AMFP Member Review Thread

[Phobos]

Completed it in 3 hours. Was a total fucking waste of my time. It had absolutely none of the atmosphere, build up, tension or execution of TDD. There's literally no sense of danger from the monster and the monster itself is fucking laughable.

Literally. I laughed when I first saw it. The parts of the game where you had to hide from the monster I didn't even bother putting my lantern away because it was so non threatening it was comical. They removed 90% of the game play elements that made TDD excellent.

Inventory management isn't a bad thing. Choosing whether to use up your tinders/oil or lose sanity was a smart game play decision. It gave a sense of tension because you didn't know if you were going to need to save your resources or use it in the moment. It created ups and downs in the game play where you felt safe momentarily. in AMFP there was none of that. It was jsut a constant down moment. The graphics were just so completely dark that even the light up areas felt dreary and uninteresting.

Exploration felt pointless because there were no resources to find. Every single area in the game is a linear path to the next area. There are no extraneous rooms to explore because all of the doors are closed off with a giant 2ft wide lock.

I felt absolutely no connection to the main character and his reasons for doing what he does. You figure out what happens in the first 5 seconds of the game. The whole children aspect was just tiresome and overdone to the point of annoyance. The character doesn't seem to care about what's going on, so why should I?

In TDD you learned about the character and his actions through the memory flashbacks with voice acting. These were well done but in AMFP it's all done with verbose diary entries which I couldn't care about at all. After the first 5 or so you realise that he's basically just writing down what you have to do to complete the next puzzle. The puzzles by the way being simpler than "put the cylinder in the cylindrical hole"

The only good part was the end of the game with the final monologue. I felt that was done rather well and the voice actor was actually acting. It's just a shame that the entire rest of the game was so poorly paced up to that point.

I'd like to thank The Chinese Room for ruining one of the only good horror games of the last 10 years. Please don't make another video game again and consider branching out into shitty art house indie films for your "vision" because you have no fucking idea how to make a video game.

4/10

Could not agree more, sorry FG but THIS is the truth. Make games on your own and keep it that way! For the best of us all.

After all these setbacks and delays I really expected a good game but it was just a basic storytelling with no game play at all.

[Scarypigthing]

I'm going to have to agree with the lack of fear - I'm up to my first proper monster encounter (after the first just disappeared into thin air) and the little guy isn't scary with his floppy pig ears etc if he wasn't trying to eat my heart he'd be almost cute. The sound is great, so is the writing and the interiors are often gorgeous but the fear is nowhere to be found - so far. Also its not so much the lack of interactivity with the environment that's annoying but its bizarre choices...why on earth can you not pick up random objects from tables open draws, but for some reason they have chosen to let you move around chairs? Why make that thing interactive for no apparent reason but nothing else? I'm enjoying it but there is something off about the whole thing I can't quite nail down. The Chinese Room are going to release a masterpiece someday this much is obvious, but this isn't it so far I'm afraid.

[MonoxideDGK]

Completed it in 3 hours. Was a total fucking waste of my time. It had absolutely none of the atmosphere, build up, tension or execution of TDD. There's literally no sense of danger from the monster and the monster itself is fucking laughable.

Literally. I laughed when I first saw it. The parts of the game where you had to hide from the monster I didn't even bother putting my lantern away because it was so non threatening it was comical. They removed 90% of the game play elements that made TDD excellent.

Inventory management isn't a bad thing. Choosing whether to use up your tinders/oil or lose sanity was a smart game play decision. It gave a sense of tension because you didn't know if you were going to need to save your resources or use it in the moment. It created ups and downs in the game play where you felt safe momentarily. in AMFP there was none of that. It was jsut a constant down moment. The graphics were just so completely dark that even the light up areas felt dreary and uninteresting.

Exploration felt pointless because there were no resources to find. Every single area in the game is a linear path to the next area. There are no extraneous rooms to explore because all of the doors are closed off with a giant 2ft wide lock.

I felt absolutely no connection to the main character and his reasons for doing what he does. You figure out what happens in the first 5 seconds of the game. The whole children aspect was just tiresome and overdone to the point of annoyance. The character doesn't seem to care about what's going on, so why should I?

In TDD you learned about the character and his actions through the memory flashbacks with voice acting. These were well done but in AMFP it's all done with verbose diary entries which I couldn't care about at all. After the first 5 or so you realise that he's basically just writing down what you have to do to complete the next puzzle. The puzzles by the way being simpler than "put the cylinder in the cylindrical hole"

The only good part was the end of the game with the final monologue. I felt that was done rather well and the voice actor was actually acting. It's just a shame that the entire rest of the game was so poorly paced up to that point.

I'd like to thank The Chinese Room for ruining one of the only good horror games of the last 10 years. Please don't make another video game again and consider branching out into shitty art house indie films for your "vision" because you have no fucking idea how to make a video game.

4/10

Could not agree more, sorry FG but THIS is the truth. Make games on your own and keep it that way! For the best of us all.

After all these setbacks and delays I really expected a good game but it was just a basic storytelling with no game play at all.

Agree...Summed it up perfectly. Absolutely shattered I waited so long for this. Major let down. Kinda hoping FG turn around and say "Just fucking with you all, here is the real game" and hand over a completely different game. ='(

[Artariel]

I give this 2/10.


- Outdated engine with different textures (worse textures actually)
- Poor game design, I don't know how you could like this game after you've finished development.
- Linear progression
- "Daddy daddy"
- Lack of great features that were present in TDD, why in the hell would you remove them ? Is it because you have to serve casual disgusting people ?

[Draug]

[Sarcelle]

I felt like making an account just to get some thoughts off of my chest.

I thought this game was amazing. I also thought that it was very different than TDD. So different in fact that a direct comparison seems like a pointless (I want to say oinkless) affair. TDD set out to make a horror game first, based around numerous gameplay elements that make the player feel threatened, alone, and ultimately terrified. I think that AMFP set out to tell a story, one that was set in a potentially frightening environment. The worst parts of the game are when they tried the hardest to scare me, in my opinion.

I spent the first half of the game, up until the first monster encounter, quaking in my boots. Well, I lied. Every time I entered a new area I would be quaking in my boots. Then when I realized it was clear I'd jog around like everything was fine. But the first half or so had the aura of dread down pat. In hindsight the part before you enter the church was hilarious. I was running like a mad man to fill up that truck when there was absolutely nothing chasing me.

The reveal of the first actual pig man was rather disappointing. I turned a corner and oh look that's bad better go and hide now. Then I snuck by it. After that encounter every time I saw a pig man I wasn't scared, I was just a little annoyed. It meant I'd have to go through a tedious stealth sequence again. Hearing snorting or seeing lights flicker didn't fray at my nerves, just my patience. I did however love that in the sewers you were constantly hearing pigs all around you, and I had worked myself into a right terror, while in hindsight they were completely devoid of threat. And there were a few good shock moments. Falling into the water in the bilge room was a few seconds of frantic sprinting. The Tesla Pig was a welcome treat, and the final dash through those corridors got my heart pounding. (Also, people seem to think the Tesla Pig came out of nowhere? There were notes referring to dimension hopping pigs from awhile back in the game, and the sewers were filled with them. That seemed pretty heavily foreshadowed to me.)

But I honestly don't think that these parts matter all that much. Sure, the AI of the pig monsters could have been much better. They could have been much scarier. The monsters were rather tacked on, but for me that didn't detract from the story AMFP was trying to tell. Or from the amazing level and sound design that kept me hooked right from the start. The first segment entertained me with its aura of dread, the middle segment dragged with its reliance on terror that wasn't there, and the ending segment I found a work of art. The final five minutes of the game, completely devoid of meaningful gameplay, were in my opinion very much worth the price of admission.

If you want to play a game exactly like ADD, but in a new location, look elsewhere (Outlast?). This is not a game that will shock and terrify you (though I think horrify is a word I would apply to much of it) from start to end. But if you want to experience an amazing display of digital storytelling with powerful and evocative level and sound design, then AMFP hits the nail right on the head. In others words, this is a poor direct sequel to the first Amnesia, but it's not supposed to be. It's not Amnesia 2: AMFP. It's something similar, yet rather different. And I think it's something beautiful.

[MonoxideDGK]

Maybe TCR though "Hey, taking away the combat aspect of gameplay worked super well in TDD...What if we take away the rest and remove 'ALL' aspects of gameplay which should work super doopy pooper scooper well...FUCK YEH! Then everyone will be screaming THE CHINESE ROOM from the highest mountain" They all high fived and started working on AMFP...Brain fart'

[Alardem]

I love how all the negative reviews are coming from people who've signed up for the first time just to complain.

[Kreekakon]

I love how all the negative reviews are coming from people who've signed up for the first time just to complain.

Why stop them? It's their opinion, and if they want to make it known then I don't see a reason to stop them.

[Alardem]

I love how all the negative reviews are coming from people who've signed up for the first time just to complain.

Why stop them? It's their opinion, and if they want to make it known then I don't see a reason to stop them.

It's hilariously predictable. I've seen this on other forums and it's always amazing how the whiners squeal like they've been stabbed in the back.

Spoiler below!

'Mors Praematura' is a good theme for the forum right now.