a motive, a psychological eye into the world. This was a clever tactic executed by Supermassive Game and one that I think more so resonated with me when I was experiencing the world of Medan. The game plays out like a movie, smoothly transitioning from the cut scene to when you are playing the game. I found this to be something that told the story in a more effortless way so not only I felt more immersed but the world seemed more seamless. Going Back To Its Roots: Psychological horror for me, means tight spaces, corners that you can’t see around, and fixed camera angles. For the first time in a while, I have seen those elements come to play in a new game. It brought back those resident evil vibes where you were too scared to go around the next hallway because you didn’t know what was waiting around the corner. The story also flowed the same way a classic anthology would where it started off slow, and used intellectual shock value and jump scares that were few and far between to create a sense of unease that had me on the edge of my seat. The characters have 3d personalities and are brought to life in this chaotic universe. The story, the curator, the way the curator brought to life a world that was haunting and had a vibrancy that made me love this game. My final thoughts: Im here to record the story you wish to tell” The curator. As we play in a game of sacrifice, love, and having the ultimate moral dilemma we grow and learn that into each life an equal amount of hard choices must fall. And we, as the curator must make the choice to survive, or be a sacrifice of the heart. I loved this game and while I wasn’t too crazy about the control work that was but only a small portion of the overall picture. The game has lived and breathed an uneasy feeling into my soul. Walking each fixed camera-covered hallway a new journey awaited. And with shaky footing, I greeted the next piece of chaos happily.


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