Daniel and Phillip

[Adny]

Scariness Endured: Daniel
Castle Brennenburg is no doubt a very creepy place to be in - but to have Amnesia and make the epic journey that Daniel did all the way to the orb room to confront his enemy, is downright terrifying. Philip had a general idea of what he got himself into at the beginning of Overture, whereas Daniel was left completely in the dark* on the matter. Taking into consideration many enemies from Penumbra were just mutated versions of every day creatures, Amnesia's enemies felt really unique; even though 2 of them were clearly humanoids of some sort, there was still something friggin' terrifying about them. In the end of the day, ask yourself this: Weird alien with an uncut umbilical chord, or a flappy-jawed humanoid with man breasts?


* = GET IT? AMNESIA'S A DARK SCARY GAME. HAH.


Emotional Strain Endured: Philip
He encounters very few "friendly" external entities on his adventure, but the true uniqueness of their character and the relationship built with them, just to have them torn away is something truly awful. Whether it was pulling the lever on the incinerator to bake Red to a fine crisp, or dropping a heavy crate on the innocent and cheerful Amabelle Swanson, it no doubt took a toll on Philip's - as well as the player's - psyche. Oh, and there's Clarence. He's a funny guy.

Danger Encountered: Philip
Although Daniel faced some terrifying monsters, I'll give this to Philip. The environment alone had way more dangerous encounters; the icy lake, the small caving-in tunnels, dangerous automated machinery, Oh My! In addition to the environment, there were giant spiders, nearly zombified dogs, Tuurngait infected humans, and a big-ass rock Worm. Philip you brave sonovabeech.

Difficulty of Challenge: Philip
(see Danger/Emotional parts), all of those elements combined, I'd say Philip's journey was more difficult by far.

Value of Goal Achieved: Philip
Daniel's goal was only for the sake of vengeance, it had no effect on anyone in the world except for him, Alexander, and depending on the ending you chose, Agrippa. Philip's quest started out innocent enough, but he ended up finding an ancient super virus that had been disturbed from its resting place in uninhabited northern Greenland. Just by the sheer number of people it affected, Philip's goal (at least the goal by the end of the game) was much more valuable; it directly effected the Earth, and mankind as we know it.

Overall Epicness: Philip
It might just be the fact that it was a trilogy instead of 1 game, but the epic tale had so many twists, turns, and emotional road bumps, I'd definitly say Penumbra was the more epic journey. In Amnesia, it feels like you're discovering things about the protagonist as the story advances, which is fine, but for me really broke the feeling of being one with the character. It felt like I was being shown exhibits in some museum, as opposed to experiencing the events first hand as done in Penumbra.