Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Pip Boy · 10-08-2010, 12:09 AM

To emphasize, the game's insanity meter will fuck with you in ways that aren't okay. This game will make you witness events that are strange and frightening on a Lovecraftian level. Sometimes, when your insanity is high enough, you'll hear... things. You'll successfully hide as a monster walks by, slowly going mad as you watch its horrid form trudging through the darkness. When its out of sight and earshot, you'll think you're safe, only to suddenly hear it right fucking behind you. Not because its actually there, but because you're so goddamn terrified that you're hallucinating that you heard it. Other times, once you've just lingered in the darkness too long, you'll hear sounds. I was once walking back through a hallway I'd been through dozens of times wandering around looking for the solution to the next puzzle when I suddenly heard glass breaking and a woman screaming. "Oh my god! Help me! Someone help me!". Whats more, all the sounds you hear as part of hallucinations are directional. I could hear her voice coming from a specific room, so I ran into the room to find only a few dusty old books and an empty desk. The game's sanity scale won't show you a specific level of sanity or anything, but if you check your status/inventory screen you can see a general estimate. The levels I've seen so far go from "Crystal Clear" to "A slight headache" then "Head throbbing and hands shaking" and then just "..."

When my sanity reached the point that it was described as "...", I began to freak out in a very big way. Most importantly, the trigger for this insanity was seeing one of the many horrific horrors that lurk the dark halls of this creepy-ass castle. It was still walking around in the room with me, I was just hiding, very quiet, very still. After the stress of watching it slowly hunt me down became too much, the character simply curled up on the floor and whimpered softly as the walls began to bleed and womens' screams and tears could be heard from all directions. This was while the monster was still searching the room, slowly working its way in my direction.

The only complaint I have about the game so far is that some things cause your sanity to drop that simply shouldn't. Namely, standing in the dark. By "in the dark" it unfortunately means "not standing so close to a light source that you risk catching fire". You can be literally five feet from a lit candle and start losing it because its too dark. Other than that, the mechanic works very well. You'll slowly crumble away as you see the shadow horror stalking you begin to approach, and sometimes finding things spoiler, will hasten your madness. The only way to reverse the effect is to work your way closer to your goal, as solving puzzles and progressing will renew your confidence and help you hold on.

EDIT: If anyone is wondering, the reason for these long, ranting posts is because it gives me one more thing to do that is NOT playing more of that game because I'm too terrified to touch it right now. My last save happened when I grabbed like 3 important puzzle items from a chamber where zombies were patrolling for me, only to be seen and run like hell, thankful that I escaped with my life. Then I realized I had forgotten to get a fourth item in that area, and that I would have to go back into that horrific nest of nightmares. Then I cried a little, and quit playing.

10-08-2010, 12:09 AM	#8
Pip Boy Sent to the cornfield Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: A right and proper Nerd Cave Posts: 2,460	To emphasize, the game's insanity meter will fuck with you in ways that aren't okay. This game will make you witness events that are strange and frightening on a Lovecraftian level. Sometimes, when your insanity is high enough, you'll hear... things. You'll successfully hide as a monster walks by, slowly going mad as you watch its horrid form trudging through the darkness. When its out of sight and earshot, you'll think you're safe, only to suddenly hear it right fucking behind you. Not because its actually there, but because you're so goddamn terrified that you're hallucinating that you heard it. Other times, once you've just lingered in the darkness too long, you'll hear sounds. I was once walking back through a hallway I'd been through dozens of times wandering around looking for the solution to the next puzzle when I suddenly heard glass breaking and a woman screaming. "Oh my god! Help me! Someone help me!". Whats more, all the sounds you hear as part of hallucinations are directional. I could hear her voice coming from a specific room, so I ran into the room to find only a few dusty old books and an empty desk. The game's sanity scale won't show you a specific level of sanity or anything, but if you check your status/inventory screen you can see a general estimate. The levels I've seen so far go from "Crystal Clear" to "A slight headache" then "Head throbbing and hands shaking" and then just "..." When my sanity reached the point that it was described as "...", I began to freak out in a very big way. Most importantly, the trigger for this insanity was seeing one of the many horrific horrors that lurk the dark halls of this creepy-ass castle. It was still walking around in the room with me, I was just hiding, very quiet, very still. After the stress of watching it slowly hunt me down became too much, the character simply curled up on the floor and whimpered softly as the walls began to bleed and womens' screams and tears could be heard from all directions. This was while the monster was still searching the room, slowly working its way in my direction. The only complaint I have about the game so far is that some things cause your sanity to drop that simply shouldn't. Namely, standing in the dark. By "in the dark" it unfortunately means "not standing so close to a light source that you risk catching fire". You can be literally five feet from a lit candle and start losing it because its too dark. Other than that, the mechanic works very well. You'll slowly crumble away as you see the shadow horror stalking you begin to approach, and sometimes finding things spoiler, will hasten your madness. The only way to reverse the effect is to work your way closer to your goal, as solving puzzles and progressing will renew your confidence and help you hold on. EDIT: If anyone is wondering, the reason for these long, ranting posts is because it gives me one more thing to do that is NOT playing more of that game because I'm too terrified to touch it right now. My last save happened when I grabbed like 3 important puzzle items from a chamber where zombies were patrolling for me, only to be seen and run like hell, thankful that I escaped with my life. Then I realized I had forgotten to get a fourth item in that area, and that I would have to go back into that horrific nest of nightmares. Then I cried a little, and quit playing. Last edited by Pip Boy; 10-08-2010 at 12:14 AM.