Questions Regarding the Story (Spoilers)

[SexyPanther]

Just beat the game for the first time, and I wanted to clarify some things.

One of your character's personal journal entries vaguely refers to a guilty conscience saying something along the lines of "dear god, what have I done?"

Am I correct in thinking that what that referred to was being aware that the mutation of the person you rescued (who then rescued you) was caused by you getting them to drink water from the pit? If so, how would Henri have known the water was the cause of the monster? I mean, the journal seemed pretty darned positive in implying things are your own fault.

I can see the connection story-wise between Amnesia: Rebirth and the Bunker, though why/how does the effect of the water from the pit cause the same affliction as the water from the pool in Rebirth? I was under the impression from Rebirth that the Mother-God knew or perhaps, caused the afflictions people suffered by tainting the pool water somehow. I don't understand how another location with a different pool would have the same effect. It is clear the same kind of warp points (floating rocks) exist in the tunnels as we saw in the desert in Rebirth. However, I don't see the connection between this other location and the creation of tainted water from a different pool. What are your thoughts?

[Crypto Gamer]

Henry felt quilty because he cheated and thought his friend is dead cause he was not returning from patrols.
It is WW1 humans were mode religious and god fearing.


You only learn who the monster really is if you really read the journals and piece it together.

The stuffed rabbit doll also gives a hint.

Did not play other titles so not sure if there is more connection.

[fourfourtwo79]

Yes, BUNKER ENDING SPOILER; obviously:

It is established via the introduction, the documents as well as photographs you find that Henri and Augstin were real close. They wanted to see each other through through all this crap around them.

When Henri "cheated" on that game of chance that would see Augustin go on that fateful patrol, he only did so because that patrol sounded routine and safe. He meant that as a friendly prank. Only when his friend did not return did he see the errors of his mistake.

And he could not bear the thought of possibly living with his friend dead -- all because of him. That is what he is refering to and writes the journals about. The last entry is about his decision to go out and search for his friend. After that, he's injured as shown in the game's intro and doesn't awake until Augustin has almost everybody killed already.

As for Rebirth, I only started it (couple hours in), but there seems connections already pretty early on. Have to play it all the way through though first. Currently in the desert fort, which is quite the place. Enjoying it more than I would so far -- the game received lots of criticism from fans.

Imagine if they paired the stuff they've learned in doing the bunker (secluded isolated space, ressource and system mechanics and creatures with AI roaming) and paired that with a location like that desert fort. Maybe even a real-time day/night cycle, a la Darkwood....

[SexyPanther]

Thanks for the responses. I'm pretty sure my confusion was that I read the documents as I collected them, so didn't pay close enough attention to the dates of the entries to link the events together properly.

Having played all the Amnesia games, including the Penumbra titles that came before them, along with SOMA, I still like The Dark Descent the most but that doesn't mean I dislike the other games. Although, I hated Machine for Pigs and completely ignore it since it wasn't by the same developers anyway.

SOMA can be atmospheric and does have some decent horror moments, but I don't directly compare it to the Amnesia titles because the scariest parts to me were the ideas, and moral questions it proposed to the player, rather than any of the gameplay (minus one really well done underwater sequence). The story was the driving force of SOMA to me for I wound up thinking about it long after I had beaten it.

Rebirth I've played through multiple times, and though I still prefer The Dark Descent, there are sequences and ideas I do like and I think I understand why they did things the way they did.

The Dark Descent is my all time favourite horror game. The weakest part of it to me could also be considered a strength. The way it delivered story during gameplay I liked more than any of the other games. Short flashback sequences with your vision forceably blurred with spoken dialogue and perhaps a ghostly phantom vision briefly outlining a past event. Ironically, the overall story of the Dark Descent I could never figure out on my own, particularly the endings, requiring me to find in-depth explanations by others online. The subtlety, build-up, and mix of horror sequences, coupled with a few alternate solutions to problems, and a clunky yet brilliant interface that added to the horror and feeling of desperation just added up to perfection in my book.

I see Rebirth story-wise as the opposite of the Dark Descent in the sense that everything is almost too well explained by the end of your journey. It has some good sequences like the fort, but it also loses something (in my opnion) in stretching out your journey by way of mixing walking sections with little to do (in comparison to Dark Descent) with more developed areas you need to figure out to proceed beyond.

The Bunker returns to much of what I liked about the Dark Descent, focusing the areas of interest to places given more attention and reason to explore, and doing away with areas used purely for plot explanations like walking through a desert with a voice-over. I kind of dislike how they alluded to the previous games though in providing explanations for the horror, and I also disliked how the "mystery" surrounding events didn't really tell a spooky story by itself, more like a logical explanation for currently horrible circumstances. (I was lukewarm on the ending at first, but the more I've thought about it, the more I like it)

Should they build upon the Bunker in a kind of Bunker 2.0, all I'd really want to see is expanding on the idea of less is more. By that I mean, giving every item multiple potential uses. A simple example would be to have a stick used not just as one piece to craft a torch, but also a standalone item that could be used as a way of barricading a door without a lock attached. Similarly, a cloth might be used to wipe away blood from the ground, should you be injured, as well as a crafting component.

Considering the mystique and build-up to the tunnels, I actually felt a little disappointed that it wasn't an area designed similarly to the main bunker. I watched a YouTube video where someone explained how good that area was, but from a purely gameplay perspective, rather than atmospheric, I disagree.

I wouldn't want them to make the game too large (areas to explore too numerous), as I feel horror is lost if you are given too much time to become numb to it.

Above all though, I appreciate that each game is different, and that they keep taking chances and mixing things up. I also love the fact they are making games on an older engine that isn't demanding and absolutely making the most of it.