Outlast

[WALP]

What Nackidno said. I like Penumbra's atmosphere and story more than Amnesia, but Amnesia was much better in regards to gameplay mechanics (moving, looking, interaction, etc) and I felt more scared playing Amnesia than Penumbra. It's a mix between the two for me. They both have their pros and cons.

I feel the atmosphere created through the story was superior but in terms of sound design atmosphere and level design was worse, and I have not been scared of monsters ever since I gained a rock, which I'm lethal with. That's a massive problem with Penumbra. I think penumbra thus far is incredibly well designed though, and the monster encounters, though the aspect of them being killable ruins it, are far superior to amnesia's encounters which were just jump scares.

Not sure I agree with that. Most of them were a surprise but that is not the same as a jump scare, in fact the first encounter in both Overture and Black Plague can be considered a "jump scare" going by that vague definition. Penumbra: Black Plague even has several actual jump scare, all of which are foreshadowed and don't end up fitting the general definition of "jump scare". Taking advantage of players not being ready for the encounters is an excellent way to make people nervous and therefore make the encounters more tense IMO. Throwing startling but harmless entities or events or worse yet images at players is the definition of jump scare: Cheap scares for a temporary effect.

That is not the definition of a jump scare Bridge, a jump scare is simply a scare that comes by surprise. The cheap bit is an opinion. And yes, Amnesia's encounters are nearly all jumpscares, only ones that are not are ones where the monster is not actually present. I pick an item up, walk out of the door, grunt, Kitchen, I go in there do my thing, grunt, morgue, I do my thing, go to door BANG, brute, etc. That's all of amnesias encounters basically. Penumbras first encounter is a jumpscare yes, but afterwards they are all introduced well, whilst it is the reverse for amnesia. There is a lot of foreshadowing, yes, but that does not mean it is a jump scare. Most of amnesias encounters have no fore shadowing.

A jumpscare is simply what the name says it is. A scare sudden and powerfull enough to make you jump.
Examples of jumpscares in amnesia's encounters would be the brute in morgue,the iron maiden or when you open the door in storage and a gatherer is standing there.
Examples of encounters I dont count as jumpscares would be: the guest room, the brute in choir, or the chase sequence with the kaernk(probably misspelled that).

So neither of you is 100% right.