Amnesia: Rebirth

Unlike the later The Bunker, Rebirth is a *very* different game. It's more of a horror-y and mostly creepy visual novel, an interactive piece of fiction with little actual escape or hiding except in very predefined ways. This all made me pretty disappointed at first. But, sticking with it, the insanely twisted atmosphere and creepy visuals that far exceed what even the later The Bunker does (which I think is overall the better game and even outdoes TDD) really convey a dreadful feeling. It's as if HR Giger took a swing at creating an Amnesia-game-like feeling just via visuals and atmosphere. It's a shame there's virtually no gameplay to match it, but the overall game was still *very* good, at least IMO. Just be aware, it's a visual novel more than a stealth exploration game. A very good one, IMO, but still odd to sell it under this label, more comparable to A Machine For Pigs although unlike that one, this gets the creepy feeling and dreadful foreboding atmosphere right!

I enjoyed the first half of the game. It was immersive and had really scary moments. Like a much more polished experience of the first Amnesia. After some time the constant darkness just gets really really annoying. It is not scary when you can't see anything. The exploration part of the game is not fun or interesting when you are barely able to see anything. I hated the last third of the game. Boring alien ruins which I find hard to immerse myself into, and a lot of sneak-through-this-room-with-an-annoying-enemy scenes. The story felt rather shallow.

It's a profound narrative that keeps you reflecting as the plot develops

Played this game while pregnant myself (probably not the wisest idea), though I did so in Adventure mode and watched the original gameplay on youtube. It is better than the previous Amnesia instalments but not as good as SOMA which came before it, all of which I played in original difficulty. If played in original, I think the darkness can get quite stressful sometimes and there are areas in mid-game with too many monsters, though some people may enjoy this. The story felt a bit slow in the middle and rushed at the end, and I can pick a few holes in it, which I will not mention to avoid spoilers. I think the Amnesia story and darkness mechanic is a bit exhausted after this (I know there is one more, but I will not be playing that one). The team should create new stories, like the five star SOMA they did, but that is just my opinion.

Frictional hatched some true masterpieces previously, and even though Rebirth is not quite in that realm it's still quite a good game. Fantastic atmosphere, especially in the earlier parts of the game while the encounters are not so emphasized - which for me actually broke the terror up with bouts of annoyance during the cutscenes. For a good chunk of the game you get to flirt with terror and that was actually really nicely done. The matchsticks are a fab touch, lamp and oil and inventory are classic. The environment is most excellent and the sound is likewise absolutely great. The puzzles are really nice. Where the game underdelivered for me was in the way the panic strikes in game too soon, it doesn't match your own levels of panic rising, at least it did not for me...as soon as you hit darkness the creaking and cracking starts quite vigorously and it does get a bit annoying. The slinking around I did not quite enjoy as well, the footsteps make so much noise even while crouched that you never feel like you are doing a good job of hiding. Peaking around corners felt weak and not as useful as in the previous instalments. Monster encounters get too 'in your face' toward the end of the game and amongst them the 'dementors' felt the weakest, least scary and a bit annoying. All that said, the story is quite cool, expounding on the lore a bit and visiting some locations only hinted at in the first instalment. The characters and voice acting I have no complaints about. The game is absolutely worth playing for lovers of Frictional offerings, although I would advise getting it on a sale.