I tried The Dark Pictures: Man Of Medan. And I was trying really hard to like it, but... Sorry, I can't. When I tried demo long ago I thought it was ok, but trying the whole thing - it's just too bad. Maybe I got spoiled by QUANTIC DREAM's Detroit, that I played before it, but I see to many issues here.
It's bad as a game. Bad camera (worse than in Heavy Rain). Bad "interactions" mechanic (why do I always need to press "A" and then also HOLD the "RT"? And sometimes I need to just press "RT", not hold, and you can't tell which one is actually needed. Interactions also break some dialogues. Point of the traits is not clear at all. There is also some kind of "collection" of events, but it's also unclear what that is for.
But that is something that I could live with if the story was good, but it's not. It's a B-Movie at best. Characters are quite flat and undefined and your choices seem to make them look like psychos at times, because they simply contradict the psychology of those characters. Acting is bad and cuts between some scenes is even worse. The only good thing seems to be the overall atmosphere on the ship, but that's not saying much and it does not save the game.
I was not able to continue forcing myself to play this, it started feeling like a chore, and when a game feel like a chore - it's bad. I got it with 50% discount, but even with it I do not find it worth the money. Perhaps it would work with a bunch of drunken friends, played over one evening, but not as a single-player experience.
[UPDATE]
After awhile I gave it another shot. All the things I did not like are still there, obviously. I can even add bad sound positioning (even when using good headphones). Somehow I was able to tolerate the story more and finished both theatrical and curator's cut. I still can't say the story is that amazing, some places definitely lack polish, but I'd give credit where credit is due: the way choices affect stuff and how some of them are essentially time-bombs - that's good. That one I like. That does want me to try the enxt games in the series. Although, still can't recommend this one, unless it's on big sale.
