Best Amnesia Custom Stories

This is a simple guide to help any fellow amnesia players find some great mods for Amnesia the Dark Descent. I have played over 100 mods and over 200 hours of gameplay myself and am still going through more mods every week so I know of most if not all of the high quality mods and this guide will be the best 10 that ive played based on quality and experience.

Ratings

Before you read this please take note that these are my PERSONAL choices and you may not agree with all of them, especially since there are so many amazing amnesia mods out there, making a definitive top ten is difficult, which is why at the bottom, you will find a list and very brief descriptions of some of my favorite mods that didn't make this list, as well as a list of the best mods strictly for certain elements. Feel free to message me if you would like to (politely) explain why a mod should be added to this list or another be removed (i'm always open to others opinions). My main criterias for evaluation are creativity, a story, and the amount of work put into the mod . I hope you enjoy this guide and find it helpful :D There will also be a link at the bottom of the page to the site where you can find all the mods on this list, as well as many other good ones.

Each mod will be rated based on 10 factors out of ten for a total score out of 100. I will also add a brief description of the mod to highlight any other really good or bad things in the mod (mostly good this is a top 10 after all ) PS: Score does not nessecarily determine the placement, its just an indication of how well rounded the mod is.
The ten categories are as follows;

- Plot: How interesting and well made is the story?

- Atmosphere: How much did the enviroment and ambiance contribute to the overall feel of the mod? Did it make me feel like anything could pop out at anytime?

- Scares: A huge part of horror games. Did it work well with the atmosphere? Where they overused? How good were they?

- Length: Too short, too long or perfect

- Mapping: How nice and unique were the levels? Did they contribute positively or negatively to the atmosphere?

- Originality: Did this story stand out with unique features or mechanics?

- Puzzles: Too easy? Too hard? Too bland?

- Bugs: Did glitches or bugs ruin this mod?

- Grammer and Speech: Gramatical abominations? Voice acting?

- Gameplay: How well did the story flow? Was it paced properly?

Now lets get into the top ten starting from number 10

The One that Dosen't Count (Penumbra Necrologue)

Despite this being an absoloutely brilliant mod, I decided to not include in on the list, and I did this for a few reasons. First, because of the fact that although it is technically an Amnnesia mod, it really is it's own game both in terms of idea and quality. But the main reason is because it is based off another game series entirely and most of the plot revolves around events of the previous Penumbra games. Anyone that saw this on this list ( it would definetelly have cracked my top 5) and went to play it would have been very confused and probably would not have beeen able to appreciate it if they had not played the Penumbra series.

But to anyone who has played the Penumbra series (especially if you were one of the many, many, MANY people that were extremely dissapointed with Requiem) this is a must play. Not only does its story play largely off events from the previous games, as well as its own additions (and a real ending), but it looks, feels and plays almost exactly like a real Penumbra game. The development was absoutely fantastic at keeping the same feel as the other games.

Not only was this a great unofficial Penumbra game but it might actually be the best in the series because it had everything the other games had, but with the addition of the main thing that the other games severly lacked: Scares. Although I did enjoy the first two Penumbra games, I found that other than barely tense monster encounters, and a dark story, the gameplay was fairly bland and got boring near the end. Not with this one. Necrologue manages to encorporate a genuinely creepy atmosphere throughout the entire game as well as several truly tense and stressful sequences, and not to mention a few good jumpscares all while keeping the same feel as the original games. The only isssue I had with this mod was that some of the puzzles were too hard, requiring random guessing, items that supposed to be aquired a long time before, or simply lacked giving proper clues (although this was an issue in Black Plague and especially Requiem as well so it did not get me too upset).

Other than that, this was briilliant, The well incorporated addition of real atmosphere and jumpscares made this a much more well rounded game than the originals (they were stilll pretty good though. Overture was my favorite of the original 3 for anyone wondering) and the way the story revolved around past events of the series while still moving forward hepled make this a game of its own to be sure, and maybe the best of the series.

10.

Lost The Lights

A project that was suposed to be the greatest revolution in human history turns out to be the biggest scandal the world has ever known, and it's your job to stop it, and to avenge those who have lost their lights.

Plot: 9/10. A new twist on the typical "tourturing people for power" genre that is popular with Amnesia. The story is refreshingly diffrent while still keeping the dark, desturbing atmosphere that is trademark of Amnesia. It also had a few good twists and interesting revelations throughout the mod that helped keep it interesting, as well as an element of insanity that added nicely to the plot

Atmosphere: 10/10. The atmosphere is effective at keeping me on edge throughout the entire story and uses the building of tension, rather than frequent monster apearances to set the mood for the story which is good. There was also a good phycological element to the story that began to make me question my own character's sanity more and more as the story went along. In addition, this mod had some very good custom music and sounds that helped in building tension.

Scares: 9/10. Yes, the vast majority of the scares are the definition of cheap, but hey, it works for this mod. The atmosphere does such a good job of building up tension, that even the cheapest of scares, including the loathed flying naked guys, are sure to make you jump. There are also a few very unique, and well executed (but still cheap) scares, which at least added some originallity to the common cheap scares. They may not be the most professional of scares, but in this mod in paticular, there's no denying they are extremly effective

Length: 10/10. I love long custom stories and this is one of the longest ive played. I was never bored and all the way through I was engaged and the new twists and scares kept the story fresh and entertaining all the way through.

Mapping: 10/10. Despite being known for it's scares, this mod features some really cool maps throughout the entire mod. The consistantly new enviroments were another strong reason the mod could go on for as long as it did without becoming dull.

Originality: 9/10. The hallucination sequences were very cool as were the interesting maps and story. Also featured some custom textures.

Puzzles: 8/10. Got stuck a few times but overall the puzzles were balanced and well designed.

Bugs: 10/10. For such a long cs, i was very impressed that there were no significant bugs

Grammar and Speech: 7/10. The developer did a great job in going back and fixing the grammar (there were still a few noticable mistakes though). There were also alot of notes to read so a voice actor would have been nice.

Gameplay: 10/10. Periods of panic,tension and brief safety worked together well in this mod. The pacing was good and each section of the mod had a purpose as well as good explorable enviroments.

This was a great mod that really did EVERYTHING WELL. Every element was well implicated. The only thing that I would have added would have been a voice actor.

Overall: 92/100

9.

Emma's Nightmare

The sequel to Emma's Story picked up where the first one left off. You are Emma, trying to get revenge on your evil father and rescue your lover Neil. This mod was even better than the first and though it did not have as much of an emphasis on jumpscares, it was better in other categories that wern't as good in the first one while still keeping a similar style.

Plot: 9/10. Not overly original but if any mod will have you getting more and more attached to a main character as the story progresses, it's this one. There was also the addition of the four shards that gave the story a new level of depth. The ending (though a bit unoriginal) was really cool.

Atmosphere: 10/10. Same as the original, the atmosphere in Emma's Nightmare is one of the best in the buisness. The atmosphere is very unsetteling, making it seem like it was getting me ready for a huge jumpscare and then nothing happened. This happened multiple times throughout the mod and it worked perfectly every time. The creepy levels and custom music and sounds also helped make this a truely terrifying experience.

Scares: 10/10. Not as many as the first one but they were all perfectly placed (there is one paticular one in the Death section that is pure genius). Each one was scary, not overly cheap, and made me feel even more unsafe as the story progressed.

Length: 10/10. Perfect length. I like long mods, but i think it would have started to feel a bit bland had it been much longer. Each section was engaging and helped set the stage for the ending.

Mapping: 9/10. Biggest single improvement from the original. the maps in this one were a hundred times more unique (especially the shard maps) and helped keep me intruiged in the story. Heavan map was the coolest.

Originality: 9/10. Another huge improvement from the first one. You'd be suprised how much custom ambiance, music, new puzzles and the addition of map variety help make a story much more intruiging.

Puzzles: 9/10. Only got stuck once in this mod (because of my own stupidity :D). The puzzles were another refreshing change, yet they wern't too hard and did not interupt the flow of the story.

Bugs: 7/10. My only small issue with this mod. Though the level design is alot better, there are several places where I can see through the map through unfinished walls or ceilings. No actual game bugs but these sections should be patched up.

Grammar and Speech: 9/10. Notes and momentos were well written and helpful and the father and Neil's voice actors were exellent. I simply wish the main character could have had a voice actor as well.

Gameplay: 10/10. The shard sections added alot of interesting gameplay and the story was paced well at all times and very immersive.

This story's strongest atribute was the ATOMSPHERE that always kept me on edge and the JUMPSCARES that came at perfect times. The story and enviroments were also well developed. With the exeption of some unpolished parts of a few maps , everything else in this mod is great.

Overall: 92/100

8.

A Late Night Drink

Buyer of a new house decides to have a drink one night, a drink that will send him on a adventure to recover a strangers lost memories, and (literally) on a journey through different emotions to discover the truth and get back home. This mod is a bit different: it's hardly scary. So why is it on this list? Well to be honest, the best way to figure it out is to try it for yourself but the main reason is that it was a great emotional journey that had a great story and there was obviously alot of work put into this.

Plot: 10/10. Different and original. Don't want to spoil too much but this story was very well written out and had several perfectly placed twists and each pulled on my heart in a different way.

Atmosphere: 10/10. Yes, there is only one section of this mod that is actually scary but I give this a perfect score still because the atmosphere changed based on the situation which I found really cool: the sad parts felt sad, the happy parts felt happy and the scary parts were scary.

Scares: 3/10. This mod lacked scares but since that wasn't really the foucus of the mod, it didn't negatively impact my experience.

Length: 10/10. Each section had a different length and they all worked together to keep the story interesting for it's duration. Total story length was about 3.5 hours..

Mapping: 8/10. Most of the maps were pretty basic but there were also some very good ones ( humor and confusion were the best).

Originality: 10/10. Can't even go into specifics about how original this is. A very refreshing story and there is only one other mod ive played that I think is more unique than this one.

Puzzles: 5/10. Here is the one section where the score drops and why this wasn't even higher on
my list. The puzzles were WAY too hard, I had to look up walkthroughs several times just to find where all the hidden keys were. It really broke the flow of the story multiple times. There is simply no reason to have made the puzzles so hard especially with almost no momentos to help.

Bugs: 8/10. Had to restart the story once due to a loading bug but nothing else.

Grammar and Speech: 7/10. There is a lot of line reading in this mod that would have
been much better with a voice actor. the notes were good but there was a lack of momentos that didn't help with the already impossible puzzles.

Gameplay: 10/10. A very immersive story that had it's emotional ups and downs. The constant change in atmosphere also helped keeping the game fresh. Was never bored playing this mod (unless I was stuck)

This mods foucuses on being an EMOTIONAL JOURNEY and was done in a brillantly original way that no other mods have tried. It proves that a mod dosen't have to be scary to be good, and as long as you have a walkthrough on standby I think anyone can find something good about this mod, which is why the final score is a bit misleading and it is one my all time favorite mods for Amnesia.

Overall: 82/100

7.

Final Revelations

This mod was able to combine originallity and horror in a way ive never seen before. This is the fourth mod made by this guy and it is by far the best one. You have been sent to the villlage of Gothfair to investigate the strange things that have been happening there recently. Little do you know that what you will discover will change your life forever.

Plot:10/10. Not only does this mod have a great, long story, but it also had some non-linear elements, especially in the begining, which is something never before seen in Amnesia. There are also optional tasks (again mostly in the beginning) and also, the choices made throughout the game impact which ending you recieve. So not only does the mod have a fantastic story on it's own, it uses other unique elements to give it unprecedented levels of depth, which is why I give it 10/10.

Atmosphere:9/10. There were several very creepy, foreboding areas of this mod. Lack of oil, new music, and good level desgin were the major factors in making this mod thoroughly scary. There was also a constant sense of danger, like anything could happen at anytime.

Scares:8/10. A few really good ones, but considering the length of the mod, there was room for many more. I do understand the foucus of originallity often results in less jumpscares so this really did not bother me much, but if your looking for a scare-fest there are better choices out there.

Length:10/10. Never thought I would play another Amnesia cs of such epic length, but boy was I ever wrong. This may be the second longest mod out there behind The Things in The Night. I lost track after about the fifth hour but I would estimate my total time was between 6 and 6.5 hours. This is where all the original elements of this mod play a huge role in ensuring that the story never got boring, even near the end. The story itself was also very well streched out over that span so no parts felt cluttered with information or felt llike nothing was really happening.

Mapping:9/10. Although some areas could use some work, I felt that overall, this mod had a great variety of map types and and even though several maps where revisited, it never felt like that was done just for convinience and every place you went had its own unique features.

Originallity:10/10. This is the only mod ive ever seen that combines such a high level of originallity, and unique gameplay elements, with a strong scare factor. Its unique features did a great job a keeping the mod interresting throughout the entire story.

Puzzles:9/10. Some very original, well thought puzzles. They were challenging, but not to the point were I had to look up a walkthrough. Sometimes however, I did feel like the flow of the mod was slightly broken.

Bugs:9/10. A few, especially near the end, but were mostly nothing more than minor inconviniences. One at the end made me have to exit and go back though.

Grammar and Speech: 9/10. Although the voice acting was far from perfect, and there were a few minor gramatical errors, the way dialogue impacted this story was incredible. There's only one other mod ive played (will be found further down the list :} ) that uses talking between characters more than notes to progress the story, which simply makes a game feel more complete, and makes it easier to get immersed into the story.

Gameplay:9/10. I really enjoyed playing through this mod. The story never felt rushed and despite being incredibly long, never got boring. Ther puzzles did cause a bit of frustration sometimes, but overall this mod flowed very well.

This mod uses ORIGINALLITYand a LONG STORY as its key elements and they complement each other well. Although some parts could use a bit more polish, this was still a fantastic, unique experience and definetly the best mod mod 2015.

Overall: 92/100

6.

White Night

There's a reason this is by far the most highly touted custom story for Amnesia: Its awesome. You are a patient at a hospital with no memory of yourself, just your docter who keeps telling you she's here to help you but in this insane asylum, who can you really trust? This mod takes you on a great phycological journey through the mind of David who needs to find out the truth- no matter how horrible it is.

Plot: 9/10. Probably the most story driven mod in Amnesia. The plot is incredibly in-depth and uses mystery and small bits of revalation at a time to keep the story constantly engaging. There is always a question to be awnsered in this mod and it also does a great job of getting to you on a personal level. You won't soon forget about your experience in this story. However, the story was so in-depth at times that it was hard to make sense of exactly what was happening and a lot of things, for me at least I had to piece together after I had finished the mod. Still, very well made.

Atmosphere: 10/10. Great. The atmosphere works well with the dark, mysterious story to create a creepy experience that seemed to follow through the whole mod. Custom music and sounds were also very helpful in this area.

Scares: 7/10. Despite the atmosphere, this mod does lack scares in favor of story, although there were a few subtle, yet well placed scrares that were in context.

Length: 10/10. Perfect. Although the ending was a bit abrupt, this mod took me over 4 hours to complete, which is very good. Since the story was kept interesting all the way through, the length also helped with getting me immersed in the troubled mind of the protagonist.

Mapping: 10/10. Almost all the textures and objects are custom so the maps are obviously different, but they are also well made, detailed and have a realistic feel to them. There are also several entirely unique enviroments in this mod.

Originality: 10/10. One of the most original mods in Amnesia. Everything about this is custom. In a lot of ways it feels like it's own game.

Puzzles: 9/10. Good original puzzles. Most were pretty cool but some were a bit confusing or a little too long to complete.

Bugs: 9/10. Nothing too major but I had trouble with a couple of doors and objects that would bug out if touched. Also a few glitchy textures

Grammar and Speech: 8/10. The notes were a integral part of learning about the story but some of them were a bit confusing and took time to understand what exactly was being revealed. Also the voice acting wasn't great.

Gameplay: 10/10. This game lives off it's incredible immersion and story, but the searching and information gathering parts were also well done and the pacing was perfect. Everything flowed very smoothly in this mod.

This mod has an amazing STORY. The foucus on the immersion of the main character is incredible as well as all the amazing custom content. It's not quite the perfection that many people say it is, but it's still a fantastic Amnesia mod

Overall: 92/100

5.

The Subconscious Trials

You have been woken up in the middle of the night with a phone call from a strage man who says he will be paying a large sum of money if you help him with a secret task. You relunctantly agree and at first things seem good, but of course, its not long before things take a turn for the worse.

Plot(10/10): The storytelling done in this mod is absolutely fantastic. It really feels like it was done by a professional and is actually the single reason why I had this ahead of White Night. Both had very in-depth storylines and used mind-blowing concepts but I found this mod did that even better than White Night. The story in this one was paced perfectly. It truely made it feel like my world was becoming a nightmare and I also loved how it just got better and better as the story progressed. How it was all explained so clearly must have taken a lot of work beacuse a concept like the one in this story (no spoilers!) could easily end up getting confusing like in White Night but this mod did a brilliant job with its story. This is also probably one of the only mods ive played that emphasises character dialogue over note reading to progress the story. The story in this mod is unlike anything else out there.

Atmosphere(10/10): Started off a bit slow but by the third or fourth trial, things started to get genuinely creepy, and outright terrifying after that. It is one of the absolute best at setting up the enviroments and building the tension.

Scares(9/10): Quality over quantity when it comes to this category. There were only a handful of jumpscares throughout the entire mod but they were placed and executed perfectly and they were not the typical naked guy, pop-up scares, they were good ones.

Length(10/10): If I had it my way, the story would have been even longer because it kept getting better and better as the story progressed. However for what it was, the story took several hours to complete, which is more than enough for a mod.

Mapping(10/10): Custom assets and incredible detail make for some truely fantastic maps to enjoy. Although most of them were nothing special, not only were they all very detailed but some were fantastic ( maybe the best outdoor map ive ever played on in Amnesia.)

Originality(10/10): From an complex plot based on crazy science, to custom items and textures to good voice acting and unique puzzles, this mod has all you could want if you're searching for new Amnesia experience.

Puzzles(9/10): Some really cool, original puzzles in this mod. Many of them featured really cool ideas that kept the story interesting (not that it wasnt doing fine on its own). Some puzzles near the end did get a little frustrating though.

Bugs(8/10): The game did have a tendancy to crash my Amnesia (not a full conversion) and some levels did have some significant lag (although I do understand this was likely because of all the items and detail put into it, I have a good enough computer that still should not have that much trouble). Still it was easy to overlook these bugs as the game was so brilliant.


Grammar and Speech(10/10): Notes were well written and the voice acting was good but not great. However dialogue played such a key role in the story that I still give it perfect.

Gameplay(9/10): The begining and the end were a bit slow but the experience throughout the rest was action packed and very immersive.

This mod was MIND-BLOWING The concept and execution of the mod was simply brillliant. Its a shame not many people will have a chance to play it because of its later release date. But aside from a few bugs and a slow start this was one of the most unique, and well made experiences there is to be had in Amnesia.

Overall:95/100

4.

Key To Freedom

After you are caught trying to escape from the Darwin Institute for Misbehaved Youngsters, the head of the institude decides to put your "skills" to use. He proposes that if you break into Ashbury manor and find a key for him, he will let you leave the institute.This mod was great from start to finish and included a massive variety of new features that created and originaly awesome and terrifying story that definetly deserves it's place in my top 4.

Plot: 10/10. Not only is there the reason your sent to the manor but a whole other story of the manor itself that you will learn while despretly trying to survive. There are kind of like two plots in one, and how the story was scripted was brilliant. Had me hooked.

Atmosphere: 10/10. One of the scariest atmospheres ever. I never stoped being terrified while playing this. This story uses several original elements that have never been used in Amnesia before to create a terrifying enviroment from start to finish.

Scares: 10/10. Some fantastic original scares in this mod. Not only were they great, but they were completly original and totally got me freaked out.

Length:10/10. This story was so cool that I never wanted it to end but the length was really good. Was never bored and every part felt meaningful.

Mapping: 10/10. Not because they were all incredibly outstanding, but each map was different, original, detailed, and fit perfectly with it's section of the story. I also found it cool that the whole story took place in a realitively small area.

Originality:9/10. So many new things from the plot, to the enviroment and the unique puzzles and scares, everything about this mod is original.

Puzzles:9/10. Again, very original and all really cool, yet I never got stuck for too long though. The only reason this does not get perfect is because there are two puzzles that are just guessing random combinations which I found a bit annoying.

Bugs: 9/10. I didn't have any bugs but alot of people say that one level sometimes dosen't load any walls and restarting the game is needed to fix it (i have seen it)

Grammar and Speech: 10/10. Notes were helpful in the plot and the momentos provided the proper assiatance that was needed. Voice acting was brilliant.

Gameplay: 10/10. This mod balances a story and gameplay perfectly. The flow of the mod was fantastic and the new puzzles and plot helped immensly with the immersion.

This was a brillant creation that foucuses on ORIGINALITY. This mod has so many cool features that are used both to scare and immerse you into the story. It's fairly long, has great visuals and a great story to top it off. Only three mods better than this one and not by much. Masterpiece.

Overall:97/100

3.

The Great Work

You wake up in an old, abandoned castle, your partner has gone missing and you find a secret passageway and decide it's a good idea to explore and suddenly, you are in in the middle of a struggle for power that could spell the world's doom. Yes though the beginning of this mod is nothing special, The Great Work was an amazing mod that did everything well. Once you get past the first 10 minutes, everything past that is fantastic.

Plot: 9/10. The idea itself wasn't overly original but the several twists the story took, and the very detailed notes that made it more interesting, in combination with the length,( third longest story ive played about 2 hours longer than Lost The Lights) and fantastic pacing help create a very immersive story that flowed well. This mod also featured quite a bit of dialogue which is great. My only issue with the story was that, even though the mod is one of the longest out there, a lot of important information is left till the last chapter, only then does everything really come together. I just think it could have been spaced out better, especially considering the length.

Atmosphere: 10/10. The exellent use of custom music and sounds, darkness and extreme lack of oil all help reinforce that nowhere is safe in this mod. It has by far the best music and ambiant effects of any cs.

Scares: 10/10. The new monsters were terrifying, especially the first time they showed up. There were also several unique, and panic enducing chase sequences that brought out how truely terrifying the monsters were. One of the only mods that really made me fear monster encounters. Also, this mod is the master of subtlety. There are no massive, crazy jumpscares, instead it's the little things this mod does to mess with your head that will be it's best and scariest moments.

Length: 10/10. Super long, definetly 5+ hours of gameplay and every part was meaningful. I did not feel like any parts of the story were a waste.

Mapping: 9/10. Most of the levels were nothing i haven't seen before and the environments are pretty typical for Amnesia (mansions, dungeons, castles etc... ) but there were still a handful of fantastic, almost memorable maps in this mod which makes up for it.

Originality: 9/10. Great new monsters and audio, combined with an epic length, great atmosphere, unique puzzles, fantastic scripted sequences, a few very cool maps and great endings make this a epic, unique experience for sure, but the somewhat unoriginal story, and the mostly very typical enviroments prevent it from getting perfect

Puzzles: 9/10. Personally, I did not have too much trouble with the puzzles in this mod and most of them were unique, but many have complained about the puzzle difficulty so be warned, and even for me, most of the time I just happened to guess corectly

Bugs: 10/10. A few gitchy textures, nothing that impacted the experience overall.

Grammar and Speech: 10/10. The voice acting was great and all notes and momentos were detailed and gramatically sound.

Gameplay: 10/10. This mod focused more on story but it was still very immersive and the pacing was exellent.

Overall this mod has not really one strong suit but does EVERYTHING well, and everything feels like it was done by profesional. Not quite my favorite but an exellent custom story nonetheless. There are really no major flaws in this mod.

Overall: 96/100

2.

Destiny Rebellion

Super cool! This was one of my all time favorites in Amnesia because it was simply amazing. There were so many awesome features to this mod that it definetly deserves #2 on my list. This mod gets compared alot to A Late Night Drink because of the similar style but I enjoyed this one a bit more for a few reasons. You have lost your wife to a tragic accident so you decide it's a good idea to build a time machine to change the event. In the meantime, a monster from way in the future wants to change the past and learn about old humans (yes you do play as both characters!) The additional optional parts was genius.

Plot: 10/10. A very simple yet well created story. The element of merging two stories into one and having a partner as well as being able to play as a monster is something only one other mod has done (Digressophobia) and it also featured a great variety of atmosphere that had me very engaged.

Atmosphere: 10/10. Like A Late Night Drink, the game wasn't overly scary (it did have some tense parts though) the atmosphere perfectly represented the current situation and the enviroment. Exellent.

Scares: 6/10. Though many of them were cheap, I thought it was impressive that the maker still added them and managed to incorporate them well even in a not so scary story.They were pretty good ones too.

Length: 10/10. 3 - 5 hours depending on how you make your way through the story. There are so many cool things in this mod that I wanted it to go on for as long as possible but for what it was, it was still a very good length

Mapping: 10/10. Hard to believe this is an Amnesia mod or at least at least not a full conversion. The levels are very unique and cool, featuring countless custom textures and object combinations that have never been used before, and they all contribute immensly to the difference of atmosphere throughout the game.

Originality: 10/10. Probably the best pure originality in Amnesia. Everything about this is a new experience. Not to mention that you could esially spend hours in the bonus sections.

Puzzles:10/10. All original, yet not to tough and never delayed the story much.

Bugs: 8/10. A few small item bugs as well as a few saving glitches and for some reason, my game did not have a voice actor and I know there was supposed to be one (I made sure I installed all the files correctly)

Grammar and Speech: 9/10. All grammar is good. Notes and momenotes were helpful and informative. The voice acting is good, but not great.(listened to it in a let's play of the mod after I had finished it)

Gameplay: 10/10. The optional parts gave the the story a whole new level of exitement and originality, the story was paced well and getting immersed into the story was easy.

This was an amazing mod that foucuses on ORIGINALITY. Super cool with a completly original story, enviroments, atmosphere, puzzles and the mod itself was totally different from anything ive ever played before. Feels like it's own game in alot of ways.

Overall: 93/100

1......

The Things in The Night

An absolute masterpiece. Easily the best mod ive played in Amnesia The Dark Descent. The creator of this mod is one talanted individual because this story was absolutely mind-blowing and definetly should be played by any Amnesia fan. The story and gameplay are balanced perfectly and it feels like more than a mod. If i didn't know other wise, and you told me that this was a DLC or even its own indie game, I wouldn't question you. Not only is it by far the longest custom story for Amnesia (7+ hours), it also had a level of detail on every level that was beyond anything I had seen in any other mod. Combined with its great pacing, this mod not only had me completely immersed for its entire duration, but made me lose track of time, and never want to stop playing, which is an effect that not even many tripleA titles have had on me, which clearly says something special about the mod and developer (doom2299). You are in your house one rainy night and there is a knock at your door and you find a note from your brother saying that your father has grown mad with power and is killing people for unknown reasons. You need to go to your fathers castle and stop him.

Plot: 10/10. Amazing, had me completly immersed from start to finish. The plot blends the dark, disturbing style of Amnesia with a element of mystery and the abillity to get attached to the character on a emotional level. The story is brilliantly plotted and paced so that it could be streched over such a long period of time. There are several great twists that were essential in keeping the story going for as long as it did and the build up to the end was fantastic. There are even some non-linear elements in this mod, which is something very rare in Amnesia. Super easy to get immersed in the story and not to mention there are mulitple endings. My only small grievance was that the endings wern't quite the best. Not bad, but not on the same level as the rest of the mod.

Atmosphere: 10/10. One of the best atmospheres in Amnesia mods. This mod does a great job at making you truely believe that anything can happpen at anytime. Each section was scary but in it's own way. There was a constant sense of danger, alot of tension but not so much that it took away from the immersion and story. Also, the fact that the developer made it very clear early on that he had no reservations about using actual jump scares, added another level of tension that seemed to never go away. The detailed, creepy, level desgin further contributed in giving this mod a very good, almost professional-like horror atmoshpere as it managed to stay scary and immersive at the same time.

Scares: 10/10. The two best jumpscares ive ever had are in this mod as well as many other very good ones, although I warn you, some of them are cheap. Still, they were creative, not overused, and worked very well with the atmosphere. Also even a few of the monster encounters were actually scary because each one was different, sometimes there are no closets to hide in so you'll have to improvise, and some times the monsters will not go away so you'll have to be creative in you escapes. Another thing that kept me engaged.

Length: 10/10. Perfect. There is no reason to make it any shorter because every part was amazing and yet it's already at least 3x longer than any average mod so there's no reason to make it any longer.

Mapping: 10/10. Some of the best level desgin ive ever seen. Despite the length, every level was different, and the detail put into every map is simply unbelievable.

Originality: 9/10. A completely new take on Amnesia. Despite the generic enviroments,, the developer used such a massive variety of elements in combinations that have been never seen before, to create fantastic maps and some very memorable sequences. Also features custom textures, music, sounds and items as well as a new monster and interesting puzzles.

Puzzles: 10/10. Believe it or not, it's the puzzles were what ultimately seperated this mod from the rest. The puzzles were not only original and well desgined, but they are also very intricate and elaborate. In fact, over the entire course of the mod, there are only really 4 objectives, and yet completing each takes multiple hours because each main objective ends up splitting into many smaller ones (much like the original Amnesia). The great thing about this is that it allows the gameplay to go on for as long as it does without getting boring or repeditive because despite the amount of time spent playing, the player dosen't make very much actual progress, which is one of the reasons it becomes easy to completely immerse yourself in the story. And if that's not enough, the beautiful enviroments, creepy atmosphere, interesting story and good scares, make all the extra gameplay well worth it. Despite how good every element of this mod is, it really is the puzzles, and their intricacy that makes this mod as great as it is. As for the individual puzzles, they were very good as well. They were well desgined, each one was different, none were too challenging, and some were pretty unique as well. Throughout the whole mod, I only got stuck twice (one was my fault)

Bugs:9/10. There are a few bugs that allow progression when you're not supossed to be able to move forward and I did fall through the world once but, in such a long story, the fact that all the custom content was good, none of the maps had glitchy textures or any items that go flying outweighs these issues, especially because it's one of the few mods on this, list that I never had to worry about save issues.

Grammar and Speech: 9/10. Really wanted to give this a perfect score but simply could not so I put it as close as I can. This is because a voice actor would have been the perfect touch. I still wanted to give this a ten because the notes were very detailed and were a integral part of the story and learning about what happend at the castle, and the momentos were also helpful. A lot of reading though, which is why a voice actor would have been welcome.

Gameplay: 10/10. Amazing. The level of detail in the enviroments and the story itself was awesome. The pacing is probably the best ive seen as it is the perfect balance between story, scares, puzzles and item collecting and it was all interesting. Was completly immersed all the way through.

This mod has has fantastic IMMERSION AND ORIGINALITY. Cheap scares aside, the tremendous work put into this as well as all the little details come together to put this story above all the rest. The incredible amount of work put into every element of this story makes this an amazingly unique, intruiguing, long and scary mod that has by far the most immersive experience of and mod ive ever played for Amnesia. The only people I would not recommend this mod to, are those with zero tolerance for cheap scares (although I still found these ones were executed much better than the typical cheap scares). This is simply an amazing piece of work that completly deserves this #1 spot.

Overall: 97/100

Custom Story Distinguishments

This section brielfy outlines (my opinions of course) of the best mods for each individual element, as well as a few others, to help those looking for a specific experience out of a mod (not all are in my top 10 ).

Best Atmosphere: Tenebris Lake

Most Well Rounded: Key To Freedom

Most Unique: Destiny Rebellion

Best Gameplay: The Things in The Night

Best Scares: Tenebris Lake

Best Storytellling: The Subconcious Trials

Most Phycological -driven : White Night

Best Custom Content: White Night

Best Joke Mod: Dark Room

Best New Monster: A Coward's Debt

Best Level Desgin: Collapsing Cosmos: The Silver Key

Most Bug Free: The Attic

Best Voice Acting: Key To Freedom

Best Experience: The Things in The Night

Most Cheap Scares: Lost the Lights

Least Cheap Scares: Key to Freedom, The Great Work and The Subconcious Trails all had no major cheap scares.

Most Immersive: The Things in The Night:

Best Music: The Great Work

Longest Mod: The Things in The Night

Shortest (good) Mod: String

Most Memorable Ending: Obscurity ( Amnesia:Rain and A Coward's Debt also had very memorable endings)

Worst Ending: Both Tenebris Lake and White Night had disapointing endings

Best Suprise: Final Revelations

Biggest Dissapointment: The Trapdoor

Others Worth Mentioning

The following are the best mods in Amnesia that did not make my top ten, but are still good enough that they deserve a try. This list is not in any order.

The Fugitive Episode 3: Some of the most innovative scriptng you'll ever see, as well as tons of custom content, 6+ hours of gameplay, a terrifying atmostphere and more. Bugs, lack of guidance at some parts, and a slightly dragged out story barely kept it out of my top ten.

In Lucy's Eyes: Super creepy, has a good story, is fairlly long but has its share of bugs.

Gary: Dark Secrets: Very long, foucus on atmosphere and scares but a lack of story and originality (gets a bit dull near the end).

Tenebris Lake: May just be the scariest Amnesia mod out there but countless bugs, a thin plot and vague hints as to what I was supposed to do kept this out of my top ten.

A Coward's Debt: Scary, with a great new monster and well written story but has a few bugs and is short.

String: Short, but a really cool story and very original.

Collapsing Cosmos: The Silver Key: Best level desgin ive ever seen in Amnesia but lacks scares.

Disponentia: Creepy with a really cool story

Obscurity: Great story as well as a very creepy enviroment and great new monster

The Four Horsemen: Originality, with a good story

Abduction: Very well made, long, scary mod but has a severe lack of originallity

Call From Another Demension (2 parts): No single great quality but a well made series that did everything well.

When Life No Longer Exists: Really cool custom content as well as an emphasis on atmosphere and originality.

Poisonous: Very well rounded. Every elements is in there but it dosen't really have anything that sets it apart from the rest.

La Caza: Original enviroment and unique story

The Attic: Great Scares and atmosphere

Ninth of October (2 parts): creepy, detailed and with a simple yet mysterious and engaging story

Meta: Original, with good story and atmosphere

Mana: Super cool but short

Escape from Brackenburg: great atmosphere and immersion.

Through the Portal: Great level design and concept. Fairly short

Link to mod site (MODDB): http://www.moddb.com/games/amnesia-the-dark-descent/mods?filter=t&kw=Search+...&released=1&style=def&theme=&type=&sort=ranktoday-asc

Hope you guys found this guide helpful and will give some of these mods a try and if you've found one that I missed on my top ten or on this list that i havn't played plaese let me know!

[MisterDemiInTheWar]

it was worth to spend my time playing these custom stories

[zii]

Thanks for taking your time to make this guide and go into great detail.

[awasomedude]

thanks for the costume story suggestions been trying to find something to scare me because i played the oringal and grate work so many times

[fuzzman02]

I've been working on a fairly large custom story over the past few years, I should be ready to release it soon-ish.

[dimma!!]

One called "Pizza Delivery" should be on here. Its got a sense of humor and scares in it.

[Authorized Reseller]

thanks for taking the time to write this! where can one download these mods?

[Mr. Hoodie]

It's been a few years now since I've really played any custom stories so my knowledge has eroded a bit, but the story you describe does not sound familiar to me. I'd suggest asking around on the Amnesia Moddb page. People there might be of more help. Sorry mate.

[nao sou o nick]

im looking for a custom story thats just one level. you are in a house and there is a monster in it. you have to survive the most amount of time possible. no story. just survival. does anyone know which one this could be? :D

[Steve Rambo]

What about Pewdiepie Castle?

[IAMFatSatan]

cool list but would be nice if you could put links to the mods