I believe Grip said that Frictional didn't really establish a "goal" for their gamemaking until after SOMA. Apparently their goal now is to make games that "change people", in the sense that they want players to feel different after finishing the game. I only wish I remembered where he said that so I could link the source. Anyway, will be interesting to see the other project they're working on, they recently reorganised the company so they work on two games at the same time.
It was on Ars Technica's most recent interview and yes, he said that during and after SOMA they established their objective to "changing the way people think about certain subjects"
@@Dorraj I disagree heavily mainly because it was pretty scary most of the time and the soundtrack was amazing the story was even kinda sad just because it was short doesn't mean it was shit just not as good as the dark descent
@@rickeyritchie6606 a soundtrack does not make a game good. It has a great soundtrack sure, but it was barely scary. If you played the first game, that one was like a poorly made DLC.
@@Dorraj but some games got awards, for their soundtrack which kinda defeats your first statement, and barely scary huh, did you even play it?, it was still scary, maybe not that scary, but it was scary enough, and yes I've played both games, a machine for pigs was still good to me despite that
I am too afraid to play that game . *I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator exist* "that's why I f&^% hate video games it appeals to the male fantasy original"
When did we collectively decide we need our protagonist to narrate literally everything we're doing? "Hmm if only I had a lantern", shit like that is better left to players to actually think themselves instead of spelling it out for whatever dumb reason. Feels bad man
I really don't like when games do that either. The only games that did it w/o bugging me was The Witcher games. Even then TW3 could have toned it down a little.
I love how Tasi says the most vapid shit to herself (or to the baby) all throughout the game. However, if she finds an amazing piece of alien technology she's just like "Oh, it's a portal, better get it working". Like, bitch now is the time to actually talk. Why so quite now?
Omg it was so bad in Rebirth with her CONSTANTLY talking about her baby. Like every 10 seconds it was "Oh baby are you oookkkkkk?" And then the flashbacks to her first kid, it's just all babies in the dang game. There's basically nothing else to Tasi, let alone the other members of the plane crew. :I
"Get this montage of horrific images and loud noises ... until you regain your senses in the same area and get to continue onward" So its approach to horror is youtube mid-roll adverts?
Man for real. I remember watching my uncle play that game when he'd watch me after school. I was like 10-11 at the time, and that game gave me nightmares for months. I legit didn't play the first 2 games until a couple years ago. Games were *still* terrifying. Doom 3 for all the flak it gets from some people, is still to this day the scariest game I ever played.
@@Deadsnake989 Hell yeah it is. First time playing it, I stopped after 2 hours or so. My 13 year old self couldn't continue, it was too scary. They really nailed it with the atmosphere. Same with Dead Space.
Those hallucinations are pitiful compared to the ones in The Dark Descent. You would straight up miss monster encounters in that game if your sanity was high. But in here you just get a low res image flashed on your screen? What the hell?
I know this comment is two years old and absolutely no one cares, but you can't miss monster encounters in TDD if your sanity is high. Each level has a bunch of scripted encounters but you're unlikely to see all of them in one sitting. There's only one false encounter directly attached to low sanity and that's a fake water monster hallucination in the Sewer level.
If anything, I am happy to hear the game is good, because let's be honest, nothing will ever truly match what The Dark Descent did, and that's precisely why they arent' capturing that anymore, they keep trying new things.
I'm fine with them going in a different direction with their games, I just wish it wasn't under the amnesia name. It gives people the wrong impression of what to expect.
@@AbcIHateYou3 Maybe your right. But still, I was hoping they'd return to their roots with this game. Its impossible to know how the game is as it isn't out yet but im already disappointed from what I've heard in this review. A protagonist who constantly speaks their mind, jumpscares, and the horror sections being sparse and few. I guess me and others were expecting another TDD. Im sure it'll be a good game and I'll still get it but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the direction they've taken this game.
@@AbcIHateYou3 I'm just looking at it through my own perspective then. I personally really enjoyed SOMA and didn't really have an issue with it. I actually thought the backlash was a bit silly at the time since it clearly was a different approach to horror from what the studio usually makes. Though I think its pretty self evident that they're doing this with all future titles for now on, even with amnesia.
Sounds like their new philosophy on game design is what's responsible for their official implementation of that no-enemy mod for SOMA in the console releases. I understand what they're trying to pursue, but designing away from challenge goes towards defeating the purpose of this being a game in the first place.
@@mightilyoats2729 Because games have rules of engagement, a win state, and a lose state. In that sense, any game where you're unable to lose and/or win I'd think it more appropriate to label an "interactive experience" instead of a game.
You really need the word "most" in there. As in, "most" games follow that model. That seems like pointlessly splitting hairs because you want your sandbox to stay the same way it's always been.
I always took that SOMA was a different experience all together. It was damn psychologically scary and asked some very cool questions. It’s horror sequences were still damn good but it was much more into story. Still and awesome title.
Man I love Soma. I'm afraid of deep oceans which made the setting perfect for me. And the story was really good. The voiceover was natural and very well written. Sadly it didnt sell that good. Frictional said the combination of philosophical themes and sci fi horror was the problem. For me it all matched perfectly.
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SOMA was so good! Such an emotional and thought provoking game!
I personally loved Soma. I thought it was one of the best games of the generation. Considering what they did with what they had, plus the amazing ending in that game. I will never forget it.
@@ln2435 I dunno that it would have made much difference, the result is the same either way. I guess the devs wanted to end on a semi positive note, in that Simon did accomplish his goal. Plus it wouldn't have made much sense to immediately shift perspective. I enjoyed soma, and the ending was good... But I wouldn't say it was a shock, I think anyone with half a brain saw it coming at least from the dive suit dilemma.
Soma is so much scarier to me, the thought that a person's entire life can be copied and pasted like a file in a computer.. and deleted. But I'll admit, being able to defend yourself would've made things a little more interesting..
Soma is one of the most underrated games ever, and needs to be played and discussed far more than it is. It has everything a horror and sci fi classic should.
@@zombreon6021 how would you defend yourself against the things in soma though look at the construct,terry, jin and the flesher what are supposed to do exactly?
I was hoping we would see Frictional take another stab at making a "proper" Amnesia game, but maybe that's just not meant to be. Maybe it's time to just accept that The Dark Descent was the kind of lightning in a bottle that can't really be captured again. I greatly enjoyed SOMA once I accepted it as a narrative story-driven puzzle game instead of a horror game, but honestly, it was a bit hard to do the same with a game that proclaims itself to be a succesor to Amnesia. Rebirth is a good game. But I agree with the sentiment that it would probably benefit from not being an Amnesia game, so that it isn't burdened by expectations it can't possibly meet. In other words - if games like SOMA and Rebirth are what Frictional is going to do now, I'm 100% onboard with that, but maybe they should put the Amnesia IP to rest in that case.
I barely remember enough about Amnesia to really make a statement about it, but both Amnesia 2 and Soma are so boring to me that it really sucks that they are sticking to that style rather than the first game. I was hoping that Amnesia 2 was a fluke because it was a different team altogether and one known for making boring games, but then Soma seemed to learn all the wrong lessons. And I keep seeing people praising Soma's story, but I can't see why unless they have all been living under a rock or don't think about things much. I mean to me there was no "twist" to the story because it was so obvious from the beginning, so much so that I was more confused by the game's insistance that you could just transfer your mind willy-nilly. Then it tries to pull the rug out from under you with the reveal at the end, and all I could think was "well duh!". And I honestly got so mad at the main character for throwing his stupid hissy-fit at the end because to me it felt like the writers were SO sure that NO one could guess that something so obvious was the truth that they tried to connect you to the main character by making him react like what they think you would or something, and it just feels insulting to me. I was honestly happy that the main character died at the end, and it sucks that a copy of him gets to be happy, because man was he an idiot. So basically, once you realize the gameplay sucks and takes forever to get through, and the enviroment gets pretty samey and doesn't quite scratch the itch for what that enviroment could be, and that the entire story was pointless and shallow, well there isn't much more to go with to enjoy the game. At least the first Amnesia has enough gameplay to be engaging even if you don't enjoy the other aspects, like it has something to enjoy. So I guess this developer was a one-hit-wonder and probably won't make anything engaging for me again.
Well it seems now they're making a "proper" Amnesia game again, focusing on horror and dynamic gameplay with The Bunker. Sounds interesting, but we'll see what comes of it.
I'm so glad I was old enough to see how cringeworthy the horror game youtubers were even back in the day. Then again I used to think 9gag was funny so I'm not entirely clean myself.
I'm 37 so I remember having my friends over and all being on shrooms while they sat behind my computer watching me play Aliens vs Predator, that was about as pure as the experience can be.
I mean they were entertaining a younger audience back then than they do now. Hell, even a year or two later they (and the rest of YT) grew and matured and became more and more professional with higher production valleys. I wouldn't call it "cringe." Just not for me (or you, as it were) We don't have to seem so ascended and self aware all the time either lol. Sometime being derivitive and just fun, dumb and goofy with no regard for image is the way to go. And hell, it paid off for them lol. And I'm glad, personally.
Aw, I liked A Machine for Pigs. More specifically I liked its premise. The idea of journeying through a massive machine akin to a steampunk Lovecraftian creature was fascinating to me, as well as the reveal of what the machine is and what it does.
“So my name is Daniel, it’s 1839 and I’m in Prussia. Right. The first things doctors ask you is “Who are you? What year is it? And where are you?” and if you can answer those questions, you don’t have amnesia.”
I would not call this a classic horror game this game is not worthy of the Amnesia title. Nothing but another lazy treble game with a god awful story and no more than one or two monsters that are so generic you'll forget them by tomorrow. Very disappointing.
I'm enjoying the game, despite an assload of environmental sticking. I'm constantly like, "Jesus Christ, what am I stuck on now?! Oh, a rock again". It is good, but it is definitely no Dark Descent.
Playing as a pregnant woman in a horror game is a rather interesting concept. It's ridiculous that the game uses this concept in a game where said pregnant woman survives a plane crash, which communicates that the baby's survival is going to be a non-factor for the whole game.
Ah, yes, a plane crash = fetal death. Sorry, forgot about that from my physics and anatomy class. All I'm going to say is that more than half the people from the plane were either mildly injured or uninjured, so there is no reason for a baby in the first trimester to die as a consequence. Now, go play the actual game before more shit comes out of your mouth instead of your arsehole.
I was actually discussing this very idea on a silent hill forum. Playing a mother opens up a lot of horror opportunities. I wish they went further and had some messed up weird things with the baby button like horrifying Eldritch sounds instead of a heart beat. I'm a dude but it still got my parental spider senses tingling
You seem to have a fundamentally flawed concept of plane 'crashes', probably thanks to hollywood. Unless it loses both wings, planes can usually do a controlled but rough landing. A desert is also smoother to crash on than a mountainside. The game does not show the crash but it was meant to be one of those 'gliding downs' as only one crew member dies from his wounds. Humans are also not as squishy as blockbusters have made you believe. Aaaaaaand, gman also missed that, there are story reasons why that annoying baby and its mom survives this shit
I didn't expect this to live up to Dark Descent, and with that mind set going in, I'm having a good time, and I am invested in the story. This is way better then a machine for pigs though, that is for sure.
You know, it's probably just me, but games like Amnesia just don't scare me that much. Sure it'll probably get my with a jumpscare, but other then that, nada. For me, I guess the reason is because of the lack of ability to defend myself. I get that feeling defenseless is supposed to be scary, but that only last a short period before it just becomes infuriating because for most games that do it, seven times out of ten it just "run, hide, sit there for a bit, wait for enemy to get bored, solve puzzle, repeat." Meanwhile for something like Alien Isolation, you're not defenseless for the whole game, because you'll eventually get a Flamethrower that can drive back the threat but never remove it completely; or you have the ability to kill the Working Joes, who are scary on their own, but it takes so much and usually does attract the Alien, so you need to decide. So maybe it's just the feeling of having to be on top of it all and how that will slowly whittle you down until you get really nervous as your supplies lower to empty.
I stoped playing outlast for this reason, if it was a life of death situation I would drop the stupid camera and take a big stick or a metal pipe to smash heads then get the Fuck outta there.
For me it's the opposity. How can I get scared if I know how to spare my resources? When I know that I am dealing with a threat that I can't defeat or slow down my only option is to run or hide. Much more appealing for me, then killing or dodging the same monster for the x amount of time.
@@pond0479 I agree. Once you have a means to defend yourself the enemies become much less threatening. Nothing compares to running away from a monster, thinking you lost it, then turning around and seeing it is still right behind you.
For me it's the opposite when I know I can defend myself pretty well, it becomes not scary more of Thriller action part, alien isolation is *all of that combined* so that's probably why you enjoy that more.
I like Alien Isolation over Amnesia mainly because it doesn't forget it's a game on top of a horror experience. Resource management, weapons, hacking, crafting, it's got a bunch of elements to keep the player invested in the gameplay whilst also scaring the shit out of them. This is true for Amnesia the Dark descent to a lesser degree, but some horror games now just lean totally into the 'horror' aspect and forget they're also meant to be a game. To be fair to the devs, I think they're working with a smaller budget and they have to make some concessions here and there.
11:45 spot on. my expectations were admittedly too high because it's another Amnesia game. turns out, Rebirth is in my opinion much more similar to layers of fear than it is to The Dark Descent or Machine for Pigs. only connections it has with TDD are some lore references, working towards operating some grand contraption to achieve x y or z which are available as separate endings, resource management, sanity and that's about it. aside from that Rebirth has absolutely nothing to do with TDD, at least that's my impression. that eerie atmosphere and the constant questioning and anticipation which keeps you on your feet that TDD perfectly executed like no other game has is completely lacking in Rebirth sadly. it being similar to layers of fear isn't a problem since unlike most people I actually liked both the first and the second LoF game, the problem is that it only has the bad LoF elements, mainly the one everyone used to joke about back when the LoF games were hot, that it was a walking simulator. the games were indeed walking simulators, but you had constant puzzles, room and detail changes, and very consistent story telling, which all together made the atmosphere continuously interesting enough so that you don't get bored while just walking, literally just walking with an occasional sprint and crouch and a handful of actual encounters (if I'm not mistaken LoF 2 had only 3 encounters lol). the stories were also interesting, the first game had it's thing with painting, the second game had it's thing with acting, meanwhile Rebirth has it's thing with... pregnancy and motherhood? I can delve into an immersive story about panting, acting or some other art form, but as a man I can't really say the same for such a boring and mainly unreletable concept that is pregnancy. also not too keen on every chapter starting by you knocked out on the ground slowly recovering from unconsciousness, I get it starting the game off like that (TDD) but multiple times throughout the game just gets old pretty fast. also, loading screens are too frequent and too long even with NVME. the long loading screens wouldn't have been a problem if not for the family & childhood photo book splash art that doesn't really have anything horrific about it. I get it that such art was used to enhance the story telling, but the whole topic of the story was boring to being with. Rebirth's story and concept might've been good as a book, but as a video game it's just mediocre. it's not a bad game, but nothing remarkable either, perhaps my expectations were too high, or the fact that I prefer a 1800s in a huge Castle theme over an Alien esq. 1930s one, who knows.
absolutely. This game is much more akin to SOMA which is why I like it so much. I also found it super damn stressful and scary, moreso than SOMA to me, and I fucking hate the ocean, so thats saying something @@Motolmang
I loved Penumbra, especially Black Plague. The Dark Descent was my first Frictional game and holy shit, unforgettable. Then I played SOMA and and I loved it. Not as scary as the original Amnesia was. Great story, wonderful atmosphere. Rebirth kinda feels like a similar experience, wish Tasi were talking less. She helps too much with her comments.
I was hoping for something dark, creepy, and disturbing like The Dark Decent or even Soma. But I didn't get that with this game. One example is that after my first encounter with a Ghoul I was like "Really? That's the monster? That's the best they could come up with?" I remember when I first saw a Grunt in TDD, how freaked out and disturbed I was by it's appearance. The Ghouls just look very mild and generic compared to that. This game was a let down for me.
Tbh the Grint doesn’t look that creepy. Once you see it clearly, it just looks goofy, especially it’s eyes and stretched mouth. The Brute is the actual scary one.
@@dmin5782 it’s goofy in scary way, I mean the design is not generic at all, not hiw you would expect a monster to look, the Brute is as well really unsettling unlike Rebirth monsters.
started off sooo so strong. :'( they totally neutered the sanity effects and survival horror aspects, I never once used Laudaunum to heal. The fort is probably the best part
I swear, I can’t fucking stand it when developers go way too far with the voiced protagonist thing and decide to have the character talk every 10 goddamn seconds any time you do anything in the game.
@@DysprosiumMr I assume most people don't talk about it because the twist was pretty obvious from the start, so the game trying to be cheeky and pretend that there is no twist only to then try its hardest to pull the rug out from under you and say "surprise twist!!" to the whiny antagonist, all the while you are just watching this going "no duh, it was obvious" can be pretty annoying. I was hoping the game would just be honest about the subject and explore that in depth, rather than keep it a twist and hurt the story by purposely keeping it shallow and mysterious so that you would be surprised by something so obvious. Like the game only shows the ramifications of the twist at the end, but barely touches on it, and doesn't actually explore what it would be like for someone who is aware of all this (and isn't a completely selfish idiot). Like would someone who knows they aren't transferring their mind and is actually going to die if they do that, proceed to do the thing knowing they are going to die? Is it better to let yourself die so a copy can go on, or is self preservation too strong? maybe there is a better way that lets you live, or perhaps knowing you aren't the original anyways give you an outlook that nothing that happens to you matters as long as you get the job done? Why not have several copies of yourself go at once, knowing that the situation demands more manpower even if there is that weird feeling of working with exact copies that remember all the same things as you and feel the same way? So much to explore and it doesn't because it wants you to be surprised that ctrl+C ctrl+V doesn't magically transfer your entire life and soul with no consequences.
Never really considered just how important the first Amnesia was. It popularized let's plays on youtube, the horror revival, and arguably opened the door for indie games to be taken seriously. Not to mention looking absolutely amazing for the time it was released, that lighting still holds up.
Yea. I dunno, man. I've replayed the OG Amnesia like 6 times. When I compared it with Machine for pigs, there's something unique and "charming" with the first game that the second one doesn't have. I don't even know what specifically, but the game was telling you the story mid game by showing what happen to the environtment and surprising you with some encounters with some monsters. Not saying it's a one trick pony, but once you already face the same fear and over it, doing the same trick on the second game just feels meh.
OG Amnesia had puzzles and inventory management which actually mattered. Also I feel Rebirth is throwing too much light sources at us. For 90% of the game I was stuck in a situation I couldn't pick up matches or oil because "inventory is full".
All quests in Amnesia : Go fetch something from a dark room so as to start a generator in other dark room, which will open a door to another dark room.
The beginning was a little slow and i felt like i wasn't stuck on the story, but eventually it grew on me and i didnt really care for Tasi at first but she did turn into a badass for her baby.
Honestly, this is what I was afraid of. Amnesia is about having a good story but also being a horror game, if you don't have good horror or any horror elements at all then is it even Amnesia?
It does have horror elements. There’s a few sections just like the original. Just less of them. However it actually gives you a reason for the lack of scares later on. This one is heavily narrative driven more than anything.
Yeah, if you horror game forgets to be a game, then its entirely dependent on the story, and the story will always be hampered by the lack of gameplay. And in the case of Soma, the story can be utterly pointless if you aren't tricked by the VERY-OBVIOUS-from-the-very-beginning twist, so you go through the whole game thinking about all the interesting things it could be exploring with its setup but doesn't, and getting annoyed by how utterly stupid and whiny the protagonist is. That game just feels insulting and has nothing of value because there is nothing the story is willing to give you and no gameplay to keep you engaged.
Ok dumping on A Machine for Pigs is one thing, but saying it's story is "forgettable" and summing it up as "it's a pig man!!!" is just straight up wrong. AMFP has the best story in the Amnesia series by FAR.
@@hadisandid1999 I'm glad people like him never got to review it in its early days, back when lower tiered hunters had lower starting health etc. Would have torn parts of Hunt to shreds, but it would be cool to see his thoughts of it now and potentially bring more players.
@@hadisandid1999 It's phenomenal and an underrated/under the radar gem. Old West-era firearms with PVE & PVP in open maps where you can out gun, outwit and ambush other players with the sound being so good you can learn to tell which gun is being fired across the map and the distance it is from you from how it sounds.
@@Protecter117 Agreed. It would have had its reputation smashed akin to Sea of Thieves/Anthem if reviewed back then. Now its grown and is a hella of game, there should be - according to the road map a new boss in the coming months and they update the game with new content every two months or so now. Also crossing my fingers for a snow map in this game because that would be delicious!
Call me a contrarian. But I loved A Machine for Pigs. The story makes you think about the events and motives on more levels than Dark Decent. The atmosphere is amazing and the characters though few are very good and compelling. The voice acting was somehow even better than in dark Decent. The aesthetic was also great and a nice break from the original. I think the reason why Machine for Pigs has a bad rap is that people expected Dark decent 2.0 from it, but instead they got a psychological story driven horror game rather than a horror chase game with hard puzzles and hub areas.
I didn’t like MFP because the level design was worse and the fact that they removed core mechanics like the sanity system, the inventory, needing oil for the lantern, Tinderboxes and the Hard Mode with nothing to compensate for removing them. It felt more like a roller coaster ride than a horror game.
That new Phasmophobia seems to be the better combo of horror and goofy fun time with friends. (Especially in VR, I can only imagine... It's Early Access tho so the player models are iffy, other than the ghost models which look terrifying and weird lol)
loved the sounddesign as you fire up steam engines and climb down into the guts of a surreal huge mechanism its wasnt exactly scary but the ending speech gives me chills to this day
I've played Frictional games since the first Penumbra. I really thought their games got better every time. Amnesia the Dark Descent still is the scariest horror game I've ever played, and Soma is one of my favorite and definitely the best Frictional Games game out there. I STILL think about that story occasionally. I was really... surprised to be so bored during this one. The only scary parts were in the castle when I got Dark Descent flashbacks, that's It. The alien ghosts or whatever they were just didn't do it for me. I found them more annoying than scary. The match sticks that burn out WAYY too fast in 5 seconds were annoying. The fucking lantern that burns gas like a 4 wheel drive was annoying. This game really was a boring annoying experience with no real takeaways after it. Of course, looking forward to see what Frictional comes up with next, missteps are often followed by success!
Nicely done as usual, i always saw these as atmospheric experiences rather than horror even though you could die. Also, Crysis remaster review (On Switch) when?
Honestly after finishing the game today I’m very happy with what I got. And without getting into spoilers I’m 101% sure after the ending (depending which one you get) that we’ll be getting it more Amnesia.
i remember my friends and I laughing our asses off at his videos after class during my first year of middle school. Now I'm on my third year of college.
IMHO Frictional's best is SOMA, followed by Penumbra and then Amnesia. Will see how Rebirth is though, I hope its more existential horror and less physical horror.
I honestly agree, when i wanted to see some death animations or some shit, instead of the monsters killing you, you just simply turn into one of those first monsters that you encounter, how lame
I skipped the video until I got to play it. And I agree with you 100%. I do not know what Frictional Games is doing, but it isnt working. It worked for Soma, it does not for Rebirth.
I've found that the more narrative approach that Frictional Games has been taking is what I really enjoy in a horror game. If I can get immersed and sucked into the world, fearing the thing I'm starting to unveil, then it's sold me. But if this game is just gonna spam random PNG files into my face, I feel like someone on the dev team was like, "Our game needs more Five Nights at Freddy's, that game is popular." Jump scares can be used to great affect, especially if the threat is real and the game earns it by leading up to it well. But if it's a low-sanity thing, then that's disappointing.
As a huge fan of FNAF, that game was made by one person, during its prime time (2014-2018) so for them to potentially take inspiration is a thought I do not want to have.
It wasn’t like 70% of TDD was just walking around, solving puzzles and avoiding monsters either. I will put it above this game as a horror game only, with some better atmosphere and immersion.
@@dmin5782 I mean, TDD nailed the atmosphere and the monsters. The Brute was disturbing and outright terrifying. I don't even know what the new monsters are supposed to be, they look like wendigo's to me. The castle parts were pretty disturbing in the torture rooms as well.
I just played and beat Soma (on Safe Mode, no lie) on PS4 and I fucking loved everything about it. (minor note: contrary to popular belief (probably because most people just heard about the mode and then never tried it) the monsters can very much attack and knock you unconscious and kill you, they just seem to have a much harder time making up their minds about it and will sometimes just follow around behind you. It was tense as fucking shit, and deeply unsettling) I bring this up in this video because I was very happy to hear you say that you were grading it previously on how you wanted it to be, and not for what it was, and that says a lot about you as a man (mostly positive things, I swear) and separates you from every other UA-camr who reviewed the game that I've watched, who were mostly angry the monsters either didn't look good (when oh my fucking god, go check our their character models sometime, you fucking heathens) or because the game wasn't the one they wanted to play, even if the story ended up being exactly what they always wanted to experience.
"AMFP had a pisspoor story" - Probably the best story of the three games in total and the better soundtrack as well. If it had better gameplay, it would've beaten TDD by a long shot. I find it weird that every plane crash experience in videogames has to be compared to Bioshock these days. Pretty cliché comparison. "The kind of trauma Tasi goes through would turn a human embryo into liquid." Looks like you didn't pay attention to the story. Queen Tihana wants the child to survive and makes sure it survives whenever Tasi gets hurt (as evident after Tasi falls down 5 stories in the Tank). She said she felt her ribs break but she feels no pain even though she could feel them break.
Finally someone with taste here. Machine had great story and amazing soundtrack. This game deserves much more appreciation than it received... Oh, and only one pisspour thing here is this review btw
AMFP had a cool and complicated story and the scares were good. Although the pig monsters were kinda wacky compared to TDD monsters and there were no puzzles. Also maybe the empress kept protecting Tasi and her baby with her powers?
As amazing and terrifying as The Dark Descent was, I actually think I like Soma just a little bit more. That game wrecked me for a solid week, and I still wake up in the middle of the night and think of just how messed up it was. Either way I’m a fan of Frictional Games for life, and glad to see them add to the Amnesia universe. I’m definitely playing Rebirth for Halloween Sunny Jim!
I don't see how people think that a game that tries so hard for you to not die and saps away pretty much all challenge through artificial means can ever be good. I hear people say "well but the story is good", but i don't see that either.
What bothered me the most in this game was Tasi. Me, as a girl, couldn't feel connected AT ALL with her and the "mother" stuff. I'm personally terrified of pregnancy and if I discover I'm pregnant in the middle of desert it would be THE WORST scenario ever and Tasi simply doesn't SHUT UP about the baby. She doesn't shut up even when she must be quiet! She be like "omg I must be quiet" when the monster is near... I mean... It seems like the developers want to shove the story down our throats intead of focus on the psychologic horror that worked on TDD. The only time I felt scared was on the fort, but when I passed it felt like the gameplay started to downfall... I didn't knew if I was playing Layers of Fear, Skyrim of a less interesting version of SOMA. Besides all that, I would give a 7/10 because I liked the graphics, the inventory/memories and the brilliant OST by Mikko Tarmia
I always thought it was a shame that A Machine for Pigs turned out the way it did. I recommend reading the post-mortem on it. www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/218372/postmortem_the_chinese_rooms_.php There were several issues that arose. One of them was that Frictional was very hands off. They didn't want to stomp all over The Chinese Room's vision which is nice for any dev team, but this led to creative misunderstandings, and they had to revamp sections of the game, and there wasn't enough time to polish mechanics, and they didn't realise how much the game telegraphed safe/hostile areas until post-release. And that central question of "Should this game have been called 'We are the Pig' instead of 'Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs'? I have no issue with a new dev trying a bold reinvention of an IP. A Machine for Pigs had a strange identity crisis. Regardless, Rebirth seems to be a return to form for the series, at least mechanically.
As for the physical trauma that should have killed her baby a thousand times over, it is heavily implied that the alien queen is healing her and her baby whenever they take a tumble.
"Boring" is the perfect way to describe this game. It wasn't good, wasn't bad, was just "meh", which is somehow worse than bad. At least with a bad game you feel something. :/
4:33 In the game its explained why she and the baby can survive all that. SPOILERS: There's a part where a metal thing falls in her tummy and knocks her out. When she wakes up she even says to herself how is she ok she remembered something breaking. Probably the fact that she's turning into a monster makes her regenerate.
The game left me a bit disappointed as well. It wasn't as scary as the first one but that wasn't the worst thing. There is actually a mechanism for the protagonists evolution during the game. Tasi becomes a monster thanks to a curse given by the queen. (as it is hinted by the doctor you have to avoid losing your sanity) However when you avoid losing sanity during your playthrough, she remains ok. In the final level when you're chasing the doctor you come across a fountain. Upon looking at her reflection, Tasi gives a comment on how she looks. If you never lose your sanity, she declares herself to be ok and that De Vries looked way worse than her, all she'll have to do is go home with her child. When you lose your sanity multiple times during your playthrough, she appears to have become a monster. This effects only the ending where she escapes to Paris. On the picture during the credits she'll appear normal or as a monster. I found this a cool mechanism but it was very poorly executed, a bit of a missed opportunity. It should have influenced the gameplay a lot more.
Or the game could tell you from the beginning: the better you play, the better, the more times you get caught, the worse. But it's actually just two visual easter eggs. And I got the "bad" version of Paris ending because it's really easy to get caught in this game. Wraiths are pain.
Why? It's hardly an amazing game engine, and it's mainly designed around interactive physics, so I can't see it working well with a combat focused game.
“And I think I came up with more questions than answers when it came to an end.” It’s an amnesia game and your expecting answers. Really. In amnesia the dark decent you don’t just get answers. You only get bits and pieces and you have to put it together yourself. Amnesia games aren’t like other games where they tell you the story. You have to piece it together yourself. That’s why I love the amnesia series.
It's so weird because I feel like amnesia tdd and amnesia rebirth are opposites in some a way because I think that tdd has a better scary atmosphere while rebirth has a better story.
I think Frictional Games made the mistake of pulling out their best card with The Dark Descent. Although their later games have been good and intriguing, none have come close to the utter terror and disturbing atmosphere of The Dark Descent. It’s just one of those games that’s hard to improve on or build off of.
@@drdevman To be fair, I haven’t played Soma yet, but I’ve heard generally that’s it’s more of a story driven experience than true horror, although it’s said to have some chilling moments. I just got finished playing TDD and I have to say, it’s shockingly terrifying. Don’t get me started on the torture chambers in the last act. Some of the most disturbing scenes in any medium of horror.
@@WinstonHofler oh for sure. It’s a messed up game. I do recommend Soma though because it’s arguably more messed up than TDD. There are definitely scary gameplay sequences, but the story is much more polarizing. It kept me up nights just thinking about it.
@@drdevman Well, I just got finished playing Soma. Christ, what a game! As a horror game, it’s mediocre at best, but as a reflection on humanity and what constitutes as being human, it’s insanely mindmeltingly good. The choices throughout are just brutal. The ending too is very depressing when you think about more in the grand scheme of things. I’d highly recommend Nier: Automata, as it’s similar to Soma, but much more in depth and centers around the reason to exist and live.
First installment of Horror games becomes extremely popular, Publishers:" Make the game appealing to a wider audience! remove the horror, the suspense and the vulnerability" Devs: " But why?" Publishers:" Money"
Amnesia:The slightly less dark descent
Amnesia: The Dimly Lit Descent
Amnesia: Not A Machine For Pigs
Amnesia; The Diet coke of Horror Games
Amnesia: The Bright Desert
Amnesia: The Shallow Gradient of Insufficient Illumination
A friend once described jump scares as the fart joke of the horror genre.
and they're absolutely right
I've seen legit good jumpscares in some movies like in the original halloween
@@blondeboi2132 Becsuse jump scares arent supposed to be used all the fucking time lol
Wouldnt that be a big tittied moron running upstairs to get away from a serial killer?
@@Ghost1170 what I'm saying is a jumpscare is not bad or cheap by default it's just overused
"I am not a pregnant woman, nor do I plan to be."
Nice to have that clarification.
No one cares
@@coleredmond8459 "No one cares". 218 likes and a heart from the uploader later...
@@andmillions no one cares.
@@megapotato3895 no one cares.
@@megapotato3895 no one cares.
"I am currently not a pregnant woman, nor do I ever plan to be."
Famous last words.
What a bigot :D
Hauauau
makes no sense
@@darassylmoniakamYou'll know if you play the game.
@@EggsBenedict-te4nj it's dumb to say this as a dude
I believe Grip said that Frictional didn't really establish a "goal" for their gamemaking until after SOMA. Apparently their goal now is to make games that "change people", in the sense that they want players to feel different after finishing the game. I only wish I remembered where he said that so I could link the source.
Anyway, will be interesting to see the other project they're working on, they recently reorganised the company so they work on two games at the same time.
It was on Ars Technica's most recent interview and yes, he said that during and after SOMA they established their objective to "changing the way people think about certain subjects"
SOMA literally changed me.... I wish I could be who I was before I played it. The ending of that game fucked me up for good.
@@DysprosiumMr That's a bit extreme but ok. Having said that, SOMA is great and has one of my favourite endings ever.
@@cribacon he's cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs😁
Well fuck me, SOMA really fucked me up so id said they achieved that goal with it, not really sure if rebirth will too tho
A machine for pigs is still one of the coolest names for a game ever
That makes it even worse that the game was so short and shit.
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow takes that
@@Dorraj I disagree heavily mainly because it was pretty scary most of the time and the soundtrack was amazing the story was even kinda sad just because it was short doesn't mean it was shit just not as good as the dark descent
@@rickeyritchie6606 a soundtrack does not make a game good. It has a great soundtrack sure, but it was barely scary. If you played the first game, that one was like a poorly made DLC.
@@Dorraj but some games got awards, for their soundtrack which kinda defeats your first statement, and barely scary huh, did you even play it?, it was still scary, maybe not that scary, but it was scary enough, and yes I've played both games, a machine for pigs was still good to me despite that
When is the Kentucky Fried Dating Sim review
I am too afraid to play that game .
*I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator
exist*
"that's why I f&^% hate video games it appeals to the male fantasy original"
The Sonny Jim Dating Sim when
This needs to be made!
Did u kno, there is an Adam Sandler dating sim.
Valentines
Respect for criticizing your own SOMA review. Humility is a charming trait.
I actually got scared when the puppy barked at me
Edit: both times
'I already feel like a depressed bag of shit most of the time anyway'.
Hey Gman, just know we're always here for you man. Oh and for your mom as well.
That's either very sweet or an epic burn.
i still defend this game.
Feeling like a depressed bag of shit is a sign of intellect.
@@darassylmoniakamwhich is sad
@@gamefan987 respect my taste.
When did we collectively decide we need our protagonist to narrate literally everything we're doing? "Hmm if only I had a lantern", shit like that is better left to players to actually think themselves instead of spelling it out for whatever dumb reason. Feels bad man
I really don't like when games do that either. The only games that did it w/o bugging me was The Witcher games. Even then TW3 could have toned it down a little.
I love how Tasi says the most vapid shit to herself (or to the baby) all throughout the game. However, if she finds an amazing piece of alien technology she's just like "Oh, it's a portal, better get it working". Like, bitch now is the time to actually talk. Why so quite now?
@@Deadsnake989 its funny because other characters notice that too and geralt explain why he does that
Hand-holding if you would like to call it.
Games should depend less on hand-holding and rely more on players making their own solution.
Omg it was so bad in Rebirth with her CONSTANTLY talking about her baby. Like every 10 seconds it was "Oh baby are you oookkkkkk?" And then the flashbacks to her first kid, it's just all babies in the dang game. There's basically nothing else to Tasi, let alone the other members of the plane crew. :I
"Get this montage of horrific images and loud noises ... until you regain your senses in the same area and get to continue onward" So its approach to horror is youtube mid-roll adverts?
Games like Silent hill didn't rely on jumpscares and was genuinely creepy and unsettling .
Man for real. I remember watching my uncle play that game when he'd watch me after school. I was like 10-11 at the time, and that game gave me nightmares for months. I legit didn't play the first 2 games until a couple years ago. Games were *still* terrifying. Doom 3 for all the flak it gets from some people, is still to this day the scariest game I ever played.
@@Deadsnake989 Hell yeah it is. First time playing it, I stopped after 2 hours or so.
My 13 year old self couldn't continue, it was too scary.
They really nailed it with the atmosphere.
Same with Dead Space.
"Okay, he's gonna put a dog bark soon."
*few seconds pass*
"Well, maybe not."
*woof*
"MY HEART"
Those hallucinations are pitiful compared to the ones in The Dark Descent. You would straight up miss monster encounters in that game if your sanity was high. But in here you just get a low res image flashed on your screen? What the hell?
I know this comment is two years old and absolutely no one cares, but you can't miss monster encounters in TDD if your sanity is high. Each level has a bunch of scripted encounters but you're unlikely to see all of them in one sitting. There's only one false encounter directly attached to low sanity and that's a fake water monster hallucination in the Sewer level.
an amulet that transports you to an alternate dimention? wolfenstein vibes
Was just thinking that....Wolfenstein 2009. Good times and some good level designs.
@@Rusiputki I agree! Fuck the haters, Wolf 09 was really damned fun!
If anything, I am happy to hear the game is good, because let's be honest, nothing will ever truly match what The Dark Descent did, and that's precisely why they arent' capturing that anymore, they keep trying new things.
The devs straight up admit that they aren't trying to make a game scarier than TDD, just trying to make a good game
I'm fine with them going in a different direction with their games, I just wish it wasn't under the amnesia name. It gives people the wrong impression of what to expect.
@@AbcIHateYou3 Maybe your right. But still, I was hoping they'd return to their roots with this game. Its impossible to know how the game is as it isn't out yet but im already disappointed from what I've heard in this review. A protagonist who constantly speaks their mind, jumpscares, and the horror sections being sparse and few. I guess me and others were expecting another TDD. Im sure it'll be a good game and I'll still get it but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the direction they've taken this game.
Penumbra came first and his amnesias grandaddy
@@AbcIHateYou3 I'm just looking at it through my own perspective then. I personally really enjoyed SOMA and didn't really have an issue with it. I actually thought the backlash was a bit silly at the time since it clearly was a different approach to horror from what the studio usually makes. Though I think its pretty self evident that they're doing this with all future titles for now on, even with amnesia.
main character constantly telling me what to feel is like canned laugh in non funny comedies
Sounds like their new philosophy on game design is what's responsible for their official implementation of that no-enemy mod for SOMA in the console releases. I understand what they're trying to pursue, but designing away from challenge goes towards defeating the purpose of this being a game in the first place.
And if the player isn't engaged and immersed your probably not going to change them.
Exactly, this is one of those games studios that would be better off making movies not games.
Why do games have to be challenging?
Other than "that's what I like" as an answer.
@@mightilyoats2729 Because games have rules of engagement, a win state, and a lose state. In that sense, any game where you're unable to lose and/or win I'd think it more appropriate to label an "interactive experience" instead of a game.
You really need the word "most" in there. As in, "most" games follow that model.
That seems like pointlessly splitting hairs because you want your sandbox to stay the same way it's always been.
Oh yes I can finally play as a pregnant woman going down insanity
"Heavy on story, light on horror" So basically like SOMA. Good. I'm all in!
I always took that SOMA was a different experience all together. It was damn psychologically scary and asked some very cool questions. It’s horror sequences were still damn good but it was much more into story. Still and awesome title.
Man I love Soma. I'm afraid of deep oceans which made the setting perfect for me. And the story was really good. The voiceover was natural and very well written.
Sadly it didnt sell that good. Frictional said the combination of philosophical themes and sci fi horror was the problem. For me it all matched perfectly.
SOMA was so good! Such an emotional and thought provoking game!
I disagree I think soma is 50/50 pretty well balance.
I love SOMA. I replay the game every year in October. There's something about the story, characters and the world that keeps me coming back.
I personally loved Soma. I thought it was one of the best games of the generation. Considering what they did with what they had, plus the amazing ending in that game. I will never forget it.
@@ln2435 I dunno that it would have made much difference, the result is the same either way. I guess the devs wanted to end on a semi positive note, in that Simon did accomplish his goal. Plus it wouldn't have made much sense to immediately shift perspective.
I enjoyed soma, and the ending was good... But I wouldn't say it was a shock, I think anyone with half a brain saw it coming at least from the dive suit dilemma.
Same here! Really depressing game, but in a good way.
Soma is so much scarier to me, the thought that a person's entire life can be copied and pasted like a file in a computer.. and deleted. But I'll admit, being able to defend yourself would've made things a little more interesting..
Soma is one of the most underrated games ever, and needs to be played and discussed far more than it is. It has everything a horror and sci fi classic should.
@@zombreon6021 how would you defend yourself against the things in soma though look at the construct,terry, jin and the flesher what are supposed to do exactly?
I was hoping we would see Frictional take another stab at making a "proper" Amnesia game, but maybe that's just not meant to be. Maybe it's time to just accept that The Dark Descent was the kind of lightning in a bottle that can't really be captured again. I greatly enjoyed SOMA once I accepted it as a narrative story-driven puzzle game instead of a horror game, but honestly, it was a bit hard to do the same with a game that proclaims itself to be a succesor to Amnesia.
Rebirth is a good game. But I agree with the sentiment that it would probably benefit from not being an Amnesia game, so that it isn't burdened by expectations it can't possibly meet.
In other words - if games like SOMA and Rebirth are what Frictional is going to do now, I'm 100% onboard with that, but maybe they should put the Amnesia IP to rest in that case.
I barely remember enough about Amnesia to really make a statement about it, but both Amnesia 2 and Soma are so boring to me that it really sucks that they are sticking to that style rather than the first game. I was hoping that Amnesia 2 was a fluke because it was a different team altogether and one known for making boring games, but then Soma seemed to learn all the wrong lessons. And I keep seeing people praising Soma's story, but I can't see why unless they have all been living under a rock or don't think about things much. I mean to me there was no "twist" to the story because it was so obvious from the beginning, so much so that I was more confused by the game's insistance that you could just transfer your mind willy-nilly. Then it tries to pull the rug out from under you with the reveal at the end, and all I could think was "well duh!". And I honestly got so mad at the main character for throwing his stupid hissy-fit at the end because to me it felt like the writers were SO sure that NO one could guess that something so obvious was the truth that they tried to connect you to the main character by making him react like what they think you would or something, and it just feels insulting to me. I was honestly happy that the main character died at the end, and it sucks that a copy of him gets to be happy, because man was he an idiot. So basically, once you realize the gameplay sucks and takes forever to get through, and the enviroment gets pretty samey and doesn't quite scratch the itch for what that enviroment could be, and that the entire story was pointless and shallow, well there isn't much more to go with to enjoy the game. At least the first Amnesia has enough gameplay to be engaging even if you don't enjoy the other aspects, like it has something to enjoy. So I guess this developer was a one-hit-wonder and probably won't make anything engaging for me again.
i still defend this game.
Well it seems now they're making a "proper" Amnesia game again, focusing on horror and dynamic gameplay with The Bunker. Sounds interesting, but we'll see what comes of it.
I'm so glad I was old enough to see how cringeworthy the horror game youtubers were even back in the day. Then again I used to think 9gag was funny so I'm not entirely clean myself.
The biggest and most popular joke on 9gag is probably calling Australia Austria, which is just so unfunny, sad and overused.
You think that's bad? I used to think that moviebob was the best thing ever.
I'm 37 so I remember having my friends over and all being on shrooms while they sat behind my computer watching me play Aliens vs Predator, that was about as pure as the experience can be.
I mean they were entertaining a younger audience back then than they do now. Hell, even a year or two later they (and the rest of YT) grew and matured and became more and more professional with higher production valleys. I wouldn't call it "cringe." Just not for me (or you, as it were) We don't have to seem so ascended and self aware all the time either lol. Sometime being derivitive and just fun, dumb and goofy with no regard for image is the way to go. And hell, it paid off for them lol. And I'm glad, personally.
@@psycold halo coop flood missions on shrooms was my introduction to halo haha
0:03 "Pooh DePai"
It looks like father took a dump.
Aw, I liked A Machine for Pigs. More specifically I liked its premise. The idea of journeying through a massive machine akin to a steampunk Lovecraftian creature was fascinating to me, as well as the reveal of what the machine is and what it does.
“So my name is Daniel, it’s 1839 and I’m in Prussia. Right. The first things doctors ask you is “Who are you? What year is it? And where are you?” and if you can answer those questions, you don’t have amnesia.”
there are levels to amnesia.
Those details were written on a note just as he had taken an amnesia potion before it kicked in, if I recall correctly.
@Old World Blues layers of fear
Conan right?
@@carancole5974
True there's Level 1 regular amnesia and then there's Level 2 plot convince fictional amnesia
speaking of horror games, cry of fear is getting a remake, old classic horror games are getting a comeback and i love it
I think it was cancelled
@@Thebossstage1 the source version is cancelled due to the engine being expensive and lacking support, so its gonna ve port into ue4
Yeah I couldn't care less about the protagonist or the... WAIT WHAT!!! IT IS!!!!
Oh boy thanks for the great news
I would not call this a classic horror game this game is not worthy of the Amnesia title. Nothing but another lazy treble game with a god awful story and no more than one or two monsters that are so generic you'll forget them by tomorrow. Very disappointing.
SOMA is one of my favorite games off all time. finished it twice.
One of your favorite games of all time.. Yet only finished twice? Kinda does not sound like its your favorite then.
@@UndyingZombie lol it is, I spent a while wandering around in the mode that makes AI not attack you
@@UndyingZombie Not everyone plays games multiple times. I've only ever played some of my favourite games once.
I'm enjoying the game, despite an assload of environmental sticking. I'm constantly like, "Jesus Christ, what am I stuck on now?! Oh, a rock again". It is good, but it is definitely no Dark Descent.
*UA-cam is getting real comfortable with these double 15 second unskipable ads*
Playing as a pregnant woman in a horror game is a rather interesting concept. It's ridiculous that the game uses this concept in a game where said pregnant woman survives a plane crash, which communicates that the baby's survival is going to be a non-factor for the whole game.
Ah, yes, a plane crash = fetal death. Sorry, forgot about that from my physics and anatomy class.
All I'm going to say is that more than half the people from the plane were either mildly injured or uninjured, so there is no reason for a baby in the first trimester to die as a consequence.
Now, go play the actual game before more shit comes out of your mouth instead of your arsehole.
I was actually discussing this very idea on a silent hill forum. Playing a mother opens up a lot of horror opportunities. I wish they went further and had some messed up weird things with the baby button like horrifying Eldritch sounds instead of a heart beat. I'm a dude but it still got my parental spider senses tingling
@@sujimayne Hey, the ocean wants its salt back. Like damn.
You seem to have a fundamentally flawed concept of plane 'crashes', probably thanks to hollywood. Unless it loses both wings, planes can usually do a controlled but rough landing. A desert is also smoother to crash on than a mountainside. The game does not show the crash but it was meant to be one of those 'gliding downs' as only one crew member dies from his wounds.
Humans are also not as squishy as blockbusters have made you believe.
Aaaaaaand, gman also missed that, there are story reasons why that annoying baby and its mom survives this shit
It's worse than that - you find out pretty early on that your character is literally immortal.
Dark Decent will always be the best.
I think it'll always be decent at best.
Best in traditional horror, that is.
@@swaghettimemeballs4420 false
dark descent was an accidental master piece
@Samael nahhhh its mediocre at best
I didn't expect this to live up to Dark Descent, and with that mind set going in, I'm having a good time, and I am invested in the story. This is way better then a machine for pigs though, that is for sure.
Not a high bar to clear.
You know, it's probably just me, but games like Amnesia just don't scare me that much. Sure it'll probably get my with a jumpscare, but other then that, nada.
For me, I guess the reason is because of the lack of ability to defend myself. I get that feeling defenseless is supposed to be scary, but that only last a short period before it just becomes infuriating because for most games that do it, seven times out of ten it just "run, hide, sit there for a bit, wait for enemy to get bored, solve puzzle, repeat."
Meanwhile for something like Alien Isolation, you're not defenseless for the whole game, because you'll eventually get a Flamethrower that can drive back the threat but never remove it completely; or you have the ability to kill the Working Joes, who are scary on their own, but it takes so much and usually does attract the Alien, so you need to decide.
So maybe it's just the feeling of having to be on top of it all and how that will slowly whittle you down until you get really nervous as your supplies lower to empty.
I stoped playing outlast for this reason, if it was a life of death situation I would drop the stupid camera and take a big stick or a metal pipe to smash heads then get the Fuck outta there.
For me it's the opposity. How can I get scared if I know how to spare my resources? When I know that I am dealing with a threat that I can't defeat or slow down my only option is to run or hide. Much more appealing for me, then killing or dodging the same monster for the x amount of time.
@@pond0479 I agree. Once you have a means to defend yourself the enemies become much less threatening. Nothing compares to running away from a monster, thinking you lost it, then turning around and seeing it is still right behind you.
For me it's the opposite when I know I can defend myself pretty well, it becomes not scary more of Thriller action part, alien isolation is *all of that combined* so that's probably why you enjoy that more.
I like Alien Isolation over Amnesia mainly because it doesn't forget it's a game on top of a horror experience. Resource management, weapons, hacking, crafting, it's got a bunch of elements to keep the player invested in the gameplay whilst also scaring the shit out of them. This is true for Amnesia the Dark descent to a lesser degree, but some horror games now just lean totally into the 'horror' aspect and forget they're also meant to be a game. To be fair to the devs, I think they're working with a smaller budget and they have to make some concessions here and there.
11:45 spot on. my expectations were admittedly too high because it's another Amnesia game. turns out, Rebirth is in my opinion much more similar to layers of fear than it is to The Dark Descent or Machine for Pigs. only connections it has with TDD are some lore references, working towards operating some grand contraption to achieve x y or z which are available as separate endings, resource management, sanity and that's about it. aside from that Rebirth has absolutely nothing to do with TDD, at least that's my impression. that eerie atmosphere and the constant questioning and anticipation which keeps you on your feet that TDD perfectly executed like no other game has is completely lacking in Rebirth sadly.
it being similar to layers of fear isn't a problem since unlike most people I actually liked both the first and the second LoF game, the problem is that it only has the bad LoF elements, mainly the one everyone used to joke about back when the LoF games were hot, that it was a walking simulator. the games were indeed walking simulators, but you had constant puzzles, room and detail changes, and very consistent story telling, which all together made the atmosphere continuously interesting enough so that you don't get bored while just walking, literally just walking with an occasional sprint and crouch and a handful of actual encounters (if I'm not mistaken LoF 2 had only 3 encounters lol). the stories were also interesting, the first game had it's thing with painting, the second game had it's thing with acting, meanwhile Rebirth has it's thing with... pregnancy and motherhood? I can delve into an immersive story about panting, acting or some other art form, but as a man I can't really say the same for such a boring and mainly unreletable concept that is pregnancy.
also not too keen on every chapter starting by you knocked out on the ground slowly recovering from unconsciousness, I get it starting the game off like that (TDD) but multiple times throughout the game just gets old pretty fast. also, loading screens are too frequent and too long even with NVME. the long loading screens wouldn't have been a problem if not for the family & childhood photo book splash art that doesn't really have anything horrific about it. I get it that such art was used to enhance the story telling, but the whole topic of the story was boring to being with.
Rebirth's story and concept might've been good as a book, but as a video game it's just mediocre. it's not a bad game, but nothing remarkable either, perhaps my expectations were too high, or the fact that I prefer a 1800s in a huge Castle theme over an Alien esq. 1930s one, who knows.
I remember being bored to tears with Penumbra, but I really loved SOMA. If anybody hasn't tried that one, do it, it's brilliant and haunting.
if you enjoyed Soma more than Penumbra I think you'll enjoy rebirth
absolutely. This game is much more akin to SOMA which is why I like it so much. I also found it super damn stressful and scary, moreso than SOMA to me, and I fucking hate the ocean, so thats saying something @@Motolmang
@skin09588 Quality > quantity
@@diegowushu Atmosphere>Graphics
I loved Penumbra, especially Black Plague. The Dark Descent was my first Frictional game and holy shit, unforgettable. Then I played SOMA and and I loved it. Not as scary as the original Amnesia was. Great story, wonderful atmosphere. Rebirth kinda feels like a similar experience, wish Tasi were talking less. She helps too much with her comments.
I was hoping for something dark, creepy, and disturbing like The Dark Decent or even Soma. But I didn't get that with this game. One example is that after my first encounter with a Ghoul I was like "Really? That's the monster? That's the best they could come up with?" I remember when I first saw a Grunt in TDD, how freaked out and disturbed I was by it's appearance. The Ghouls just look very mild and generic compared to that. This game was a let down for me.
Tbh the Grint doesn’t look that creepy. Once you see it clearly, it just looks goofy, especially it’s eyes and stretched mouth. The Brute is the actual scary one.
@@dmin5782 it’s goofy in scary way, I mean the design is not generic at all, not hiw you would expect a monster to look, the Brute is as well really unsettling unlike Rebirth monsters.
I got to say I got way more scared of the monsters in rebirth. But I don't know why so I won't argue. Individual experiences I guess.
started off sooo so strong. :'( they totally neutered the sanity effects and survival horror aspects, I never once used Laudaunum to heal. The fort is probably the best part
I swear, I can’t fucking stand it when developers go way too far with the voiced protagonist thing and decide to have the character talk every 10 goddamn seconds any time you do anything in the game.
I always preferred soma over amnesia so I'm cool with the story focus
You're not alone, but it always confused me that no one ever talked about SOMA. It's the game that launched my everlasting existential dread.
That game was AWESOME!! I DEFINITELY prefer soma
SOMA is honestly the peak in Frictional’s game development career, and that’s what they should strive to be with their later games from onwards.
@@DysprosiumMr I assume most people don't talk about it because the twist was pretty obvious from the start, so the game trying to be cheeky and pretend that there is no twist only to then try its hardest to pull the rug out from under you and say "surprise twist!!" to the whiny antagonist, all the while you are just watching this going "no duh, it was obvious" can be pretty annoying. I was hoping the game would just be honest about the subject and explore that in depth, rather than keep it a twist and hurt the story by purposely keeping it shallow and mysterious so that you would be surprised by something so obvious. Like the game only shows the ramifications of the twist at the end, but barely touches on it, and doesn't actually explore what it would be like for someone who is aware of all this (and isn't a completely selfish idiot). Like would someone who knows they aren't transferring their mind and is actually going to die if they do that, proceed to do the thing knowing they are going to die? Is it better to let yourself die so a copy can go on, or is self preservation too strong? maybe there is a better way that lets you live, or perhaps knowing you aren't the original anyways give you an outlook that nothing that happens to you matters as long as you get the job done? Why not have several copies of yourself go at once, knowing that the situation demands more manpower even if there is that weird feeling of working with exact copies that remember all the same things as you and feel the same way? So much to explore and it doesn't because it wants you to be surprised that ctrl+C ctrl+V doesn't magically transfer your entire life and soul with no consequences.
Condemned Criminal Origins is the only to ever scare me
For good reason, that game is terrifying.
The voice actor for Daniel was my chemistry teacher in highschool
that's fucking awesome. Especially because of the few chemistry puzzles in TDD
That's cool. His voice was brilliant.
I've seen many comments like this. Idk if that's the truth or not.
Cool :P
Never really considered just how important the first Amnesia was. It popularized let's plays on youtube, the horror revival, and arguably opened the door for indie games to be taken seriously. Not to mention looking absolutely amazing for the time it was released, that lighting still holds up.
Yea.
I dunno, man.
I've replayed the OG Amnesia like 6 times.
When I compared it with Machine for pigs, there's something unique and "charming" with the first game that the second one doesn't have. I don't even know what specifically, but the game was telling you the story mid game by showing what happen to the environtment and surprising you with some encounters with some monsters. Not saying it's a one trick pony, but once you already face the same fear and over it, doing the same trick on the second game just feels meh.
OG Amnesia had puzzles and inventory management which actually mattered. Also I feel Rebirth is throwing too much light sources at us. For 90% of the game I was stuck in a situation I couldn't pick up matches or oil because "inventory is full".
All quests in Amnesia : Go fetch something from a dark room so as to start a generator in other dark room, which will open a door to another dark room.
I love their dedication to immersion.
@Dio Brando those two things are in no way related.
The beginning was a little slow and i felt like i wasn't stuck on the story, but eventually it grew on me and i didnt really care for Tasi at first but she did turn into a badass for her baby.
Honestly, this is what I was afraid of. Amnesia is about having a good story but also being a horror game, if you don't have good horror or any horror elements at all then is it even Amnesia?
Yes. It is.
It does have horror elements. There’s a few sections just like the original. Just less of them. However it actually gives you a reason for the lack of scares later on. This one is heavily narrative driven more than anything.
Yeah, if you horror game forgets to be a game, then its entirely dependent on the story, and the story will always be hampered by the lack of gameplay. And in the case of Soma, the story can be utterly pointless if you aren't tricked by the VERY-OBVIOUS-from-the-very-beginning twist, so you go through the whole game thinking about all the interesting things it could be exploring with its setup but doesn't, and getting annoyed by how utterly stupid and whiny the protagonist is. That game just feels insulting and has nothing of value because there is nothing the story is willing to give you and no gameplay to keep you engaged.
Ok dumping on A Machine for Pigs is one thing, but saying it's story is "forgettable" and summing it up as "it's a pig man!!!" is just straight up wrong. AMFP has the best story in the Amnesia series by FAR.
Damn man you getting Prerelease Review Code now?!? Congrats!
Also any chance of a Hunt Showdown video?
I'd also like to see him review Hunt Showdown. It's really good, especially since it got out of early access.
@@hadisandid1999 I'm glad people like him never got to review it in its early days, back when lower tiered hunters had lower starting health etc.
Would have torn parts of Hunt to shreds, but it would be cool to see his thoughts of it now and potentially bring more players.
@@hadisandid1999 It's phenomenal and an underrated/under the radar gem.
Old West-era firearms with PVE & PVP in open maps where you can out gun, outwit and ambush other players with the sound being so good you can learn to tell which gun is being fired across the map and the distance it is from you from how it sounds.
@@Protecter117 Agreed. It would have had its reputation smashed akin to Sea of Thieves/Anthem if reviewed back then.
Now its grown and is a hella of game, there should be - according to the road map a new boss in the coming months and they update the game with new content every two months or so now. Also crossing my fingers for a snow map in this game because that would be delicious!
Game has many issues tho :/
6:54 well to be fair, you don't rotate the mouse to turn the wheels.. that'd be awkward af.. you just move the mouse in circles lol
Is there a VR Amnesia game?
That'd be awesome.
Yes!!!
Mr X. would also like to see this.
Yeah an Amnesia Vr would be awesome.
Dreadhalls is a bit like that but without puzzles
THIS was their chance to do that lmao
Call me a contrarian. But I loved A Machine for Pigs. The story makes you think about the events and motives on more levels than Dark Decent. The atmosphere is amazing and the characters though few are very good and compelling. The voice acting was somehow even better than in dark Decent. The aesthetic was also great and a nice break from the original.
I think the reason why Machine for Pigs has a bad rap is that people expected Dark decent 2.0 from it, but instead they got a psychological story driven horror game rather than a horror chase game with hard puzzles and hub areas.
I didn’t like MFP because the level design was worse and the fact that they removed core mechanics like the sanity system, the inventory, needing oil for the lantern, Tinderboxes and the Hard Mode with nothing to compensate for removing them. It felt more like a roller coaster ride than a horror game.
That new Phasmophobia seems to be the better combo of horror and goofy fun time with friends. (Especially in VR, I can only imagine... It's Early Access tho so the player models are iffy, other than the ghost models which look terrifying and weird lol)
The funny thing is frictional gamesactually did make an amazing successor to amnesia with SOMA
I didn't mind A Machine for Pigs. The whole, industrialization and the death of humanity with it theme was kind of neat.
loved the sounddesign as you fire up steam engines and climb down into the guts of a surreal huge mechanism
its wasnt exactly scary but the ending speech gives me chills to this day
Rarely are sequals better or even equal to their predecessors. Thanks for saving me some money, think I'll just watch someone play it.
I've played Frictional games since the first Penumbra. I really thought their games got better every time. Amnesia the Dark Descent still is the scariest horror game I've ever played, and Soma is one of my favorite and definitely the best Frictional Games game out there. I STILL think about that story occasionally.
I was really... surprised to be so bored during this one. The only scary parts were in the castle when I got Dark Descent flashbacks, that's It. The alien ghosts or whatever they were just didn't do it for me.
I found them more annoying than scary. The match sticks that burn out WAYY too fast in 5 seconds were annoying. The fucking lantern that burns gas like a 4 wheel drive was annoying. This game really was a boring annoying experience with no real takeaways after it.
Of course, looking forward to see what Frictional comes up with next, missteps are often followed by success!
Its bizzare that i got scared and more invested with a guy who dosen't talk, while i can't symphatize with a prego panicing woman
Nicely done as usual, i always saw these as atmospheric experiences rather than horror even though you could die.
Also, Crysis remaster review (On Switch) when?
Honestly after finishing the game today I’m very happy with what I got. And without getting into spoilers I’m 101% sure after the ending (depending which one you get) that we’ll be getting it more Amnesia.
Pewdiepie's Let's Plays were truly the most horrific content of all.
Yes, but without him most of us wouldn't heard about this game.
@@hannibalburgers477 true
i remember my friends and I laughing our asses off at his videos after class during my first year of middle school. Now I'm on my third year of college.
I will never forget those moments where he just flings his camera after a jumpscare
@@Justin-qb1yw he said he woke up at like 3 am to record those videos in the dark so it was a surreal experience. Maybe that's why he did that.
Heavy on story, light on horror - that is up my street
IMHO Frictional's best is SOMA, followed by Penumbra and then Amnesia. Will see how Rebirth is though, I hope its more existential horror and less physical horror.
I subscribed because the dog made me jump, this guy knows what he's talking about
I honestly agree, when i wanted to see some death animations or some shit, instead of the monsters killing you, you just simply turn into one of those first monsters that you encounter, how lame
I skipped the video until I got to play it. And I agree with you 100%. I do not know what Frictional Games is doing, but it isnt working. It worked for Soma, it does not for Rebirth.
this review feels somehow... matured. its a really good review.
I've found that the more narrative approach that Frictional Games has been taking is what I really enjoy in a horror game. If I can get immersed and sucked into the world, fearing the thing I'm starting to unveil, then it's sold me. But if this game is just gonna spam random PNG files into my face, I feel like someone on the dev team was like, "Our game needs more Five Nights at Freddy's, that game is popular." Jump scares can be used to great affect, especially if the threat is real and the game earns it by leading up to it well. But if it's a low-sanity thing, then that's disappointing.
eh it doesn't do that to much past those weird sequences where you struggle with the controls.
@@lordcheesebur9054 That's good at least.
As a huge fan of FNAF, that game was made by one person, during its prime time (2014-2018) so for them to potentially take inspiration is a thought I do not want to have.
I was imagining this game to be terrifying like tdd not a spooky desert tunnel walking simulator.
It wasn’t like 70% of TDD was just walking around, solving puzzles and avoiding monsters either. I will put it above this game as a horror game only, with some better atmosphere and immersion.
@@dmin5782 I mean, TDD nailed the atmosphere and the monsters. The Brute was disturbing and outright terrifying. I don't even know what the new monsters are supposed to be, they look like wendigo's to me. The castle parts were pretty disturbing in the torture rooms as well.
@@Khan-gv5hk The archives were already very spoopy. :c
I just played and beat Soma (on Safe Mode, no lie) on PS4 and I fucking loved everything about it.
(minor note: contrary to popular belief (probably because most people just heard about the mode and then never tried it) the monsters can very much attack and knock you unconscious and kill you, they just seem to have a much harder time making up their minds about it and will sometimes just follow around behind you. It was tense as fucking shit, and deeply unsettling)
I bring this up in this video because I was very happy to hear you say that you were grading it previously on how you wanted it to be, and not for what it was, and that says a lot about you as a man (mostly positive things, I swear) and separates you from every other UA-camr who reviewed the game that I've watched, who were mostly angry the monsters either didn't look good (when oh my fucking god, go check our their character models sometime, you fucking heathens) or because the game wasn't the one they wanted to play, even if the story ended up being exactly what they always wanted to experience.
And this is why, touch wood if I’m ever in a plane crash.. I’d just wanna be splashed on impact, earlier if possible 😅😂
"Poodapie". That's an appropriate name for him.
"AMFP had a pisspoor story" - Probably the best story of the three games in total and the better soundtrack as well. If it had better gameplay, it would've beaten TDD by a long shot.
I find it weird that every plane crash experience in videogames has to be compared to Bioshock these days. Pretty cliché comparison.
"The kind of trauma Tasi goes through would turn a human embryo into liquid." Looks like you didn't pay attention to the story. Queen Tihana wants the child to survive and makes sure it survives whenever Tasi gets hurt (as evident after Tasi falls down 5 stories in the Tank). She said she felt her ribs break but she feels no pain even though she could feel them break.
outlast 2
Finally someone with taste here. Machine had great story and amazing soundtrack. This game deserves much more appreciation than it received...
Oh, and only one pisspour thing here is this review btw
AMFP had a cool and complicated story and the scares were good. Although the pig monsters were kinda wacky compared to TDD monsters and there were no puzzles. Also maybe the empress kept protecting Tasi and her baby with her powers?
10:33 Now that got me to jump out my chair omg.
As amazing and terrifying as The Dark Descent was, I actually think I like Soma just a little bit more. That game wrecked me for a solid week, and I still wake up in the middle of the night and think of just how messed up it was. Either way I’m a fan of Frictional Games for life, and glad to see them add to the Amnesia universe. I’m definitely playing Rebirth for Halloween Sunny Jim!
I don't see how people think that a game that tries so hard for you to not die and saps away pretty much all challenge through artificial means can ever be good. I hear people say "well but the story is good", but i don't see that either.
Amnesia Rebirth
good things:
-hey it's actually a really good game
bad things:
-they didn't add the monster chase theme from the dark descent
There's also a chase theme but different
*sees the jumpscare hallucinations*
HELL YEA, WITCHAVEN IS BACK BABEY
What bothered me the most in this game was Tasi. Me, as a girl, couldn't feel connected AT ALL with her and the "mother" stuff. I'm personally terrified of pregnancy and if I discover I'm pregnant in the middle of desert it would be THE WORST scenario ever and Tasi simply doesn't SHUT UP about the baby. She doesn't shut up even when she must be quiet! She be like "omg I must be quiet" when the monster is near... I mean... It seems like the developers want to shove the story down our throats intead of focus on the psychologic horror that worked on TDD.
The only time I felt scared was on the fort, but when I passed it felt like the gameplay started to downfall... I didn't knew if I was playing Layers of Fear, Skyrim of a less interesting version of SOMA.
Besides all that, I would give a 7/10 because I liked the graphics, the inventory/memories and the brilliant OST by Mikko Tarmia
I always thought it was a shame that A Machine for Pigs turned out the way it did. I recommend reading the post-mortem on it. www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/218372/postmortem_the_chinese_rooms_.php There were several issues that arose. One of them was that Frictional was very hands off. They didn't want to stomp all over The Chinese Room's vision which is nice for any dev team, but this led to creative misunderstandings, and they had to revamp sections of the game, and there wasn't enough time to polish mechanics, and they didn't realise how much the game telegraphed safe/hostile areas until post-release. And that central question of "Should this game have been called 'We are the Pig' instead of 'Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs'? I have no issue with a new dev trying a bold reinvention of an IP. A Machine for Pigs had a strange identity crisis. Regardless, Rebirth seems to be a return to form for the series, at least mechanically.
Its another great walking sims, even more so because people are stuck at home
As for the physical trauma that should have killed her baby a thousand times over, it is heavily implied that the alien queen is healing her and her baby whenever they take a tumble.
"Boring" is the perfect way to describe this game. It wasn't good, wasn't bad, was just "meh", which is somehow worse than bad. At least with a bad game you feel something. :/
The 2 puppy bark jump-scares got me more than watching someone playing it on Twitch ever did! :D
Looks like one of the more worthy games to buy this month
Did we play the same game? 😅 The last half of Rebirth with the light monsters was downright terrifying
4:33 In the game its explained why she and the baby can survive all that.
SPOILERS:
There's a part where a metal thing falls in her tummy and knocks her out. When she wakes up she even says to herself how is she ok she remembered something breaking. Probably the fact that she's turning into a monster makes her regenerate.
dude how in the fuck are people not scared of this game and SOMA?! The monsters are unsettling and creepy as hell!
SOMA and this cant be together.
The game left me a bit disappointed as well. It wasn't as scary as the first one but that wasn't the worst thing.
There is actually a mechanism for the protagonists evolution during the game.
Tasi becomes a monster thanks to a curse given by the queen. (as it is hinted by the doctor you have to avoid losing your sanity)
However when you avoid losing sanity during your playthrough, she remains ok. In the final level when you're chasing the doctor you come across a fountain. Upon looking at her reflection, Tasi gives a comment on how she looks. If you never lose your sanity, she declares herself to be ok and that De Vries looked way worse than her, all she'll have to do is go home with her child. When you lose your sanity multiple times during your playthrough, she appears to have become a monster.
This effects only the ending where she escapes to Paris. On the picture during the credits she'll appear normal or as a monster.
I found this a cool mechanism but it was very poorly executed, a bit of a missed opportunity. It should have influenced the gameplay a lot more.
Or the game could tell you from the beginning: the better you play, the better, the more times you get caught, the worse. But it's actually just two visual easter eggs. And I got the "bad" version of Paris ending because it's really easy to get caught in this game. Wraiths are pain.
Pathologic 2 is both big on story and gameplay.
Nothing more scary in that game than seeing a dude pull a knife from his boot and run at you
Return to Castle Wolfenstien remake would be great on this engine.
Why? It's hardly an amazing game engine, and it's mainly designed around interactive physics, so I can't see it working well with a combat focused game.
No. Old games are vetter because the visual language of the game is clearer. New, "good" looking graphics are distracting.
“And I think I came up with more questions than answers when it came to an end.”
It’s an amnesia game and your expecting answers.
Really. In amnesia the dark decent you don’t just get answers. You only get bits and pieces and you have to put it together yourself.
Amnesia games aren’t like other games where they tell you the story.
You have to piece it together yourself. That’s why I love the amnesia series.
So the main problem with this game is that is called “Amnesia” probably just a marketing move.
It's so weird because I feel like amnesia tdd and amnesia rebirth are opposites in some a way because I think that tdd has a better scary atmosphere while rebirth has a better story.
I think Frictional Games made the mistake of pulling out their best card with The Dark Descent. Although their later games have been good and intriguing, none have come close to the utter terror and disturbing atmosphere of The Dark Descent. It’s just one of those games that’s hard to improve on or build off of.
Have you played Soma?
@@drdevman To be fair, I haven’t played Soma yet, but I’ve heard generally that’s it’s more of a story driven experience than true horror, although it’s said to have some chilling moments. I just got finished playing TDD and I have to say, it’s shockingly terrifying. Don’t get me started on the torture chambers in the last act. Some of the most disturbing scenes in any medium of horror.
@@WinstonHofler oh for sure. It’s a messed up game. I do recommend Soma though because it’s arguably more messed up than TDD. There are definitely scary gameplay sequences, but the story is much more polarizing. It kept me up nights just thinking about it.
@@drdevman Well, I just got finished playing Soma. Christ, what a game! As a horror game, it’s mediocre at best, but as a reflection on humanity and what constitutes as being human, it’s insanely mindmeltingly good. The choices throughout are just brutal. The ending too is very depressing when you think about more in the grand scheme of things. I’d highly recommend Nier: Automata, as it’s similar to Soma, but much more in depth and centers around the reason to exist and live.
First installment of Horror games becomes extremely popular,
Publishers:" Make the game appealing to a wider audience! remove the horror, the suspense and the vulnerability"
Devs: " But why?"
Publishers:" Money"
>"Machine for pigs" had a piss poor forgettable story.
Are you kidding? Have you even played it? MFP is hands down the best Amnesia game storywise
yeah i loved the story but dark descent is way better
The puppy was pretty funny. Both times.