As you can gather from the title, Mind: Path to Thalamus takes place within the player-characters mind as he navigates his regrets and failings. As a concept, it works pretty well and definitely has potential to be very moving. Its execution however is the games greatest downfall. Falling into the trap of other indie games attempting to deal with serious topics, it doesnt trust the player to figure out the story for his/herself. Instead, you are subjected to the characters non-stop monologuing.
It isnt necessarily the talking itself that is the problem, but rather its the poorly written and painfully on-the-nose text which comes across like a 14 year olds diary. Thankfully, you can turn off subtitles, turn down the volume, and pretend its not there, and it doesnt take away from the experience at all.
At the end of the day, Mind: Path of Thalamus is a solid puzzle game that is well worth a playthrough. Its challenging enough that you wont blow through it, but quite accessible once you figure out the basics. Along with that, its laid-back pace and beautiful environments make for a great experience. Narration aside, this game is as put-together and well-designed as just about anything else you can find in the indie space. Heres hoping it finds an audience because Id like to see what else Coronado has up his sleeve.
