Outlast

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Perhaps, after giving this more thought, I think the reason I wasn't as scared was maybe because I was already too used to Amnesia's style of sneaking, and hiding from enemies that anything too similar was not going to be able to scare me without enough of a twist because I had gotten too used to it/good at it.

Isn't that a bit like an alcoholic saying a bottle of wine isn't strong because it doesn't get him drunk? I mean no offense, but if everybody went by the opinions of people who are already completely desensitized then nothing in the world would ever have enough anything. There is a limit to how scary you can get, and if you are constantly trying to find something scarier and scarier to satiate your undying need for horror you are simply going to be disappointed with everything.

Something I do think Outlast may be lacking in penetrating my hardened horror soul is that I think its build-up, and atmosphere could've been done better. There are quite a few areas in this game where atmosphere was done very good, but not so much. In my opinion monster encounters work the best when they are led up to by an array of very subtle mood-building.

I didn't really share your problem. I think it has a sufficient amount of build-up in most places and overall I found the scares to be well balanced and orchestrated. None of it felt cheap or annoying to me.

Chases also flowed extremely well, but again...it wasn't particularly scary but rather more "thrilling" not that it's a bad thing though.

I don't really understand the distinction and disagree for that matter.

EDIT: In this case, anyway. I agree that chases are not always scary, for example the chase scenes in Mirror's Edge are "thrilling" and not scary at all. If the actual game is scary though and is full of atmosphere, it stands to reason that the chases - which are a culmination of the tension that is accumulated - would be scary, right? I don't really understand how they are not. Did you also not find the chase scenes in Penumbra and Amnesia to be scary?

EDIT: As for predictable monsters while I won't deny that Amnesia also has somewhat predictable ones to a degree, the main thing that kills it for me in Outlast is that the ones guarding puzzle areas follow a very strict spawning rule which is: If there is a puzzle where you get multiple things there will be a monster 100%.

Agreed, but as I said I do have qualms about the puzzle design - which to me is separate from how scary it is. Subconsciously you know something is coming but if you're properly immersed you should never consciously think: ah, a monster will spawn. Because then even Amnesia wouldn't be scary.