Daniel must solve puzzles and remain in light to remain grounded and restore his sanity but sources of light act as a double-edged sword light makes it easier to be spotted by enemies.
The game gets harder as Daniel’s sanity decreases meaning the player has as much incentive to frantically manage their sanity meter as Daniel himself.Īs red, fleshy substances start to ooze through the walls, you explore darker areas and as the monsters’ appearances become more frequent Daniel becomes increasingly traumatized. The game’s sanity meter provides an excellent representation of the mental instability seen in many of Lovecraft’s work and incorporates it expertly as a gameplay mechanic. We can’t talk about Amnesia without bringing up the sanity meter a staple of Lovecraftian horror. Amnesia really keeps the player in the dark (no pun intended) for most of its eight-hour campaign which is amazing to pull off without irritating the player or intruding on their immersion. Events that have already unfolded are fed to the player through letters and diaries. Similarly to Lovecraft’s tales, the player discovers snippets of the story at the same rate as the narrator.
Amnesia dark descent trailer full#
This results in a well-tailored player experience that the developers have full control over. Because of the linear nature of the game and scripted events, the game truly felt like you were experiencing the game exactly as it was designed much like how a reader experiences a book. While so many horror games throw hordes of monsters at you and constantly try to provide you with a steady stream of jump scares, Amnesia uses downtime very well to add to the latent horror instilled in the player. The atmosphere becomes extremely tense as you madly search for any wardrobe or table for refuge.Īmnesia has excellent pacing. Aside from the ability to throw bottles to briefly stun, Daniel is defenseless. This is amplified by Daniel (Amnesia’s protagonist) being unarmed for the most part. You just KNOW the creature is behind you and expect it to pounce at any moment but it doesn’t which only heightens your paranoia. In Amnesia you hear and sense the monsters long before you actually see them giving the player a sense of dread and helplessness.
Like in many of Lovecraft’s texts the fear comes not from what you see but rather it stems from your imagination.
Lovecraft stated that “(t)he oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”. This premise alone allows the player to share the confusion and subsequent horror of Daniel as the game unfolds. The player-character Daniel wakes up in the intimidating Brennenburg Castle knowing nothing but that he must traverse it to reach its secrets within the Inner Sanctum. I was familiar with the game’s title and genre but during my playthrough, I was immediately struck by how Amnesia absolutely nails the feeling of being a narrator in one of H.P Lovecraft’s short stories.įrom the onset, the setting reminds me of Lovecraft’s twisted tale – The Rats in the Walls. While revisiting my back catalog (courtesy of three years worth of PSN’s monthly games), I stumbled upon Amnesia: The Dark Descent. Yes I’ve played Bloodborne and yes it is an excellent game chock-full of Lovecraftian themes and imagery but today I’m talking about a game that predates Bloodborne by half a decade.
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