Fear of Progression - "OH SHIT A LETTER I BETTER NOT PICK IT UP"

[Kookygoose]

Amnesia is probably one of the best horror games I have ever played. It's mix of atmosphere and helplessness created some of the most horrifying experiences I have ever been through. However, more so than other horror games, Amnesia suffers from something I like to call "Fear of Progression". "Fear of Progression" occurs when the player becomes irrationally scared of normally harmless and uncorrelated actions and things. A great example is towards the beginning, in the Study. After the player finally gets the secret library room open, he is faced with a letter. After the player picks up the letter, a monster comes storming into the room because of it. This leaves the player with a irrational fear of innocuous actions for the rest of the game, messing with the pace of the game and desensitizing him to the real moments of horror.

This is a very hard thing to work around. The innate nature of scripted sequences and horror often require the use of said sequences to catch the player off guard. However, there are ways around it. Let's take a look at the sequence in the study again. Rather than making the letter trigger the monster, the monster could be set on a slightly randomized timer after the completion of the puzzle. This takes away the correlation between letters and danger, and the player is even more surprised and taken off guard.