Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 4

[Solarn]

Nothing against FG but their attempts at a story in A:TDD started well (though very very very very VERY Lovecraft influenced, to the point of tribute) and then just fell flat.

Spoilers for both the new game and The Dark Descent, just in case someone's beaten the new one without trying the original.

Spoiler below!

Agreed. It started out immersive and mysterious, and you sympathized with Daniel trying to put the pieces together. The twist of his past crimes wasn't a major shocker, but it was appropriate. But all of the business of Alexander being from another dimension and the subplots with Agrippa and Weyer seemed shoehorned in, and overcomplicated the story—not intellectually in that it was hard to follow or anything, but it felt like baggage that distracted from the tone the game set early on rather than enhance it.

This is where I feel like A Machine for Pigs succeeded. The presentation is intricate, but it's all about Mandus' personal journey, coming to terms with his own corruption and seeking redemption. Nothing felt out of place.

Just an observation that Daniel, Justine, and Mandus have all brought about their own amnesia. I wonder, if there are future entries in the Amnesia series, if we'll have a protagonist who's being kept in the dark by someone other than him/herself.

Spoiler below!

I feel like supernatural horror is getting an undeserved bad rap these days, so I just have to chime in. I feel the exact opposite way. I feel like we've reached a point where "exploring the horrors of the human condition" and "coming to terms with your past sins" have become so trite as to be amusing. They make better content for a second-grade drama TV serial than for any serious horror games.

I consider incomprehensible, alien influences or malicious entities that you are powerless against a much more credible source of horror than "Oh no, I have been a bad person!".