Outlast

[Bridge]

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.

Fine, I will grant that. The cheapness is indeed something that one has come to associate with jump scares, so much so that the two are basically synonymous (most definitions of "jump scare" I can find online are of a cheap scare). However, I think we need to talk about what exactly constitutes a jump scare. To me, jump scares are scares that startle you (cause you to jump). Cheap jump scares are for a temporary effect and good jump scares are a way to release tension that is built up. Can we agree on that? If so, great.

Then I want to ask how picking up an object and hearing a voice from afar is a jump scare. If your definition of a startling event is a stable environment disrupted in some way by an influencer, then all encounters are jump scares. After all, there is no such thing as an NPC existing independently of the game world, and having NPCs spawned in a place where they are not visible or audible is impractical programming. The encounter in the morgue is certainly a jump scare (I never said Amnesia/Penumbra were devoid of them), but to say that all of the encounters (or even most) is a big stretch.

EDIT: I don't even think the first encounter in the prison is a jump scare, even though it is tricky to circumvent on first playthrough. The grunt's whispered growl is not intended to startle people, it's intended to make them nervous. Since there is no orchestral sting or usually any visual confirmation of the monster's presence, I simply cannot call the encounters jump scares. The game makes it clear that there is something in the vicinity, and that's what's scary. Not the fact that they pop up.