Penumbra's Plot

[Red]

I agree the Penumbras plot is better, and voted for it.
It's more unpredictable and deep compared to Amnesia.
If the Penumbra was made in Hpl2 or Hpl3 and had the quality of Amnesia as Soma franchise, it would be easily better than Amnesia in my opinion.

[Gunslingerjh]

Penumbra was far better than Amnesia's story imo! I felt more attached to Philip than I did to Daniel..
Philip actually had a mind of his own during the penumbra games, we got almost nothing out of Daniel in amnesia..

Really curious to see if SOMA will best Penumbra!

[BAndrew]

Penumbra was far better than Amnesia's story imo! I felt more attached to Philip than I did to Daniel..
Philip actually had a mind of his own during the penumbra games, we got almost nothing out of Daniel in amnesia..

Really curious to see if SOMA will best Penumbra!

I totally agree. I felt very attached to Philip too, while Daniel was uninteresting.
However, this might have something to do with your personality. (eg sharing more common characteristics with Philip might attach you more to him).


I think SOMA has a very good chance of being better than the previous titles in almost all aspects for the following reasons:

• Penumbra was developed in 2 years or less. Soma will be in development for 5 years (2010-2015). So FG have more time.
  
• They have more experience.
  
• They have more employees (that means faster and more detailed developement)
  
• They have more confidence because of their previous success(es).
  
• They have more money to invest (eg. ps4,outsources,etc.)
  

[Cuyir]

Daniel reading his diaries didn't build a character like some fans say.

On that note, clicking right on the mouse in Penumbra allowed players to see what Philip was thinking, which gave the character some heft.

The writing was better in Penumbra, it was more interesting, it had a few emotional moments and it did more kinds of horror than Amnesia: The Dark Descent even attempted to do.

Penumbra is my choice.

[Bridge]

…nvm…

[Froge]

lots of Penumbra fans ITT IC

[VaeVictis]

I enjoyed Penumbra's surrealism, but Philip had the emotional range of a pine cone. Daniel gripped me more and seemed more believable as a human being. I'd say the same for Oswald. He just seemed more real.
I felt like Philip was so detached at some points that I just couldn't relate. Someone died? That sucks, but oops. Also 'Clarence', while an interesting character, got on my nerves after a while.
I know I'm kind of asking for trouble saying this, but while the surreal aspects of Penumbra fascinated me more, I felt more immersed in both Amnesia stories.

[Bridge]

Someone died? That sucks, but oops.

Could you please elaborate?

[VaeVictis]

Someone died? That sucks, but oops.

Could you please elaborate?

Spoiler below!

Amabel. I know he felt bad, but it just didn't seem believable to me. It just struck me (heh) as 'oops!'

His dad, even. Again, it felt like 'well, that sucks, but time to find that missing fuse' (forgot what the current puzzle was at the moment, but you get the idea).

I'm not saying these things weren't sad, but moments like those tend to show a person's character in real life, and I just felt like Philip could have had more of an emotional range at these times.

Again, I'm not saying that those moments weren't sad, they absolutely were. But I think these were moments where Philip's character could have shone brighter.
I liked Penumbra, I really did. But I think the Amnesia series had better character development. Just an opinion, you don't have to think likewise.

Edit: Holy mother of typos. That's what I get for posting with a tablet.

[BAndrew]

I think it is reasonable to conclude that the perception of the story (how much it "got you", which character do you prefer, etc) is personal and therefore subjective.

@Abraxas

What do you mean "Penumbra's surrealism"? In which way was Penumbra surreal? I think Penumbra was more realistic than Amnesia.

Spoiler below!

Penumbra: A person gets a letter from his "dead" father and decides to find him because obviously something fishy is going on. He discovers a secret research shelter and finds out that a virus can take control of human (and animals) bodies in order to protect itself (from humans). He gets infected, but he has different symptoms. He finds his father dead along with what he has found. Sure it's very improbable to happen, but it could. There are some parts that are surreal like "communicating" with Tuurngait, but these are the minority.

On the other hand in Amnesia we have a) mysterious monsters that I have no idea how they got there, b) a mad man who tortures people to gain a subtance from the brain, c) secret orbs with magical powers, d) Alexander going to "another dimension" through a portal, which can be destroyed by a head (Agrippa's), e) a shadow is hunting Daniel. That doesn't sound very realistic to me (of course this doesn't mean that Amnesia's story wasn't good).

EDIT: Both stories were logically consistent, which is not an easy thing to do and I really appreciate that.