374 people found this review helpful
Not Recommended
0.0 hrs last two weeks / 5.7 hrs on record (5.1 hrs at review time)
Posted: Jan 23, 2014 @ 8:08am
Updated: Jan 23, 2014 @ 1:59pm

To fans of Amnesia: The Dark Descent, this game is a huge disappointment. To start with the good, it excels at creating atmosphere. There are some great scenes and very fitting music. You get a small taste of a story that would probably have been interesting if they told you more of it, but then that’s all there is.

They give you an unlimited light source and simplify all other parts of the gameplay so you can just stroll through the one path they left you and let them tell you the story, which feels like a movie adaptation of a book where you can tell something's missing unless you've read the book, but there's no book.

I can’t understand why they used the Amnesia title for this game which plays NOTHING like The Dark Descent. It would have been a sort of okay game if they hadn’t tried to associate it with Amnesia, but since they did it's actually misleading on top of mediocre, so I recommend ignoring it and waiting for whatever comes out of Frictional next.
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5 Comments
misterhaan Apr 9, 2017 @ 8:14am 
first of all i didn’t say the unlimited light source makes it simple. this game is a walking simulator and its titular predecessor was not, so by comparison this one is simple in a lot of ways. the infinite light source was the first difference i noticed, but it doesn’t end up mattering much since you don’t go insane spending too much time in the dark anyway.

second, those aren’t the only two things i mention in my review. i also point out that the story is lacking, the gameplay is linear, and titling it “amnesia” despite disconnected story and gameplay is misleading.

finally, i suppose it’s fitting for my review to disappoint you considering the game disappointed me. by the way i thought soma was excellent (though still not as much so as amnesia the dark descent), and it has an infinite light source too.
Naraka Apr 8, 2017 @ 2:45pm 
Are you serious,
Did you rate this game bad just because it gives an unlimited light source and that it make it "simple"?

This review is a disappointment.
misterhaan Aug 31, 2014 @ 6:34pm 
i have dear esther and plan to play it — i’d heard lots of complaints about it not really being a game, which i can see after playing a machine for pigs, but i still thought it sounded enjoyable. dear esther has its own story that’s not related to a machine for pigs though doesn’t it?

i knew about thechineseroom’s role in a machine for pigs but didn’t think that was necessary to point out in the review. my understanding is that frictional owns the name amnesia and even asked thechineseroom to make this game, so they’re still the ones who put amnesia in the title. looking at it now, knowing that frictional had limited involvement in a machine for pigs makes it easier to get excited about soma, which is what they're currently working on. so thanks for pointing that out!
ImaGenius40 Aug 31, 2014 @ 6:04pm 
I'm just going to defend Frictional by saying they didn't make it, TheChineseRoom did. If you've hear of their other game, Dear Esther, then this is pretty much a polished version of it. I agree with everything else you said, though.
Angry Video Game Noob Jun 20, 2014 @ 10:56pm 
Finally some adventure horror game with no cliche in the plot, but story make you feel butthurt?
Game is bad.