We analyze the adaptation of Man of Medan for Nintendo Switch.
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan, Available Now on Nintendo Switch
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A few days ago, Bandai Namco surprisingly announced the release of The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man Of Medan for Nintendo Switch. The title, released in 2019 on PS4, Xbox One and PC, and in 2022 on PS5 and Xbox Series, came to the hybrid console in digital format for just €19.99, with the Supermassive Games’ first horror title to hit hybrid console.
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan
Man of Medan is the first of four games that make up the first season of The Dark Pictures, made up of four independent horror titles. Each released game offers a cinematic proposal with branching narrative and multiplayer mode where decisions are vital to survive, like QTE or exploration of some areas. While waiting for the launch of new titles, we played the first of them when they arrived on Nintendo Switch.
+ Pros
This is the latest version of the game, with an extended chapter and multiple additional options. A perfect game for lovers of current horror movies. An interesting and perfect story to replay.
– Contras
The game is capped at 24fps, so hitches in QTE or exploration tend to chop things up. Loading of items or lighting is more apparent in this version. Load times show the capabilities of the console.
Man of Medan: price, release date, platforms and where to buy
Man of MedanPlatformNintendo SwitchRelease DateMay 4, 2023DeveloperSupermassive GamesGenreHorror graphic adventureLanguageSpanish texts and voices
The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is a video game developed by Supermassive Games., studio responsible for Until Dawn and The Quarry, and distributed by Bandai Namco. With its release the May 4, 2023, the title adds Nintendo Switch as a platform after having gone through PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox one and PC. His horror adventure it is presented through constant cinematics, conversations, moments of exploration and the occasional QTE. The game has both voices and texts in Spanish.
The Dark Pictures’ First Horror Story
The Dark Pictures is a series of independent cinematic horror games with a branching narrative and multiplayer mode. Man of Medan is the first installment of the anthology that continues with Little Hope, House of Ashes and Devil in Me, the latter being considered the best of all. In this history, five friends embark on a diving excursionalthough their trip ends with all of them in a ghost ship.
Each character has its own personality and is managed by the player in different chapters of the story, which allows you to develop your relationship with the rest of the character through decisions that are taken throughout the cinematics or during moments of exploration. The end of the story can end with all the living characters, but also with all the dead ones, fitting numerous possibilities based on choices.
Just like in Until Dawn, the protagonists of Man of Medan are a series of young adults eager to live adventures. However, their excursion is cut short and they end up captive in a ghost ship abandoned since World War II, a place where not everything is as it seems and terror seizes all of them. Evidently, the player is one more to get scares at any time.
When exploring the scenarios, we can find different objects, highlighting the paintings, which serve as premonitions of situations that are about to happen. Likewise, we can also analyze a large number of objects that they will help us and leave clues to understand everything that is happening on the ship. In this first installment, the scenarios tend to be more linear, although it is impossible to find everything in a single game.
Everything included in the Nintendo Switch version
Man of Medan comes to Nintendo Switch with its additional content included
Man of Medan rescues all its game modes on Nintendo Switch. The first of them is the most classic, being the option to enjoy the adventure alone. However, the game can be enjoyed in two additional ways. The first of them is a online cooperative mode for two players in which each one of them manages a different character and, therefore, each one can enjoy the story from different perspectives. This way requires Nintendo Switch Online.
On the other hand, there is Movie Night, a mode that allows up to five players enjoy the story locally. In this mode, you only need one controller, since the console itself will notify you when you have to pass the controller on to a friend so that everyone is part of the game’s decisions. This is a very valid option if we have the four or five hours on average that the game lasts to enjoy with friends.
Discussing the game with a friend online or watching any of our friends get scared at any time is great fun, although Man of Medan also has the Curator’s Cut mode to enjoy the same story alone from a different perspective. In this way, the game can be enjoyed with three different options, although the most recommended is always to save all the characters so as not to lose details of the story, because if you don’t we can get to the end early and without understanding important details.
Man of Medan’s replayability is found in wanting to collect all of your collectibles or seeing what happens when you make different choices. Nevertheless, the Nintendo Switch version is the extended one that reached the rest of the consoles through a free update that lengthens the Flooded chapter with new possible deaths. Thus, the title also has difficulty settings and QTE promptsImproved , UI and interactions along with more accessibility options like changing the size of subtitles.
It should be remembered that in Man of Medan there is no combat system since confrontations or chases are resolved through quick time events (QTE), which are not difficult in the standard way. It should be noted that the game comes somewhat limited to Nintendo Switch, running at 24 fps, something that can shock the player but is considered an accepted cinematic frame rate. In fact, it is the loads of lighting or objects that bother the port the most.
Not as prominent as in the rest of the consoles and PC
Man of Medan loses graphic quality on Nintendo Switch
Like every Supermassive Games game, Man of Medan is a game that catches the eye due to its beautiful graphics and knowing how to teleport the player to a terrifying or disturbing environment. On Nintendo Switch this is more difficult due to the technical capabilities of the console and, despite the fact that we can adapt to what the hybrid offers, comparisons with consoles and PC are inevitable… Feeling the game choppy can happen on occasion before the limitation generated by 24 fps.
Man of Medan is enjoyed on Nintendo Switch, although less than on PlayStation and Xbox or PC consoles. In fact, it is at its end, when we have gotten used to the adaptation, when we once again realize the capacity of the hybrid console since the jerk of frames becomes more palpable in some QTE or important situation. However, it is appreciated that Supermassive has managed to create a native version of the title and has not opted for cloud gaming.
We do not know if the rest of The Dark Pictures games will end up coming to Nintendo Switch, since the saga has been growing and improving its features with each installment. However, Man of Medan ends up being enjoyed on the hybrid console by accepting that it is a version that cannot display the same graphics and has limitations on lighting, loading objects, loading times…
A welcome adaptation
Man of Medan lighting loses quality on Nintendo Switch
In short, it is appreciated that Supermassive Games has managed to bring Man of Medan to Nintendo Switch to make its horror anthology known to more players. Despite the fact that the game stands out more on the rest of the platforms, it has come to the hybrid console with a reduced price of €19.95although only in digital format.
Is about a highly recommended game for current horror movie lovers or for gamers who enjoy graphic adventures or short stories. Its story ends up being interesting and encourages you to want to reach its end as soon as possible, but deepening the relationships of the characters or exploring ends up being rewarded.
The possibility of replaying the story through different decisions or enjoying the adventure with friends in different ways make it a perfect game alone and/or in company. Man of Medan was the beginning of a horror anthology from which we are looking forward to receiving more titles, so it is a highly recommended game if you have not tried it yet, although Nintendo Switch may not be the best platform.
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