What has discovering Amnesia/Frictional Games done for you?

[Daemian]

Gave me a chance to express myself.

[Dagorha]

Fill me with anger over the state of the video game industry because so many think that horror is a dead genre. It also made me have to quit playing games for like 2 weeks simply because everything was being compared to it. Usually very unfavorably.

[LordGubGub]

I honestly absolutely hated the horror genre - until I played Amnesia: The Dark Descent. I thought it was absolutely pointless to play a game to scare you, and that all horror games were poorly made video games that had no meaning. They were everything I hated in a video game. (click to show spoiler to keep reading, it's kind of long)

Spoiler below!

I heard about Amnesia from a couple of friends. We were hanging out, they were talking about it, watching the trailer and stuff, but I didn't really care that much at the time, and payed no attention. But the concept of having no weapons and the focus on messing with your mind was interesting to me, and the more I thought about Amnesia, the more I was intrigued by it. So I looked up the trailer on my own time and watched it, and it scared the crap out of me. But for some reason I bought the game. I can tell you I never regret buying it. The game was an absolutely terrifying but somehow touching experience, an experience that is very difficult to explain. I then decided to play through the Penumbra series, and loved those games as well. I realized how important some elements are in games, and what really makes a great video game. I don't know why, but now I love that terribly scared feeling I get from playing games like this, and I will play every single game that Frictional Games ever develops. I love the horror genre now (but I'm very picky). There is so much more I have gotten out of playing FG's games (but I don't want to make this post too long), and I wish I could personally thank each and every one of them for creating such masterpieces.

[pinkribbonscars]

Set the standard for horror games for me, which is kind of bad because very few games can compare

[Draug]

Set the standard for horror games for me, which is kind of bad because very few games can compare

Yeah, I have the same problem. Since I played ATDD, I searched for a game which can compete with amnesia. Good horror games are hard to find imo.

[drachehexe]

I don't know if Amnesia has "done" anything for me other than provide me with a solid and enjoyable gaming experience and force me to patiently wait for more. There is nothing "mindblowing" about this game that made me go "OMG, this changes EVERYTHING!"

[Onlinezigeuner]

Frictional Games and it's masterpieces (all of them) got me in the true horror genre. I only played things like FEAR, Deadspace, Doom 3 before which are more like a shooter with horror elements. FG also showed me that a story is imporant, horror games are not always combat-based, the interactive environment is really immersing and of course the soundtrack fits perfectly. Exploring areas not knowing what happening next and getting chase is just brilliant. The other parts should be clear. Keep on going FG and the awesome community!

[Toothbrush]

Discovering ATTD was actually a very happy moment for myself.
It felt like having an emotional flashback to the eighties again.

ATTD made me feel the same deep disturbance/fear i had when i saw the Shining in 1981 on our neighbor's VHSplayer.
I was 7yrs "old" at that time, and had never witnessed anything scarry/unsettling like that before.

I had witnessed my neighbor butchering chickens at age 4, which didnt scare me at all.
I did feel sorry for the chickens though and shall never forget their screaming when he pulled one out of the cage to be decapitated.
For some unknown reason he did this in a very brute way, he jammed the chickens head under the sole of his wooden shoe and then just stepped on it while pulling back the body with a fierce pull.

The grandpa of a friend of mine used to put the chicken's head between a sheddoor opening and then just slammed the door very hard ; which resulted in a headless chickenbody running around a bit before it ended it's final twitching.

The whole chickenbutchering thing was just fascinating to me, since he explained bit by bit which part he was cutting off the chicken's corpse and explained how organs work/are connected, so that was basicly just my first biology lessons i guess.

Therefor blood and guts dont do the trick of making me scared in horrormovies/books/games at all, ive seen that at probably too early stage in life, and got sorta immune to it.
Which can be practical in case of a bloody accident in which the victims can still be saved by reanimating and such.

Oops, im drifting off now, back to "the Shining."

The tension that builds up through the surreal scenes in that movie just had me pretty disturbed and scared while watching it.
Basicly the fear of "what comes next....what lurks at the end of that hallway,......whats that sound behind that door", etc
Logically at that age i didnt fully understand the story at all, but just loved the feeling it gave me.

A feeling i've been trying to re witness ever since, some other books and movies came pretty close to it, but once i ran into ATTD, i got that same "fear" again.

And besides that discovering Amnesia/Frictional Games has given me a lotta good times playing their games, and got me discovering TCR and Dear Esther also, which for me was one of the most immersive games ever played.

Probably gonna try some ATTD custom stories also, curious of what some of you have been making.
Wish i could have a go also, but got other stuff to create which absorbs most of my time...probably lacking the knowledge and patience also for it seems to me its quite a time absorbing thing to make those....

correct me if i'm wrong please!

[TheWalshinator]

I guess it set the benchmark that I am going to have to try to beat with a few horror game projects I have planned. Don't know whether I will raise the bar, but I will try nonetheless

[VaeVictis]

It gave me my inspiration back and reminded me to stop letting other people decide what's best for me.