Disappointed with AAMFP

[GOAT]

I played both and I must say Outlast has done a far better job. Machine for pigs clearly took more from the other publisher thechineseroom; with regards to their phenomenal storytelling in Dear Esther. I really think Amnesia flopped with this game they should have made it themselves. Regardless I bought it because I support the company but even with the reviews the game hasnt exceed expectations set from TDD which we all can agree on

[LHudson]

I'd prefer sanity the way Outlast "did it". Heavy breathing in tense moments but it doesn't specifically tell you how damaged your mind it.

[MadDoggyca]

im a little disappointed in no inventory no sanity check,

with out inventory the puzzles in the game are a bit more direct and you solve them as they come... makes it a bit meh in my books. other then that games so far awesome. I own said the f word only a few times so far.lol

I also wish the lantern was like TDD when u had to fill it and was a never ending supply of light... miss lighting candles with matches as well ...

also lack of interacting with objects is a bit disappointing.... the other games before hand u could brake bottles and play with other thing for the hell of it

[samueljustice00]

Please post this in an open thread instead of creating a new thread

[Gyldenglad]

I played this game, completed it and enjoyed it. However I do not believe it is better than the first one.

Here are some key points:

The interactive gaming is almost completely removed.

I was honestly very surprised surprised about this. When I played Amnesia:TDD the rules were simple: Progress, Solve puzzles, scavenge, stay sane, hide from monsters. AMFP falls short on all these parts, it's like they were removed entirely.

Progress:
The progress in AMFP has been simplified, it is a "Go to A from B", running on rails you could say, in TDD you often had to backtrack in order to solve puzzles or gathering materials, bringing materials to different places in order to progress.

Puzzles
There are little to no puzzles in AMFP, while the ones they had seemed somehow "original" they were way too easy, because if you needed to "solve" an area the game would usually lock you in. Like if you go into new area and you are stuck, the game makes sure that you have only about 20 feet to move around making the puzzle very obvious to solve by the fact that it must be solved within a certain area.

Scavenging
There is no inventory, no keys to pick up, no tinderboxes, no oil to gather. Why would you remove tinderboxes and oil? One thing that TDD made really good, was the fact that you were under constant pressure of finding these precious materials otherwise you would go insane from running around in the darkness, which brings up the next point.

Insanity
Insanity? No, not really. While there are some parts of being "blurry" I don't think it's bound to a specific mechanic, but rather to a scripted map design. You can look all you want at monsters, you don't actually have to look away while sitting in a corner. You can study the monsters without anything bad happening. In TDD you couldn't look at the monsters, they would see you and your screen would be blurry all the time, making it harder to identify what was really out there, making it much more creepy and scary.

Monsters
Monsters you say? One of the MAIN things in TDD was that you had no weapons, your only weapon was to hide where they couldn't see you. The excitement to see if the monster would find you in your hiding spot. There are no real hiding mechanic worth to speak of in AMFP, I didn't even find a closet to hide anywhere, but why would you? I mean the monsters aren't even that scary, and at no point you actually have to face them more than you could just walk around them and leave them to their own business, it is like they are not even interested in finding you.


Story is predictable

If you played TDD you knew right from the start, what was actually going on. This made the story easier to understand, but nothing really "surprised" me. I figured out the story after playing about 20% of it. If I didn't play TDD before, then maybe I would not have guessed it so easily.

The story itself is fine, it is interesting to read all the notes and suck in the atmosphere. Some of the clues are good, I especially liked the clue about Crunching eyes and unhinged jaws and I feel some kind of achievement of paying attention to detail and understand these riddles, even if they have no direct impact of the game itself.


It is not really a horror game..

For some, and for me, Amnesia: TDD was so scary, that it induced horror and panic upon me, in such a way that I would feel physically bad when playing it. This was a good thing, I have never been quite so scared of a game. However, AMFP is sadly not a horror game for me. I have recorded my playthrough, and the most scariest thing (according to my manly screams) was a ball coming down a set of stairs.
I believe that people who want to find this "terror" that TDD delivered will not find it in AMFP, sadly.



Final judgement

Alright, so the game doesn't really bring anything new, lets be honest. Was the game a custom map, it would be considered the best of the best with big applauds. However being a stand-alone game, sold at the same price of TDD, I would much rather recommend people TDD than AMFP. People who found some enjoyment in Dear Esther might find AMFP interesting, but the average gamer who never tried the Amnesia franchise, may not.

N.B.: Please don't hate on me for my opinion, I'm really hoping that Frictional Games & The Chinese Room will be successful and continue to make great games, however I feel they deserve to know, what I think they could do better.

[Tiger]

About the monsters, In A:TDD the monsters were really predictable; All you'd do was
1. Pick up key
2. Oh, monster
3. Wardrobe

I'm not saying that's bad, but it could have used some variation. In AMFP you use your surroundings, like for example the cages and under tables.

Monsters
I mean the monsters aren't even that scary, and at no point you actually have to face them more than you could just walk around them and leave them to their own business, it is like they are not even interested in finding you.

I kind of agree with this, but at the same time, those pigs are children; They're as scared as you. Then of course, you meet the "brute"-pig and that scary fucking electronic-pig which have only one goal: To kill.

[Geoff]

Should I point out that once you saw the monsters in TDD, they weren't AS scary. =/

I mean, I was scared of them at first because of the noise they make, the sound of them chasing you. But after seeing them, I could mock them. The same applied here. I enjoyed keeping them in the shadows because to me, that made them scarier. Once I got to the feasting area (or housing area) of the pigs I was able to view them with ease.

Then the electric pig thing...AHH.

[Tiger]

Should I point out that once you saw the monsters in TDD, they weren't AS scary. =/

I mean, I was scared of them at first because of the noise they make, the sound of them chasing you. But after seeing them, I could mock them. The same applied here. I enjoyed keeping them in the shadows because to me, that made them scarier. Once I got to the feasting area (or housing area) of the pigs I was able to view them with ease.

Then the electric pig thing...AHH.

Ah, I spent like 30 minutes just walking around their nest, taking it all in.

[cantremember]

I agree it was a mistake to remove interactivity.
Since you don't get to shoot anything, exploring chests and drawers and throwing boxes around to find tinderboxes was a big part of the gameplay, aswell as managing lantern usage & tinderboxes. With this & the sanity gone, the gameplay is gone aswell, the game only consists of walking around & pulling levers to open passageways.
With the terror and the whole game being blurry by just even looking at monsters added to their mystique and horror.
Penumbra didn't have it but it was implemented differently, eg. the monster's torch lighting the doorway before it came in & the blue haze meaning you were more hidden.
In machine for pigs, it's just gone and the puzzles are too simple (replace a broken object, pull some levers to open secret doors, etc)

The mansion at the beginning is really boring for these reasons. I knew monsters wouldn't come in the beginning, and with all the doors and drawers being untouchable, despite it being a big area, I was gone through it quickly, and solved the puzzles quickly since the items you need to pull simply show a "hand" icon.

Don't get me wrong, a machine for pigs is still an interesting game, but IMO it doesn't surpass TDD and I consider it more to be an add-on rather than a real successor of TDD.

[Geoff]

^ Comparing stories, I say AMFP dominates.

Alexander was banished from his world and wants to go back. To do this, he uses an Orb and tortures people for "vitae" (whatever the fuck that is). Using that, he powers the Orb to make a portal.

In this game, we've decided that the world is too fucked up and we want to clean it, so we build a massive machine to slaughter people, create Manpigs and just keep going. Much larger scale than one man torturing a hundred people.