58 - Amnesia

[matt]

In this video I talk about Amnesia: The Dark Descent and how it inspired aspects of Neverending Nightmares.

[miumiaou]

I like so much the main character of Amnesia (it's Daniel no?)

[matt]

You are correct - it is Daniel.

[miumiaou]

yes he is naive and was manipulate again and again but he has a great heart and suffer for what he did. It's exactly the sort of character that is number 2 in my own top

[Reinik]

I enjoyed finding out about all the different forms of torture he did, hahaha....

There are actually two enemy models, but yeah, I didn't even realize there was more than one at first because it's hard to get a good look at them if you want to survive in game.
There's also the invisible water monster [so three models I guess?], which was really smart of the developers too because they made one of the most intense parts of the game without ever having to design what the enemy looked like, map its textures, rig for animation, etc.

You mentioned they made a lot of things that they could recycle. I did notice they used a lot of the same props and textures, but I never really thought about why many of the areas don't feel that same-y. Maybe because they spaced different types of areas throughout the game? Like, there are places with hallways and small rooms, then there are huge rooms with high ceilings, places that have more wood vs. stone textures, wet areas, crumbling areas, etc.
I guess maybe they lit each area differently for another thing. Most of the game is pretty dark, but there are also places that are well lit, and there are windows, lamps, and torches spaced throughout. And if you look at screenshots there are areas that are mostly yellowish, or green, blue, or red, so they used different colors for variation. Oh, side note, I know obviously you can't use a lot of colors for Neverending Nightmares but I like how things that you can interact with are colored to stand out, because I really suck at searching for things in video games and I've had horror games lose scariness because I've been running around in circles frustrated trying to find something I've missed.

[Alina David]

Amnesia is a grate game because it has custom stories, making it's replay value very high.Some custom stories have more enemy models (the great work) and crazy designs that will blow your mind(can't recall the title but it had a strange segment where you go down some stairs and if fells like you are shrinking and at the bottom of the stairs you are the size of a mouse).

My take on Daniel is not that pretty.I figured that his personality changed dramatically from the star of the story to the end of it because he kept drinking the Amnesia potion over and over.Every flower petal shower on the floor indicated a place where he previously consumed the potion.(or at least that is what understood from it)So I can't love or hate the character, I don't hate or love Agrippa and Alexander either but he complex nature of all 3 characters I simply adore.

Justine on the other hand is one scary lady.

[ranger_lennier]

I enjoyed Amnesia--definitely a great atmosphere and intriguing story. I was a bit underwhelmed by the scariness given how much some people talked that up. But I guess I've never been really, truly terrified by a game.

I did think the insanity effects got old pretty quickly. For the most part, your movement just gets a little wobbly and maybe you see some bugs crawling on the screen. I don't recall anyone mentioning Eternal Darkness yet. That had a good variety of clever insanity effects. I've been wanting to go back and play that one ever since I heard about the Kickstarter for Shadows Of The Eternals. It's too bad that didn't make its goal. I know Silicon Knight's most recent games hadn't been that great, but what I saw of Shadows Of The Eternals looked really good.

[Grabthehoopka]

I adore the Amnesia series, and I think that love only got stronger when A Machine for Pigs came out.

I love them both equally, although from a character standpoint I probably liked Oswald's story more than Daniel's, due to his relationship with the villain (no spoilers) and the greater role he played in the game's plot. The stories of both games are still pretty great, though.

I really, honestly hope that Frictional hands the keys off to a different indie developer to make a third game in the series, and gives them the same creative freedom they gave to The Chinese Room, so we have a series of games that share common themes and gameplay elements but are otherwise completely different. Like a Final Fantasy for horror, if you will.

[Stefan8000]

in the moment, i play "a machine for pigs" and i like it. but i never played amnesia. i like scary games, but i am not sure, if this game is not to much for me. i like storytelling games, tells amnesia a good story?

[Grabthehoopka]

in the moment, i play "a machine for pigs" and i like it. but i never played amnesia. i like scary games, but i am not sure, if this game is not to much for me. i like storytelling games, tells amnesia a good story?

They're both very different games. A Machine for Pigs is more gruesome and disturbing, and The Dark Descent is more dreadful and terrifying. They're both scary in completely different ways, but The Dark Descent is more visceral and "in-your-face" than A Machine for Pigs.

If you're looking for story, than yes, it has a good story, but it's not nearly as central to the gameplay as it is in A Machine for Pigs. You find the story in documents, but they're fewer and farther between, and the story doesn't really start picking up or taking shape until about halfway through the game.

Basically, if you like A Machine for Pigs, I think you'll like The Dark Descent.