The story starts off really engaging, with the iconic letter to yourself being our only insight into the events that transpired prior to the game's beginning. It makes playing through certain areas of the game a chore, especially when the game says "fuck you" and forces your sanity to drop to the lowest point during certain story beats. The intense motion blur, slow and unresponsive controls, as well as muted out sound becomes very annoying as opposed to frightening really quickly. I liked the effects of having cockroaches seemingly crawl all over the screen while it occurred, but that's about it. The game becomes extremely aggravating to play while on the lowest sanity and while I understand things like standing in the dark too long or witnessing a scary event will lower it, it feels like it lowers far too quickly to be considered reasonable. The sanity effects are also something I take a more minor issue with. Combined with the ridiculous rate at which the lamp burns through that stuff, it can really take you out of the experience to have to constantly be opening your inventory to check your oil levels so that you aren't going through that stuff too quickly. If you explore, you'll find enough of both items, but during certain sections of the game, there was practically no oil at all. However, the game is far more restrictive with the lamp and its oil. I had heard about how many people had been ending the game with so I wasn't afraid to use every one I came across. The amount of tinderboxes that are supplied, especially in the 2nd half of the game was ludicrous. However, it is in the mechanics of this game that I do have some issues. I cannot applaud this game enough for that feat, it has given it a legendary status amongst horror games as one of the scariest for good reason. The game doesn't rely on cheap jumpscares like most horror games these days do, it instead goes for feelings of intense fear followed by feelings of intense panic upon being seen by a monster. You could imagine my surprise when, after seeing the creature was as far away from me as it was, the moment it turned in my direction and saw me it began to shamble in my direction in the most terrifying manner possible. Curious as to where it was, I peeked out from my hiding place to see if I could locate the creature. For example, in the back of the storage, I had just grabbed two rods when I heard the gurgle of a Gatherer. If a monster sees you, the game informs you with one of the most horrifying sound effects I have ever heard. When a monster is about to show up, they don't use a cliché violin or piano noise, they let the monsters announce themselves through audio cues which are then followed by what I like to call "hunting themes". The game is as consistently scary as it is because of this soundtrack and audio design. It utilizes a minimalistic usage of ambience to create a strong feeling of dread and fear. The soundtrack in this game is brilliant. I know the golden rule of horror is to try to not show the monster lest you lose a lot of the fear associated with it, but somehow Frictional Games found a way to make almost every single encounter scary and I think I know why. ![]() This game knows how to strike the perfect balance between a brooding and oppressive atmosphere that feels like its always watching as well as heart-pounding chase sequences that were almost always scary. Who could forget the pure genius of the water monster section, or the pure terror of your first couple of encounters with the Gatherers, or the misty red room filled with Brutes? With some exceptions, nearly every single set piece in this game was memorable and distinctive. This is without a doubt the most frightening horror game I have played to this date. Where to start with this one? I'm confident most of you have at least heard of Amnesia: The Dark Descent before as its notoriety exceeds itself.
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