Your Demo Failed

**opinionatedhuman** · 09-11-2010, 07:36 PM

I loved the Penumbra series (except for requiem, surprised?), so I thought I'd give this game a go. What you have to realize about demos is that they're supposed to make the player want to buy the game. Your demo did not do that for me.

Let me start simply with time. The demo took about 45 minutes for me to complete. Judging from a typical value of demos being 1/4 - 1/5 of the total length of a game, I decided it was not worth my $20 for 4-5 hours of entertainment.

Judging by posts I've read here (and watching someone beat the game on youtube), the game's length could actually easily be 6-8 hours or more. As such, you failed to give me a sense of the total length of the game, and thus part of its value.

In the demo, barely any of the story is revealed. Your goal in designing a demo is to give the player just enough to want to know the rest of the story -- whet their appetite just enough. You failed. What do we know about the story from the demo? Well, for some reason there's meat all over the place, my name is daniel and my past self left notes all over an old castle-esque structure, one of which told me to kill a guy I've never heard of before. Also, there's a water monster and stepping on meat sometimes hurts you.

What kind of introduction is this? In the end I got past the water monster and it was like "BUY ME" Really? Why? Why should I want to keep playing? I don't care about killing this guy because I don't know what he did. I don't even know what the heck this meat or monster is, and frankly I don't yet have a reason to care. It just seems like a jumble of randomness. Not to mention the conveniently caved-in pathways. Pft.

But you guys obviously excel in quite a few aspects. Level design and atmosphere, namely. Obviously loving penumbra and watching the trailer, this would be a game I would be interested in. The atmosphere did not disappoint.

At the end of the demo in one of the last few rooms, I had so much fun with that river monster. I was like "what's this blocky thing?" "oh... a torso? o.0" So I threw all of the limbs in the water at where the river monster was last seen out of spite. Darn thing started eating them! Good Lordy I was surprised... I literally said out loud "oh my God he's eating that" as blood splattered in the water and I bolted away. I died because I wasted all of the meats playing with the monster instead of using it as a distraction at first. Then I discovered the exit was blocked Dodgy

I suppose your hint system was well thought of. Ex: At first when I encountered the water monster I just hid behind a box in the water. I sat there for 2 minutes and he was still splashing away trying to kill me. I was like "wth go away" and he was like "OM NOM NOM". Eventually, I just tried running around because I had no idea what I was doing and died. Then I get a lovely message "STAY OUT OF THE WATER". Oh. Makes sense.

Also, the demo was not scary at all. I was expecting to be scared playing this, but it was not so. Sure my character was scared, "omg there's a trail of pink stuff and noises, I wonder what's there", etc, but I had no reason to be scared. The water monster was only mildly scary until I realized what I was supposed to do. Hot dog, that thing travels fast when you're in the water O.O Being advertised and praised as an adventure horror, whateverelse, I had no basis for how scary the game was going to get.

Now, it's important to note here how good I thought this game was going to be: I was livestreaming me playing the demo to a handful of people. Literally the response given to the end of the demo was "What?" by those watching. It was stupid, and I am extremely disappointed.

In the end, I watched someone play through the entire game on youtube, and am now slightly disappointed in that fact. The game seemed great and I had wished I bought it now, but because your demo had failed me I didn't think the game was going to be worth the money, and now would have no joy in buying and playing through it.

So, improve your demo. Disappointing, lost at least one sale, etc.

**bblaze** · 09-11-2010, 07:47 PM

Guess that was evened out by me buying the game because of the demo then, so all's well.

I was curious how the story will go on just on that one note alone. And being as creeped out by the gameplay as I was, I wanted more.

**TParis** · 09-11-2010, 08:11 PM

(09-11-2010, 07:36 PM)opinionatedhuman ' Wrote: Let me start simply with time. The demo took about 45 minutes for me to complete. Judging from a typical value of demos being 1/4 - 1/5 of the total length of a game, I decided it was not worth my $20 for 4-5 hours of entertainment.

Wow, which demos? Never seen one of those.

**Wafthrudnir** · 09-11-2010, 08:37 PM

I think this game is made for people with a high eq and people WHO WANT to get into a world full of ?!!?! and are not emotionaly dulled. Amnesia would be good even without the scare factor...why? Cause the type of graphics, the gameplay and the story are perfect, i like things like that. Last game I was captive to was Arx Fatralis...long time ago...

I think you CAN'T play this game without playing it the right way...exploring and becoming part of the world. Examining stuff...bla bla ;D

I think you are just a pussy ;D

Edit: 20 $ is far to less for Amnesia...cause it's innovative!!!!!!!!! Star Craft 2...60$(or so) ... rofl If Diablo 3 will cost that much i will not buy it...for what? The same shit again with other graphics?

**Demens** · 09-11-2010, 08:51 PM

I cant really remember a game with demo that was 1/5 of the full game since DOOM. That was shareware though.

Also the modern thing is to put time limits on them, like with Mafia and Just Cause.
The later Btw had a 30min timer, I have now played it about 46 hours. That´s not quite the fifth.

**Sexbad** · 09-11-2010, 09:16 PM

I can't think of any demo I've ever played that gave me as much as a fifth of the entire game's playtime.

**MulleDK19** · 09-11-2010, 09:37 PM

For the people that found it too long to read:

(09-11-2010, 07:36 PM)opinionatedhuman Wrote: A demo is supposed to give me the same kind of fun and content as the full version.

**bblaze** · 09-11-2010, 09:50 PM

Mulle, my love for you grows with every time you post.

**opinionatedhuman** · 09-11-2010, 11:34 PM

(09-11-2010, 09:37 PM)MulleDK19 Wrote: For the people that found it too long to read:

(09-11-2010, 07:36 PM)opinionatedhuman Wrote: A demo is supposed to give me the same kind of fun and content as the full version.

I will say this -- the purpose of a demo is supposed to give you a taste of the kind of fun and content that is in the full version. I feel that Amnesia's demo failed to do that. You failed to understand my post in the way I intended.

@Wafthrudnir: When it's advertised as a "survival horror" and there is no "horror" in the demo, what am I supposed to expect from the final game?

@Demens: Obviously having a demo timer would not work well for this type of game.

**Elisius Von Pryde** · 09-11-2010, 11:47 PM

Well. That's just like your opinion, man.
And also, the demo WAS scary. If you'd read the stuff before it starts you need to immerse yourself. Allow yourself to be scared. Horror is like hypnosis, if you resist it can't work.
Also, I think you're just an unsatisfiable prick who doesn't like anything he's presented with.