What I don't like about Amnesia

[Gagarin]

I'll start by saying that I'm a long time reader of this forum but this is the first time that I decided to write something. I'm a huge fan of the Penumbra series. These games really made me feel like no other game before... I loved the atmosphere, the storyline, the puzzles and the originality of the whole thing. I was starting to get really tired of all those clichéic american games where the only important things are big guns, superhero powers and special effects for 12 year olds. But then i got my hands on penumbra and I could go on for hours about how much I loved it, but this is not exactly the right place.

And now to get to Amnesia:
I must say that there are some things that I don't like about Amnesia after watching the trailer. Somebody already mentioned that the hand looks all wrong which is true; if I hold my hand in that position it doesn't look at all like that (and I'm not a zombie nor am I a tuurngait). Anyway this is actually pretty unimportant compared to the next thing.

You might find this weird but I really don't like the "being scared" sounds that the character makes when theres something scary going on. Let me explain; and I'll have to use some boring notions to explain this properly. In literature, there is this thing called "distancing effect" used by a german writer called Bertolt Brecht, which is a theatrical method "which prevents the audience from losing itself passively and completely in the character created by the actor, and which consequently leads the audience to be a consciously critical observer."-wikipedia. This basically means that it prevents you from being one with the character; and thats probably the worst thing that can happen to a horror game. That's usually why the main character from a lot of games never talks; because the game is supposed to make you feel like you are that person but if the character starts talking(or in this case making strange noises), that feeling is gone. And thats exactly how I feel when the guy from amnesia gets scared; immersion is ruined. That was the same problem with Call of Cthulhu ... right-clicking on an object and the character started talking which ruined the whole atmosphere and more important it made me feel distant. I'm sure that this effect makes horror games less scary for alot of people but they just don't realize it. And yes, there was a similar effect in penumbra too but it was alot less pronounced and annoying.
I think that the feeling of fear should be left entirely to the the player and not simulated by the character. Maybe the player doesn't feel like that at particular moments which just creates an unnecessary conflict of sensations. It's like one of those sitcoms which feature a laugh track so that you know when it's supposed to be funny... I've always hated those.

Anyways, sorry for all the criticism; after all I'm really looking forward to this game. I can't wait to play it. Keep up the good work.

[bitzaxp90]

I'm sure they wanted to add a bit of realism in it, if you were in a very dark corridor and you hear some strange noises wouldn't you get scared and scream a bit? Well if not, I do =P

But anyway, let Frictional Games decide what they do with their own game.

[Frontcannon]

Well, for me it's the other way round. In Prince of Persia the prince was constantly commenting on your actions or monologising which felt very realistic and made it more immersive for me.

If Daniel gets scared it's just natural for him to emit a sudden 'Huff!'. I don't want to play a silent movable camera view with a hand popping up sometimes, I want to accompany a believable human character.

But again, that's just me, wait until you played the game

[Finjy]

If Daniel gets scared it's just natural for him to emit a sudden 'Huff!'. I don't want to play a silent movable camera view with a hand popping up sometimes, I want to accompany a believable human character.

I agree. Didn't Penumbra have these sounds too? I remember doors being pounded on, or enemies approaching, and hearing Phil's breathing start to pick up. He didn't speak besides the intros, but he did make noise.

I've always found it kind of funny in like the Silent Hill and Resident Evil games where the most your characters do outside of your actions to acknowledge the terrible horrors they face is to maybe glance in their direction. I like playing horror games where my character is just as scared as I am. Penumbra did an excellent job of it, I think; Call of Cthulhu DCotE did a decent job of it as well, though it lost most of the scary factor the moment you found a gun.

Plus I still don't see anything wrong with the hand, besides the lantern staying put when you look over corners. I wouldn't have even noticed that had someone not pointed it out on here.

[Felix Atagong]

Frictional could (perhaps) make it a menu option: turn 'distancing effect' on / off...

[Googolplex]

Amnesia will be an unnormal fantastic game, I'm really sure!
First time, i found the hand very awesome too, but now I find that good and better as a flashlight without hand like in Penumbra...

What I find really bad in Amnesia are the speakers, who talks very often to Daniel. In Overture it was not so often and through a phone but in Black Plague they all talks (oahh I hate the voice of clarence all the time) without a phone. How that?

And how the peoples in Amnesia talking to Daniel? There was no chance to talk with a phone in 18th century.
If you hear a smooth voice that texted you full all the time, the horror feeling will get lost.
And what are that for voices? Why they talking with Daniel? Thats not authentic.

[nofsky]

What I find really bad in Amnesia are the speakers, who talks very often to Daniel. In Overture it was not so often and through a phone but in Black Plague they all talks (oahh I hate the voice of clarence all the time) without a phone. How that?

And how the peoples in Amnesia talking to Daniel? There was no chance to talk with a phone in 18th century.
If you hear a smooth voice that texted you full all the time, the horror feeling will get lost.
And what are that for voices? Why they talking with Daniel? Thats not authentic.

As I understand it, the voices you hear in Amnesia are your past memories coming back to you. For example, if you go into a room with a puzzle in it, you'll sometimes hear/remember a conversation you had that gives you hints of how to solve the puzzle.

I like it, and I hope all notes you find in the game are voiced. I like the gasping and heavy breathing your character makes too... seems scarier with it.

[jens]

Frictional could (perhaps) make it a menu option: turn 'distancing effect' on / off...

That's a good idea! Too late for Amnesia, but will keep in mind for possible next game.

[Godamit]

hm, depending on the file structure of the installed game (if music is in mp3, or whatever, for each individual piece) would it be possible to remove Daniels' audio files, pretty much leaving it like Penumbra, where the only talking from Philip was done through text.

Just an idea from me.

[Tanshaydar]

Well, actually, I liked Clarence talking to me very much. Thinking that I'm going nuts, Clarence would accompany me