If AMFP would be released before TDD, would you feel diffrent about it?

[Fortigurn]

I've always thought that it would be interesting to reverse the situation - let's say that A Machine For Pigs was the game that was released 3 years ago and The Dark Descent was the new release. I'm sure that there would be criticisms of that too when the two were compared. I can imagine people complaing about the following in TDD compared to the game that they were used to, AAMFP:

a) "There's now an inventory system which is annoying to use"
b) "Why is it necessary to refill the oil lantern every few minutes? This is so unrealistic and annoying!"
c) "Why do I need to keep hunting for tinderboxes to light torches and candles? It really breaks the immersion! Who has ever heard of a single use tinderbox?"
d) "There's far too many monster encounters and jump scares"
e) "The story and writing isn't anywhere near as good as the one in AAMFP"
f) "The voice acting is very average compared to the excellent voice acting in AAMFP"

No way.

a. No, I loved the inventory system; it was great in the Penumbra games, and worked just fine in TDD.

b. No, refilling the oil lamp was just like replacing the flashlight batteries in the Penumbra games, an excellent touch which places uncomfortable constraints on the player.

c. No, when TDD was released people did complain that the tinderboxes were 'one use only' (this is certainly unrealistic), but the fact that you had to use them added to the tension and immersion of the game.

d. Certainly not. I don't think there are too few monster encounters in MFP, and definitely not too many in TDD.

e. No, I find the writing in MFP excellent, but certainly not better than TDD.

f. No, I am disappointed that there is significantly less voice acting in MFP than in TDD, but I don't consider it to be of better quality.

[Cuyir]

Ossie said it best.

We'd probably have the exact opposite going on right now.

Instead of people going ''not enough scares'' we'd have people saying ''story was poor after AMFP and level design took a hit".

Personally, it would have no difference to me.

[bluel0bster]

I just wish people would stop comparing this game to TDD so much. TDD shouldn't define this game. It's made by a different dev team with a different focus.

[pagan]

If Pigs would've been released first, Amnesia series wouldn't have had such a cult following in the first place, so the second episode would not have gotten so much attention. It would just be a sequel of an obscure artgame, so the emotions wouldn't run so high in either case. I think the fans of Dear Esther-like non-intaractive experiences would have been disappointed, but most people would welcome the changes.

[Paddy™]

I just wish people would stop comparing this game to TDD so much. TDD shouldn't define this game. It's made by a different dev team with a different focus.

I agree 150%, but I don't blame people for making the comparison. The last year and a half's worth of publicity has been ensuring that these comparisons are inevitable, for better or worse. Still, it doesn't take much effort or mindfulness to try and see the game for what it is. That's why I think the game will be thought of more highly as time goes on; there almost needs to be a substantial gap between the release date and the formation of some kind of reasonable consensus.

[Fortigurn]

I agree 150%, but I don't blame people for making the comparison. The last year and a half's worth of publicity has been ensuring that these comparisons are inevitable, for better or worse.

Exactly. The marketing (in particular the videos), strongly gave the appearance that the gameplay would follow TDD closely.

[MichaelShadowB]

If you remove the word Amnesia, we have another game.
Maybe they didn't had to call this game Amnesia in first place,
They had to think about the people that wanted TDD II and not AMFP, (a lot of people)
that's why the people have all those bad thoughts about the game, i think...
But i don't feel bad about that, maybe the people was afraid of the new things like this game and they didn't expected a big change like that one.

In my opinion TDD and AMFP are two different games with the same title, try something different was a great experiencie and i love both games
The Chinese Room did a great work if you ask me.

[jd1802]

Voted for No Different I wasnt expecting a TDD2 to be honest I actually have to say that my favorite Amnesia game is Justine (I just loved the story whatcanisay?) But I wasnt expecting for a Justine2 either ^_^ I was just expecting for what I bought, a ''survival horror game''. Aaaand, well it wasnt that. So yeah its an awesome game and I have to admit that I enjoyed part of it but still, just sell it like what it is, a psychological horror experience not a survival horror game

[Fortigurn]

I was just expecting for what I bought, a ''survival horror game''. Aaaand, well it wasnt that. So yeah its an awesome game and I have to admit that I enjoyed part of it but still, just sell it like what it is, a psychological horror experience not a survival horror game

This. I don't care that specific scenes in pre-release trailers weren't in the actual game. That's not important, and no one should expect scenes in trailers to be perfectly accurate representations of in-game play (unless told otherwise). But the trailers which we were told showed what the game 'is shaping up to become', didn't actually show what the game shaped up to become; hence the disappointment.

[Alardem]

Funny - I played A Machine For Pigs after having neglected Penumbra and Amnesia for several months. After my initial disorientation with the fact that most doors and cabinets were locked and objects were there only to be looked at, I acclimatized by the time I left the mansion and found the game a thoroughly tense and unnerving experience. Even the unlimited flashlight ended up not bothering me, as there still remained the danger of alerting enemies to your presence and stealth would thus often be conducted blindly.

Tonight I played Amnesia 1, and got up to the Back Hall. I have to say that the insanity mechanic really irritated me, reminding me that my character's feelings differ from my own. I have mixed feelings about gathering lighting resources too - while hunting around for more light sources encourages exploration and ideally makes you feel like you have barely enough to continue, in practice I wind up hoarding tinderboxes while walking around with a dizzy character. The Water Monster is still a fantastic chase sequence, one that only the Tesla-Pig in A Machine For Pigs matched.

I wonder if AMFP could have improved upon the mechanics featured in the first game, rather than excising them.

• If light-bulb/battery hunting feels a little silly, maybe you could have given the flashlight a very short life (10 seconds) like in many first-person shooters.
  
• making sure that you can't take out the flashlight when carrying objects
  
• Mandus is supposedly ill - perhaps his coughing and dizziness would impede his stamina or make it harder for him to remain quiet
  
• For me, the insanity mechanic doesn't actually make much sense - it feels more like a punishment for progressing too fast rather than a genuine emulation of a real person's fear, and decreasing it as a 'reward' for completing puzzles only makes sense when using video-game logic. In short, it feels like a game imposing arbitrary limitations on you. Rather than make the character faint and walk like a drunk man, you could increase the intensity of the sound or randomize events so that more creatures could be hallucinated, pictures could change, or sounds could be imagined. I'm at a loss for what events would affect the protagonist's sanity, however, as the story makes it quite clear that he's a lost cause...