Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Amnesia, while fairly recent, has become a classic in the eyes of many, and its popularity is well deserved. The story gradually unfolds through flashbacks and scattered notes, requiring a bit of effort to piece together but never feeling confusing or frustrating, and both the story and atmosphere of the game lightly invoke H.P. Lovecraft while still coming up with something unique and original rather than directly relying on anything from the Cthulhu mythos. While the game does have supernatural elements, it's more about the horror of being alone, confused, helpless and afraid in the dark, as well as the terrible revelations you discover as you piece together your lost memories. You will feel vulnerable, horrified, maybe even exhausted at points, and it's all written and voice-acted in a compelling manner, complemented by the setting of a dank, crumbling old castle under assault by a dark force. The enemies deserve special note, as the game involves no combat- if you get too close to an enemy, they'll tear you apart, and every time you round the corner to see one shambling across the corridor in front of you, your heart is likely to skip a beat as you frantically search for a place to hide. The more you look at the shambling horrors of the castle, the faster your sanity drains and the easier they can find you, so even by the end, you'll only have a vague, terrifying impression of what they even are. IMO, the scariest enemy of all is the one that's fully invisible, and detectable only by splashing footfalls chasing you through the water. The only downside is that the horror diminishes quite a bit in the final act- during the last few revelations, you encounter a disconcertingly friendly character who helps you out, and the final encounter doesn't feel threatening at all- if anything, you feel empowered as you near your revenge with little to stand in your way. This flaw does little to diminish the experience, however, and this one is definitely worth your time.

The graphics still hold up for the most part, the story is interesting and the gameplay loop is basic , but effective: stumble in the dark looking for key objects while the occasional monster pops up to try and get you rid of your buttocks, after some key hunting you enter a scripted sequence that transitions to a new area of the castle and start all over again. But the sound design is where the game shines the most, it is absolutely fantastic, audio hallucinations will accompany you through the whole game and it's a huge part of the "horror" aspect The random monster spawn means that you may or may not see a monster through entire sections of the game, but at the same time it keeps you on edge, and unlike penumbra all you can do is run and hide The lack of map can be disorienting in the latter part of the game where pitch dark-same looking corridors are the norm, but I'm glad the devs sticked to the "minimal aid" philosophy which not only helps stretching the length of the game but also makes you feel ever more helpless I'll probably never play it again because I'm a spineless coward and my stress levels went through the roof after half an hour of gameplay, which made my play sessions incredibly short and I had to drag myself through the whole thing at the slowest pace, but still, I consider Amnesia a lifetime experience that clearly inspired countless horror games over the past years and probably will keep doing it in the future

I bought this game as soon as I saw that it was avalible here on GOG, even though I already owned it on Steam! I truly value drm-free games. However, I miss the achivements avalible steam version. Other than that 10/10! It´s a must play

So I actually got this game when it first came out..I am one of those gamers who LOVES HORROR and scares..but is also a chicken...a big fat crying chicken...... I've played (at least to my knowledge) pretty much every horror game that has come out in the past 20 years....nothing has every scared me so much to make me twinkle myself untill this..YES TWINKLE (you figure it out)...I could only play this game in 20 -30 min sessions...I could only play this if my girlfriend (what a man I looked like) was in the room with me.... The game play is a great mix of first person adventure/with a feel of the old 3rd person alone in the dark games (but played in FIRST PERSON)....it's also very clever and you have to ALWAYS be thinking. I don't know how to rate the A.I. or the overall mechanics of the game, but when I had to hide or when I thought I was hidden, I was...it seems to all work which makes for a better game. ALL THIS BEING SAID..I don't know if I had fun....I was just too scared...but was I entertained HECK YES! Cheers!

Great game, but I recommend it for people with nerves of steel.