Amnesia: an overused storytelling technique?

[Thomas]

In Amnesia, the amnesia comes directly from the plot and what we want to do with it. To start the game with "you wake up with no memories" scenario was actually one of the last things we added in the plot development. So it is not something we have just slapped on, but something that grew out of the story's intended meaning.

I also think that even though amnesia might feel cliché, it can be used in many different ways. For example compare the movies Memento, Dark City, Lost Highway and Total Recall. All are amnesia stories, but they are also all very different.

Finally, is amnesia really that overused in games? I cannot come up with that many games that have used amnesia plots. Bioshock, Flashback, Witcher, Second Sight and Planescape Torment is what comes to mind right now (although I am sure there are more). To me it seems like "save kingdom" type of stories are far more used. But I am of course biased on all of this and might be wrong