Blind (PSVR/Pro) review

These sites are ad—free

First impression

I didn’t have, basically, any info about Blind game until it was released just yesterday (Sep. 18, 2018) and seeing some footage of it I had to try this one out.

I thought Blind was just good ol’ puzzle/story driven game, but boy was I wrong. Blind is psychological thriller with story and puzzles. As much as I experienced it. After thinking ‘is this intentional’ I checked the age restriction (it was 16) and the short description of the game itself. What have I got myself into?

Story

Blind tells story of a young woman, Jean, who is in a car crash with her little brother Scott. After she comes to she’s blind accompanied with a mysterious man in a unknown mansion. The man (Warden) tells that she is fine and her little brother is not here and she needs to solve puzzles to get out of the house. As she solves riddles and puzzles the story opens up of her past with traumatic events she experienced.
The story/gameplay felt little bit stretched in the end. I have noticed this same thing in many games. Sometimes less is more.

psychological thriller with story and puzzles

Gameplay & Controls

One thing that bothers me the most in VR games is the 30° turns. I like to turn freely!! The 30° turning is mostly because many player feel discomfort if the picture is moving too fast, but for me it’s vice versa. I started to feel nauseas towards the end of the playing session. Blind does not offer any option for that matter so I had to play it as is.
After playing a while it started to feel OK (minus the nausea), and maybe I should try other games, too, (I have dismissed many PSVR games since there isn’t good options for the movement.)

UPDATE: PC version of Blind have more options for controls such as turning freely. PSVR version will have an update for that, too, on later date.

Blind is playable with Move controllers but I don’t own them so I used just regular PS4 controller.

As the player is blind the only way to ‘see’ is through echolocation. The Warden provides Jean a cane which by tapping to the floor makes a sound and for a brief moment you can see what’s around you. If you use the cane too much in short period of time you’ll get overdose and can’t see anything for a while. Player can also grab, almost every object, and throw it to make a sound, too.

There’s not basically any other controls, other than walking, turning, crouching, examining objects and interacting. The controls works fine but the most ‘annoying’ part was the fact that the character can’t run, but then realizing that she is blind!! Stupid me.

Graphics

Blind is very minimalistic game overall, even with graphics, and I think that’s very positive thing. It doesn’t need to be the most gorgeous graphics and realistic looking core and effects to make horror alive. I played this at evening and around 21:30 I screamed like a maniac when I got scared by the Warden as he suddenly appeared behind me!!

only way to ‘see’ is through echolocation

Sound

The sound is atmost important effect in this whole ensemble. Player can just stand still and listen around and by doing so player can actually see just little bit around. The sound is well done and I think it’ll compensate the lack of visual fidelity.

Difficulty

The first puzzle was pain. I honeslty didn’t have any idea what to do with it until I figured it out, purely by accident. With the rest of the puzzles I realized they aren’t so overly difficult after all. The game doesn’t offer any difficulty levels or extra hints.

I think the most difficult part was walking onwards and tapping my cane to the floor and as the picture was scanned I was on edge all the time that is the Warden right in front of me. The visual sense is most important to human and being in total darkness sometimes was painfully crushing. Not forgetting this is VR game and I’m home alone middle of the night!!

Last impression

Blind was truly nerve-wracking. At least for me. The psychological-triller-horror is on point with this. Very first I thought that this isn’t supposed to be like this and the horror is only in my head but after seeing the detailed description on PS Store, I was scared even more. There isn’t any blood or core but more of the feeling that you are on the edge all the time. I love thrillers that are not raped by the jump-scares because it is cheap way to make anything ‘scary’. Blind does not have a single jump-scare and that’s why I like this alot. The suspense is made with ingenuity!! If something makes you scared to turn around all the time, it has done its job.

I still wouldn’t say this game is perfect or must play. It is good in its own genre and suites for only thriller loving crazy players.

Would I like to play this again? Yes, but not anytime soon. Let my nerves rest.