Amnesia: The Dark Descent

9 of 10, great story and atmosphere

Only thing I dislike (just slightly) is the sanity system and the little adventure game gameplay mechanics that Penumbra employed (check an item for the protag's thoughts). But they are small nitpicks when looking at the massive influence this game had. And the custom stories just don't stop, like Thief FMs!

The game begins by waking up in a Castle where you don't remember anything, your only choice is to continue forward before being devoured by a darkness you cannot see. Story (8/10) You'll discover bits and pieces of what the main character Daniel's life was like before he became amnesic. There will also be occasional flashbacks where Daniel will remember some of his memories. Overall it is an interesting story that isn't directly told to you and expects effort on the player to piece together the entire story from what is given in the Castle. This can make it confusing, but it is a good way to tell the story. Soundtrack (9/10) The soundtrack does it's job well. It makes you constantly feel uneasy. Especially in certain areas. There will be intense music that will play when a monster is nearby and it will end when the monster goes away. Among the horrific soundtrack is also peaceful and serene soundtrack in this game which will serve to relax your nerves, only to later put you on edge again when the soundtrack goes horrific again. Gameplay (7/10) As it is a survival horror, your goal is survival, you must press forward. Your character has an amount of Health and sanity represented by the Heart and Brain in your inventory. Darkness and other scary events and monsters will cause your sanity to decrease. If your sanity gets low, you start hallucinating things that aren't there, such as bugs, or bodies. There's limited lighting supplies to help preserve your sanity and see where you're going. Each area will have an obstacle and require you to find items to get past the obstacle. There is also a Hard Mode that makes survival far more difficult. Overall (8/10) It is a solid horror game overall. The game gives an oppressive atmosphere to the degree you won't want to continue. Some horror is lost in knowing that enemies are scripted to appear in specific places rather than completely random. But it does the job well still regardless.

The premise of the story is good and you can see some similarities to Lovecraft's stories. Unfortunately instead of terrifying me the game managed to irritate me constantly. It starts right at the beginning using a sanity system with a character who is scared of basicaly everything, including the dark. Doesn't help that what counts as dark seems inconsistent, so your character sometimes gets drunk vision and hears annoying sounds even in half well lit room. It also doesn't help that this is combined with finite supply of lightsources and a few tricky to find items. Monsters barely feel like being part of the game, they can appear from nowhere in scripted events and then, after checking the room you are in once, will disappear, never to be found again. Instead of being an obstacle player has to navigate around or outsmart, they are mostly a stop sign forcing you to stop playing and hide for a minute. Being forced to go through the red tissue which hits you randomly also didn't add much to the experience. It's not all bad, there are few good moments, but unless you really like these games I would read the story notes somewhere and skip the game itself.

FPA (first person adventure) is a genre that's rarely done and rarely done well. Amnesia is one of the few titles that succeeds in that. It grips you from beginning to end and is a game that you'll come back to time and time again. If you're the type of player that thinks first person games should be all guns and pewpew, then this isn't the game for you. In this game you have to use your wits and intellect to suvive, rather than an array of pointless weapons. I got this game from Humble Bundle a while ago and it's still one of my favourites. It's not before time that it's come to GOG. So buy it, you really won't be disappointed.