AMFP Member Review Thread

[sasaluvsamnesia7]

I just beat this game a few hours ago, and so I present my own review. I hope it is not too long. It contains spoilers. Also, this is my opinion. Please do respect it.

Perhaps it is because I have never played a Custom Story, or perhaps it is because I am not used to playing survival horror, but I loved my one week and five days of ‘A Machine for Pigs.’ It had a variety of newly designed furnishings, and interactions, heart-pounding music and sounds, and I give The Chinese Room a B+ for working hard to give us a great sequel to the forever classic ‘Amnesia: The Dark Descent.’ With that said, here is my intake on the bits of the game:

Atmosphere and Sounds: - For the most part, I was not too afraid of the sounds, yet I still found them a step up from 'TDD'. One particular location really had me on edge with its sounds (beneath the church,) and I admit, I was scared (and yes, I scare easily. No making fun.) Nothing freaks me out more than hearing a baby cry and the caged location beneath the church had plenty of it. This was the first area where I felt truly scared for the first time.

Environment: - The game had some amazing levels, my favorites being: the outside territories, beneath the church, and 'the nest.' Many maze-like sections and turns kept me on my toes, though mostly nothing ever happened (such as the location where Oswald went far down the large pipes.) The game was beautiful, and I could see a lot of work went into it, and it did have that 'Amnesia' feel I love so much. If there had been more, my happiness would be much higher.

Interactions / Gameplay: - I couldn’t help but giggle when I saw I could turn a lamp on and off. Every time I came across one, I turned it off in order to keep in the shadows. Only certain objects were movable, including chairs and parts for puzzles to proceed on in the game… No more closets available to hide in. I think this may have been intended to make it harder to hide from the game’s monsters. Sneaking and staying in the shadows helped me to survive. Puzzles were equally as simple I felt as the ones in ‘TDD,’ and yes to me the puzzles in ‘TDD’ were easy. I can’t help that, I love puzzles. Also, I enjoyed clicking on the ringing telephone and the phonographs, as well as the, uh... Well, that voodoo-type electric doll you could make twitch.

Inventory: No oil, no tinderboxes, no health bar, no more sanity drainage… Most everything that made ‘TDD’ what it was had been taken from us. A good thing? Maybe… I honestly don’t know. I can understand the lantern being made the way it was, but we’ll get to that below. Frankly, I hated the sanity thing in the first game. It was more annoying hearing Daniel’s chattering teeth in my head above all else, and I was kind of glad it was gone. I was an oil and tinderbox hoarder anyway; I didn’t really go insane enough to have freaky stuff happen to me.

Lantern: As mentioned, no oil usage in this game! At first, I wasn’t too fond of the idea, but that was before I met with the caged, claustrophobic location underneath the church (my least favorite area in the whole game!) I began my descent down the dark stair, turned on my lantern, and noticed it starting to flicker. This confused me. ‘Why is my lantern flickering?’ I wondered, for I hadn’t used it all too much until that point. ‘Perhaps,’ I thought, ‘Is it because I’ve left it on a long time?’ I got my answer a second later, after I shut it off and took one more step down the stair. My first huge jump-scare as the pig monster jumped from right to left into view. Later on I realized that lights flicker when an enemy is near, and this is one thing I loved about the monsters in this compared to those in ‘TDD.’ If your lantern flicks, put it away, crouch low, and stay in the dark!

Length: - Honestly, I cannot see why so many are complaining about the length of this game! It took me no longer than 'TDD,' did, perhaps slightly less. Some of you have played far too many custom stories, and it sounds as if you didn’t bother to even appreciate all the game had to offer. As for me? Well, I did take it slow, I admired every single painting, every new piece of furniture, every corner I turned. I stopped to smell the roses, remained crouched, and took my sweet time, and I am so glad that I did. Do not forget that this game was not meant to be as long as it was originally. They made it for us into a full-out game. Play through it again, and this time, do not rush.

Monsters: - Being someone who has owned pigs in her lifetime, I knew I would be afraid of the concept of pig monsters since the announcement for 'AMFP' was made, and they did not disappoint. They scared me, but the four-legged, hunched type scared me more than the upright, more humanoid type. My favorite feature about them is the fact that instead of spawning by sounding off loudly like the Grunts and Brutes, the lights and lantern will instead flicker if they are nearby. I also found their way of patrolling fun. (You had to be sneaky! No going to hide and wait for them to vanish like in the first game. You had to get around them, and stay in the dark, and this made it more of a challenge, I feel.) Oh, and yes -- they are fast! I think many have complained about 'if you're spotted, you're done for,' but I'd beg to differ. I managed to escape all of those pig freaks, and my first running experience had me face one of them right straight up in the eye. They can be dodged, and they can be outsmarted. The only downfall I have is the return of the Kaernk (if that is what it is even supposed to me. It felt to be that for me.) It did not scare me. It is no longer scary!

Music: - By far, the music is the greatest aspect of ‘A Machine for Pigs.’ I love Jessica Curry’s work, and will leave it at that. 10 / 10!

Puzzles: - I love puzzles, and as I've mentioned I found the puzzles in 'AMFP' to be easy, and early achievable. Though there were some points I struggled (mainly the first true puzzle where you had to find and gather the batteries to replace with new simply because this was the first dark area, and I was a bit afraid.) Otherwise, for me they were easy, and I wouldn't of minded if they had been a tad more of a challenge.

Story: - I'm changing my answer to this. As disappointed as I was by the 'feel of having been given spoilers' before the game's release, I was impressed with the writing, and the story, and am still confused even after reading everyone's interpretations on this forum about what occurred: the how, the why, the who, etc... and I am eager to learn more, and try to figure out more. Was Oswald truly a victim of amnesia, is one question I have on mind, or was he simply pretending because he wanted to forget about the damage he caused? Was it just him who caused this damage, or did he have help? I wonder was he a part of the machine, did he sacrifice his own children, or were their deaths an accident? There's so much more to think about, and I plan on going through the game again to get more and more ideas. I was very impressed, though The Chinese Room, next time you release a game, please do not give out poems or 'possible spoilers' next time.

Voice Acting: - I honestly admit that I did not find the voice acting to be all that great. Whoever voiced the professor / machine did wonderfully, but often I felt the voices behind Oswald and the children didn't possess enough emotion, at certain points.

Overall, I love the game! I do not play a lot of games, therefore this was special to me; a treat I delightfully lapped up. Since I am not a fan of custom stories, nor have I ever played one, I couldn't wait to play this game, and I will play this over again just like I will still with ‘Amnesia: The Dark Descent.’

So, I am sorry to those of you who found it a 'disappointment,' and 'not worth it,' but I enjoyed it from start to finish, and am looking forward to giving it another round.

[BigShell]

DD: 10/10
MFP: 1/10
Where to start? First: To "piggy-back" (ho ho, get it?) off of Najtnub: I find it odd that there are so many good ratings. Yet, so far, there isn't a single good review (here, up to post #10, its going to take me a while to put this all down). Second: I would challenge FG, and/or TCR, to post a discussion on Steam. If there is one already, it is lost amongst the rage and shouting. Wear a helmet. Carry a big stick.
I'm new here so I have no idea how to implement the spoiler tool. I assume I'm safe; people should realize there is going to be spoilers in a review. If not weeeoooweeooo SPOILER ALERT!!
Take away the great aesthetics and you've got yourself a book. On its own merits; this game was 6hr of me going, "hunh.". Not exactly what I expect from "scary" games. If it happened IRL you bet your bum I'd freak out, and shortly after be pummeled to death by a manbearpig!
1) Storyline: Creepy. Seriously though, creepy ghost twins? I immediately "/facepalm". Do the developers not watch movies?! What father, in his right mind, would seriously chase his kids through a mansion? Your average father would demand that they do as they're told and "get TF over here!" Regardless, all-in-all, it was just as good as every other horror genre storyline out there. No more, no less. Decent.
2) Atmosphere: Bonk! What happened?! I frequently would save and quit while playing DD because it would put my anxiety level far above an acceptable level! My GF didn't even make it to the monsters on DD because, "It's too creepy, I don't like it." The following are symptoms of the perturbation caused by DD's atmosphere: I would consistently slap my keyboard/mouse off the table because either the game spooked me, or by someone simply knocking at my door. I would drink "yesterday's" soda; you'd think I'd notice it wasn't cold. I would practice hiding, and stack makeshift forts if there was no wardrobe to be found. NONE of these things happened when I played MFP! I played it from start to finish. I couldn't even sneak up on my GF and poke her in the ribs! That's, mainly, why she quit playing DD. MFP just wasn't that scary. "Did you hear that?! Oh wait, no that was my stomach..." Now that I think about it, I didn't even lean, around the corners, once! Was that even an option?
3) Inventory: One hand, one object. Which was to be used, no less than, 20ft away. Barbie feet.
4) Lighting: The unlimited lantern usage was a slap in the face. Especially when you realize that you hardly even need it. I had to bring the brightness down past the recommended value, just to have need of it. I used it, mostly, to illuminate the non-threatening manbearpigs. It made for better captions on the screenshots. Like: "Gary, is that you?" Flickering lights... phfffff. Come on, what did that even mean? The manbearpigs also have EMF discharges?! But, what's this? There's no manbearpigs anywhere in sight. "Oop, there's one. Hi Gary!" "Oink!" "Hey, that's my lantern! Give back!"
5) Graphics: This they got right. Much better looking than previous titles! Heck, I had to change computers to run the darn thing. Then, yet again, when I realized I was still lagging. Freakin' gorgeous!
6) Interactivity: Get real! What happened?! No "hidey-holes", no boxes to stack, and for goodness sake no random garbage to throw?! I remember throwing stuff to distract the shambling abominations on DD, while I beat a hasty retreat!
7) Replay Value: If anything, you missed a maximum of two notes. Hardly worth replaying. The extremely linear progression makes that a trip not worth taking twice! "Gary, should we go left or right?" "Oink!" "What do you mean it all circles around to the same area?!" "Oink!" "Ok, whatever. Left it is."
8) Puzzles: Every last one of them telegraphed. Not a single one stumped me. Justine, stumped me. These made me rethink how smart the Dev's think we are. Let me get one thing straight here: the only time I drool is when I sleep. And not even that often!
In Conclusion: The biggest mistake made: Not educating myself further, on what this game was going to be. I missed all the red flags. Dev's talking about focusing on the story, and so forth. I fooled myself into purchasing a $20 book! I'm utterly shocked that they would use the title Amnesia! I, again fooled myself, into believing this was going to be a similar experience that the name Amnesia suggests. It, most certainly, was not. It felt like Amnesia: A Scooby Doo Mystery. Look, keep the $20! Consider it a tip for The Dark Descent. Just DO NOT tag another game with "Amnesia" unless you're going to replicate the experience we all (those who were disappointed) assumed we were getting. I know FG and TCR have put out some pretty great games! This wasn't one of them. It felt like the great Dragon Age 2 debacle of 2011! As far as all the seething hatred: What's your deal gamers? I waited, "foaming at the mouth" for this release too. Restraint, my friends. No need to "huff and puff and blow their house in" (oh, there's too many ways to crack jokes (Hamnesia was my personal favorite)). By the way, Gary isn't his real name. He hates when I call him that! It's actually Sir Reginald Featherbottom III.
Here's a few things that didn't make logical sense: 1) Who was making the piles of bodies, and why where the majority of them naked? You're telling me that they will pounce on me and eat me and then, "Hey Gary, that's 20. Strip the others naked and start a new pile."? 2) Who closed the door during the scene in which the person is grabbed by the manbearpig in that house? Both arms around the girl, and BAM the door slams shut! These foul creatures now have telekinetic powers?! Or just that one? 3) That Uncle Fester wannabe light bulb manbearpig. Did I just see him teleport?! Seriously, there's only one of them. That's the only variation? 1 super pig, then back to normal?

Edit: Holy wow! 300something, I obviously miscounted the posts here. That or I took an awful long time to finish!

[Thief1337]

A Machine For Pigs was criticised for its removal of mechanics but very little thought was given to the question of whether or why this made it a less successful experience.

Jessica, the people you worked with (yeah, Frictional Games, "DUHHHHH" ) elaborated on and gave so much thought about that question for years. The Dark Descent's success wasn't a fluke and you should've known that by now. I'm sure we all can easily relate to AAMFP as being observers more than participants. Here's what FG said about mechanics making a successful experience :

First, players must feel as though they are an active part of the story and not just an observer. If none of the important story moments include agency from the player, they become passive participants. If the gameplay is all about matching gems then it does not matter if players spends 99% of their time interacting; they are not part of any important happenings and their actions are thus irrelevant. Gameplay must be foundational to the narrative, not just a side activity while waiting for the next cutscene.

Perhaps, Jessica, you and your team should've given yourselves a favor and read Thomas Grip's "Self Presence and Storytelling". Having both of your arms extended to a keyboard and a mouse while interacting with objects does send information to the brain as if you were present inside the universe of the game. But you guys took it all off. I could have played only with the keyboard for much of the game. It was like a movie, and the story had flaws in it. So the immersion was broke very much easily. Oh, and having easy as fuck puzzles didn't help with interaction or immersion either.

Frictional Games is the shit. The new game they are developing since a while, I'm sure, will be filled with everything we missed on AAMFP (unfortunately for that). AAMFP truly wasn't worth the wait, and so TCR you have to deal with it wether you like it or not, "Duhhhhh".

[Zgroktar]

Perhaps you also should read more of Thomas thoughts, perhaps after that you will be aware that he loved AAMFP, that he praised the direction they took with Amnesia in the terms of storytelling and gameplay, and that new FG title will be pretty much in the same fashion?

[Thief1337]

Perhaps you also should read more of Thomas thoughts, perhaps after that you will be aware that he loved AAMFP, that he praised the direction they took with Amnesia in the terms of storytelling and gameplay, and that new FG title will be pretty much in the same fashion?

Appreciation does not justify reasoning or actual content (unless you're the bandwagon kind). He can appreciate whatever he wants, but no one can deny ATDD truly was their most creative work. AAMFP is attempted to be based, after all, on ATDD. We all appreciate that effort as well, but no one can deny the creativity behind ATDD that made FG so successful. Removing much of the game mechanics and possible interaction in AAMFP killed the "Amnesia experience".

If Thomas thinks AAMFP is better than ATDD, it's up to him. I could care less. Pink Floyd also loved and showed more appreciation for their commercial Dark Side of the Moon tunes than their first albums, but we all know what's the best after all.

[Alardem]

[trying too hard]

A pig's fart is funnier than you.

[Paddy™]

I fooled myself into purchasing a $20 book!

(Aren't books generally about $20? )

Cheers for saving me some time by underlining the pertinent part of your post for me.

[Blue Machine]

¿Amnesia?: A Machine for fools / Dear Esther 2


Este juego no debería llamarse Amnesia ya que es una falta de respeto a su predecesor. Es una falta de respeto por parte de Frictional Games dejar intervenir a The Chinese Room para utilizar un juego titulado Amnesia sobre todo porque se lo confunde con The Dark Descent y no tiene nada que ver al anterior.


Este juego es totalmente lineal, no hay que pensar, los monstruos no asustan a nadie, no hay que resolver puzzles, no hay inventario, el farol es infinito, etc.


En resumen, es un juego muy corto, aburrido, donde sentiremos que somos parte de un cuento aburrido.


Lo mejor: terminarlo, de esta manera nos olvidaremos pronto de un juego que no deja nada.
Lo peor: comprarlo o al comienzo del juego creer que es parecido al ATDD o al menos un Survival Horror.


Nota: 4 (para ser generoso)

[Fortigurn]

¿Amnesia?: A Machine for fools / Dear Esther 2

I’m 12 years old and what is this?

[Cuyir]

¿Amnesia?: A Machine for fools / Dear Esther 2

I’m 12 years old and what is this?

Complaining about the game. You're not missing out on any insight. Literally rehashed the same things we've heard for weeks.