tl;DR: I am genuinely amazed at how effective this "game" is at its stated goal of inducing transcendental states of consciousness. Was skeptical, but then profoundly amazed. Literally helped transform my consciousness. (More on what that even f***ing means down below.) It can have the same sort of power (and therefore danger) as psychedelics, be careful. Lay down or get a neck pillow with a HMD.
I have a lot of experience with meditation, hypnosis, LSD, mindfulness, and healing complex PTSD, so I did have some background in mental restructuring before going in. However, I didn't take the claims or warnings seriously, I figured it was marketing fluff. "Ask my doctor? Don't operate heavy machinery? What the hell, I mean, it's just some computer program, how much could it really do to me? I've done heroic doses of acid, I've even done DMT man. I bet it'll barely do anything outside of a placebo effect."
I now know that if this game is used properly, and the individual is a tiny bit open to ego-death, the warnings are all very necessary and perhaps even understated. This is like a psychedelic drug, not just because it looks trippy, but because it is very likely to cause the same fundamental shifts in consciousness and perception. It is based on hard neuroscience, inspired by cultures and religions across human history, and specifically engineered to exploit loopholes in the brain. If the human brain is like a computer, then that computer has security vulnerabilities, and this game exploits a lot of those weaknesses to essentially hack your head into a state of nirvana/timelessness/oneness/thoughtlessness/ego-death/transcendent consciousness.
I want to briefly explain what a "transcendental state of consciousness" even is, in hard terms. A "state of consciousness" is the whole of how you perceive and process the world around you at any given moment. Most everyone is very familiar with at least 3 of these states: Wakefulness, dreaming, and deeply sleeping.
* Wakefulness can be thought of as being awake while having concepts in your conscious mind (like thoughts, anxieties, or an awareness that your popcorn is burning).
* Dreaming can be thought of as being asleep while still having concepts in your mind, which are interpreted by your unconscious mind as dreams.
* Deep sleep can be thought of as being asleep without any concepts in your mind. There's no mental activity or thought, just pure rest and reaction to stimuli (like a bug crawling on your face)
The human brain is actually capable of more states of consciousness than those 3, but they are much less common and often don't occur naturally. Transcendental consciousness is one of these states.
* Transcendental consciousness can be thought of as being awake WITHOUT concepts in your mind. Like deep sleep, there is no mental activity or thoughts (and therefore no ego, hence the term ego-death), but you are wide awake and alert, able to perceive all around you without any concepts forming around that perception. You have "transcended" thought as a cognitive function. This is nirvana, often described as pure bliss or divine. The brain no longer makes a distinction between the subject (the universe) and the observer (you), leading to a permeating feeling of oneness. All tension and stress in both mind and body works its way out, which if there's a lot, could either be utter ecstasy or hopelessly overwhelming.
This state is almost impossible for me to truly convey if the reader hasn't experienced it firsthand, although many cultures and religions through the ages (and recently neuroscience) have given it their best shot. The more concepts are explained to the reader, the more concepts that are in the reader's mind, only getting them further from knowing the experience of "absolutely no concepts while wide awake".
This state of course can only occur with Soundself if the player is properly willing and prepared, which could either take 5 minutes or 5 years depending on personal traumas and such. Look up advice for taking LSD for the first time, and almost all of the info you find will apply to this game. If your ego is unable to accept temporary disintegration, your psychological defenses will go up, and it's likely to not do much at all (or worse, it might feel very uncomfortable and maybe even scary). On the other hand, you might find you are particularly susceptible to its mental exploits, and so you also want to be prepared to deal with the psychological fallout of that.
Due to the length limit on Steam reviews, I had to type up the long details of my personal experience with Soundself on pastebin. Please read it here: [url=https://pastebin.com/tKuzKNXx]https://pastebin.com/tKuzKNXx[/url]
If this review seems unbelievable to you, then that makes a lot of sense, because I also am still having trouble believing what I am bearing witness to in my own mind. But what I said here is genuine and my best attempt at explaining this game. Andromeda Entertainment made something really special here, something I didn't think was possible until yesterday.
What else can I say? This game is, in some ways, a more powerful drug than actual drugs. Take the warnings seriously. Fire can burn just as easily as it can illuminate. Aim for single solid tones in an even rhythm. Lose your mind so you can come to your senses.
