Title y Amnesia: Rebirth very symbolic. In the 10 years since the release of the first, classic Amnesia: The Dark Descent from Swedish studio Frictional Games, many, to be honest, managed to forget about it (and young players didn’t even remember), but now it is being reborn and returning. The question is how well and appropriately it happened.
No Revolution
The Dark Descent turned out to be a cool, atmospheric and frightening horror, but the innovations didn’t work out very well. The game, both in the methods of presenting the story, and in some of the scenario moves, and in the theme (again, mysterious artifacts, curses and terrible experiments), and in mechanics, was in many ways reminiscent of past horror films. In particular, Penumbra from the same authors – with all these physical puzzles, when you need to pull or push doors and stones with the mouse, turn valves and carry objects. Just in Amnesia everything was done on a larger scale and with better quality.
And the advertised “trick” about the fact that the main character Daniel, being in the dark for a long time, goes crazy, by and large turned out to be decorative. This had no real consequences for the plot and gameplay, except for temporary hallucinations. To die or go crazy, for example, to commit suicide (as was the case in Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth), Daniel couldn’t. Although, of course, these glitches worked for the atmosphere, especially at first, while the player was not yet accustomed to them (and to the fact that nothing bad would happen).
Apparently, that’s why on the eve of release Rebirth the Swedes especially emphasized: they say, don’t expect any revolutions in the new game, there will only be a development of classic mechanics tested back in The Dark Descent.
According to the old scheme..
And indeed, Rebirth largely built according to previous canons. Of course, there are physical puzzles in place – here everything again needs to be manually pulled, pulled, opened, rotated and thrown. For example, first we select the wheels from an ancient cannon, move and insert them into place, and then drag the cannon to a weak spot in the floor so that it falls through. Or we break the grates with stones, tear off the boards, and so on.
In addition, as usual, you have to prepare something according to recipes (for example, a shell made of sulfur, coal and saltpeter), turn valves, columns, correctly align runes and turn the pyramids so that the light falls in the right direction.
We most often do all this again in the dark, a long stay in which still drives the character crazy, causing visual and auditory hallucinations. In the same way, this does not lead to any serious gameplay consequences – at most we will lose consciousness again, then we will come to our senses, look at our hands and move on.
And it’s still unpleasant, uncomfortable and scary. Therefore, all the way we, as in The Dark Descent, We nervously light candles and lamps and fill a portable lantern with oil. At the same time, as before, for some reason you cannot take a lit torch with you. Only this time a new heroine suffers – Tasi Trianon, who comes to her senses in the Algerian desert after a plane crash and remembers only that she was flying on an expedition with her husband Salim.
Old doesn’t mean bad
In general, it is not surprising that some critics scolded the authors Amnesia: Rebirth for outdated mechanics. But in this case, it doesn’t resemble real criticism, but the development of a mandatory gaming program: well, yes, they say, the mechanics are formally outdated, and this should be noted. But who cares if they still work?
I repeat – in Rebirth really uncomfortable and scary, the authors know how to scare both with screamers during attacks of fear, and with monsters that suddenly appear somewhere in the passage, from which very often you have to scoot as fast as you can. The riddles are familiar, but they are logical and appropriate, and some are quite inventive.
In addition – here is the development of ideas – what is happening looks larger-scale, dynamic and even, if you like, non-linear than in The Dark Descent. There are many spacious locations and more opportunities for free exploration.
And the story is presented in a more cinematic, interesting and, again, dynamic way. Events constantly replace each other, the heroine constantly falls somewhere screaming, remembers the past, sees a strange ghost and runs away from monsters all the way. What’s happening is addictive.
To transition between worlds, mechanics are used similar to what we saw, for example, in Lust for Darkness.
Women’s misfortune
Finally, Frictional kept her main promise: she really told an emotionally painful story, in which the main thing is not the screamers, but the emotional experiences of the heroine (and the player himself, of course). Although almost forbidden techniques were used for this.
Unlike many horror movie heroes, Tasi is not looking for some important artifact and is not trying to solve a terrible and dangerous secret. And this difference between simple and understandable human experiences and what ultimately happened to Tasya, that she learns about herself, what choice she has to make in the end (and there are at least three endings, including a secret one), is the main nerve of the story and the main success of the game itself.
Amnesia: Rebirth does not bring anything fundamentally new to the genre (unlike, for example, Phasmophobia, developing idea Jonathan Boakes – Jonathan Boakes) and largely works on mechanics from 10 years ago. But in this case, I didn’t expect any revolutions, I just wanted a new atmospheric story from the masters of the genre, which would also cover many of the blind spots in the setting of the series (see our material about this). And I got what I wanted.
Pros: a fascinating and emotional story; a heroine you care about; the game knows how to scare and build up suspense; many events, mysteries and experiences – the story is presented more dynamically and intensely than in The Dark Descent; more spacious locations that are interesting to explore; excellent work with sound; quality acting.
Cons: the game works on mechanics from 10 years ago; many conventions.
Amnesia: Rebirth
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Cons: the game works independentcasinosites.co.uk/ on mechanics from 10 years ago; many conventions.
Just other horror games from the “walk-run-get-scared” category, as if they are working on the latest mechanics from Elon Musk. Strange claim.
Gradually, the heroine’s hands will get worse and worse. But this does not affect the game in any way.
actually reflects and affects some of the dialogue and the ending
Today I completed the game without a single death, fortunately the only difficult moment was the factory with dementors. And I noticed one cool detail. It doesn’t seem like it was discussed here. You can understand that you will be saved by a human and not a ghoul even before the final cutscene in Paris. At the moment when the Empress leads you to the child, she talks about your transformation into the Reaper. If you didn’t die properly, Tasi will just shoot wherever he wants. If it’s the other way around, then during the remark Tasi will look at her transformed hands. Well, it delivers a detail in the main menu, which also depends on the number of deaths. If there are enough of them, then roots from another world will appear on the sand near the drawing. It’s little things like this that make the game even more enjoyable than usual.
Simply a delightful continuation of the first part. The game has a bunch of references to the original, and dots all the i’s in terms of many incomprehensible events of the first part
To be honest, it turned out really very creepy, tense, with some feeling of loneliness in places, and so cleverly changing your mood throughout everything that you don’t expect at all. At least I didn’t expect this
Location design – cannon, really Lovecraftian at times, reminiscent of Penumbra. But the main thing is that everything looks amazing. The developers make the most of the engine, and everything looks so cool that one would hesitate to call the graphics outdated and bad
I don’t even want to talk about the atmosphere. It’s scary even when it seems like there’s nothing to be afraid of. The game scares subtly, correctly, without primitive screamers, of which there are very few here. They are inserted appropriately, you don’t expect them, everything is as it was in the original, but they were there for a minute too
I don’t share the negative that the game works on 10-year-old mechanics. This was expected from the start, besides, it doesn’t spoil the game at all, and what’s more, it still works and is scary
And again, I don’t share the criticism of those who said that wow, this is almost Outlast 2. Not even close to him, not even once
For some reason, some compared only with Soma, saying that it was better, and in general they were directly fixated only on her. And comparison is not the point at all. I understand why so many people liked it, and why it is the most accessible game of the developers. It’s not a horror film, but more of a thriller and a philosophical statement that speaks to well-known topics. Soma is gorgeous, no doubt, but la, this is the Amnesia series, not Soma. Complete the first part or something?.
Frictional Games have once again proven that they are masters of their craft, that they have not lost their passion, but on the contrary, they are gradually raising the bar. Guys who don’t throw around empty promises, but release what they plan. They have something to show and how to show it. I wish them great success in the future, and it’s very intriguing what kind of second project they have prepared
9-year expectations were beaten back to the maximum. I got what I wanted, and even more, I got what I didn’t expect
To be honest, I wasn’t impressed, compared to The Dark Descent it’s all very… not very . there is no that same tension and sense of mystery, the dangers for which I loved Amnesia, there is a sluggish narration of a not particularly exciting story and banal jump scares, only Layers of fear 2 evoked similar feelings in me, as well as AMNESIA: REBIRTH, boring and monotonous)
Conventions, this is the script, the plot, the laws of the world invented by the authors, since they exist, this is how it should be in that world, I never understood such a claim, games are not life. There is nothing in the minuses for which the rating could be lowered
Holy shit bro, thanks for this discovery, it gave me an incentive to replay it without dying.
Well, in general, 10 matches fit in this American box of theirs, and there is nowhere else to put the boxes, the torch may not be removed. I also don’t really care that the oil runs out quickly in the lamp, but it’s just a game. In Rez, you don’t care about supplies being teleported from box to box. Yes, even in the same Mario, how he doesn’t get a concussion from hitting his head on bricks. These are all just games, they require conventions, and besides, it’s hardly possible to make a completely realistic game now. So I don’t understand the complaints about this, the authors create these worlds as they see fit
Such moments also include the meeting with Henk – he has different dialogue depending on the deaths.
On the one hand, the developers could remove this juggling of matches and oil, they could remove the ever-burning candles, lamps and torches tightly sewn to tables, barrels and walls. After all, the presence of conventions in a game can kill the atmosphere and interfere with immersion in it (especially in horror). On the other hand, this would remove an important part of the gameplay from the game, which would have to be replaced with something. Plus, this convention evokes the atmosphere of the first amnesia.
At first, this convention seemed unnecessary to me and would kill the atmosphere. And now I understand that without this trick it would be more boring to play, a burning match in my hands has a sharp impact on the atmosphere, makes me move faster straight into the thick darkness, from which some eerie sound is heard. I don’t want to go there at all, but the resource limit forces me not just to go, but to organize race walking races at levels from torch to torch, from candle to candle. It’s even cool.
Absolutely right about conventions. RE2 Remake has no less conventions, which doesn’t make it a bad game.
nope. there was no such thing) I also have a disk version)
Personally, I didn’t like the huge number of flashbacks (especially at the beginning), during which they simply take control away from you and force you to watch pictures.
Amnesia the first is not bad, but only in a few moments. In general, I didn’t even complain about the darkness, because the monsters stop bothering me very quickly, and the lamp, although it attracts attention, seems to be inexpensive. The main problem of the game is that the enemies do not walk along the corridor. You just touch a script in the middle of the road, and the monster walks in front of you, giving you at least half an hour to hide. It’s sad. But there is no need to be afraid that your flashlight will be noticed.
I didn’t even get through the second amnesia. It’s just a fermentation house. No puzzles, no narrative, hours of gameplay even without enemies. I just started falling asleep during the game and went to hell. I don’t even want to try the third, because I didn’t like the vector of the first two parts.
Didn’t play. But I don’t remember a single game where complete darkness actually scared me instead of annoying me. I played previous Amnesia games, I played Penumbra, Layers of Fear, and in each one the thick darkness was infuriating.
In the first part there was a hardcore difficulty, in which the main character dies if he loses his mind.
But in this case, I didn’t expect any revolutions, I just wanted a new atmospheric story from the masters of the genre, which would also cover many of the blind spots in the setting of the series (see our material about this). And I got what I wanted.
Cool. Now absolutely subjective expectations are also used as an argument for evaluation. In addition, the player is not necessarily familiar with the first part, so closing the gaps in the series setting also sounds so-so. However, I didn’t play the game and, accordingly, I have no complaints about the rest.
The dark shouldn’t be scary. It should keep you in suspense, along with music and ambient. And the monsters and the notorious screamers are already scary. But I agree that this part of Amnesia, like SOMA, is much less scary than Penumbra and the first Amnesia
and you played? This is not some kind of Outlast, where the darkness is purely for show. The fight against darkness (both within the main character and in the outside world) is part of the gameplay and narrative
The second Amnesia was made by completely different developers, so it’s not worth judging by it.
I understand and fully support the “vector” thing. For example, the vector RE7, The Evil Within, Outlast didn’t work for me. Good games, they are praised. I like the horror genre, but personally they just didn’t grab me.
Maybe tell me some of the upcoming horror films that are interesting to you??
I heard about Medium from Bloober Team, but I’m not sure if I’ll take it.
I like to study ENT in games of any genre, and if it’s sparse, then it’s not so interesting.
In this regard, Soma and Amnesia Rebirth are enough for this ENT specialist to write a book.
hardcore with such complications was added, it seems, only 2 years ago. wasn’t in the original