The reviews Elysium syndrome

[Klarden]

See the bright side. Amnesia's popularity as the scariest game ever made will probably boost a Machine for Pigs.

No. The idolization of TDD is one of the reasons, people are backlashing against Machine and one of the reasons there is a strong (but small against the idolization) backlash against TDD itself. The insane popularity because of silly people acting scared on camera was both a lot of luck and a curse for TDD and Frictional. On one hand, Amnesia and Frictional finally got the respect, success and sales they deserved since Penumbra: Overture. On the other hand, *everything* they do, or somehow connected to what they do will now be scrutinized in the worst possible way.

[Argoon]

I agree that AMFP is a different game than ATDD on the gameplay department and that was what stroke me the most, and badly, unfortunately having the Amnesia name attached to it was not a blessing for this game, comparisons are inevitable and imo it is a totally inferior game to ATDD. The beginning was just too slow and gave me no sense of dread or fear, this made me dislike it immediately, and that took me out of the story and game, (english not being my mother language didn't helped either) the enemies weren't has scary has how was lead to believe by the trailer, so they are guilty of implanting false expectations, imo the game was a walk in the park, compared to amnesia, there were only two parts on the entire game that made me run. This feeling about this game was totally unexpected for me because i love Dear Esther.

[Alardem]

This man sums it up far more eloquently than I have the energy for:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/9/4709400...e-for-pigs

[Bucic]

I've read more... And I'm waiting for the internet to get a 'slap him!' feature. People keep complaining about the inventory, sanity and inifinite lantern. Complaining about it is like complaining its setting is London! All of them were major design decisions, well known before the game has been released!

Getting rid of the sanity really affected the horror aspect in a negative way for me, I think that's kind of a universal complaint about the game. All in all I don't care all that much, but it still detracts and is a valid point.

After I played the game I'd say the sanity has not been removed completely. The breathing and soft knees make up for it without introducing gamish effects.

immersion breaking mechanics (inventory and sanity meter)

That can be disputed.

Exactly! In ATDD I was like 'Oh shit, oh shit, what will happen next? How will I find a way through the new dungeons in front of me? How will I manage? What's happening to Daniel? He acts strange.' And often it ended up like - 'Damn it, there's the GAME again... I have to fit some 3 colored spokes to some 3 colored openings :/' How this went well with the awesome story of A TDD, I don't know. And 'Ah, the lantern goes off again. 10 minutes on a container full of oil. GAAAME!' I ended up tweaking the damn lantern in config files. Not to make it last forever but to make it stop behaving like a game item. I've settled for it running for an hour or more.

And all of that with a guarantee of safety from monsters for the time of solving a puzzle. If AAMFP is not an improvement over such approach I don't know what is.

It all boils down to - hordes of critics don't comprehend that for some a gaming element will not be preserved just for the sake of it if it comes in the way.

[Cuyir]

The sanity meter just added some effects, nothing else. I was always crouching and in the dark and besides having my eyes bothered by the effects it didn't immerse me.

Why?

There was no penalty for letting the insanity meter fill up. Just the clicking noises and the camera effects. This isn't very important when the big events, the ones that drained it all, were SCRIPTED. So you can still have the same effects without the unnecessary meter. See?


And the inventory system, how it was used anyway, was also immersion breaking. Oh, let me open my inventory and take these jars out that I have been somehow carrying all this time with me without being burdened by them.

Both elements made it feel like it was quite obviously a game.

I wish more games used Alone In The Dark: Inferno's inventory system. You literally could only hold what fit in your coat and when you ''opened the menu'' the character just looked down, without pausing gameplay so you had to be careful, and you then looked at the pockets in the coat.

Image of the inventory system at the spoiler

Spoiler below!

[JPTS]

I'll honestly say, that I found Amnesia A Machine For Pigs, to be one of the most enjoyable and decent games I've ever played. No, I wouldn't call it the "scariest" game ever, but that's because it wasn't meant to be. I can tell by playing this game, that this was made to convey a story. And a damn, good one at that. Most reviewers that I've seen, slam this game because it's "not scary" or "not enough gameplay". What TheChineseRoom have created, is one of the best stories a video game has ever showed to be.

It was so deep and emotionally engaging, that you couldn't help but treat it like a visual novel. I wouldn't call this game a "Survival Horror", as TDD has been labeled to be. I'd call this a horror experience. A tale of epic proportions. A stunning visual marvel.

A Machine For Pigs.

Good point there. I liked more interacting with the monsters in A:TDD, but A:AMFP has a better story and it was really interesting to unfold it.

[bluel0bster]

The sanity meter just added some effects, nothing else.

There was no penalty for letting the insanity meter fill up.

This isn't very important when the big events, the ones that drained it all, were SCRIPTED.

You would end up rolling on the floor if you weren't careful with the sanity. That and the bugs crawling across your screen could definitely get you killed.

Also, while there were some scripted events dropping sanity, looking at monsters and staying in the dark drained it quite a bit.

[Cuyir]

The sanity meter just added some effects, nothing else.

There was no penalty for letting the insanity meter fill up.

This isn't very important when the big events, the ones that drained it all, were SCRIPTED.

You would end up rolling on the floor if you weren't careful with the sanity. That and the bugs crawling across your screen could definitely get you killed.

Also, while there were some scripted events dropping sanity, looking at monsters and staying in the dark drained it quite a bit.

Like i've stated numerous times:

I spent 80 percent of the game in the dark and crouched. The distorted vision, the bugs and the clicking didn't affect me personally nor did they seem to bother Daniel much. The only times when the sanity system actually worked like it was supposed to was during scripted scenes.

[Bucic]

Like i've stated numerous times:

I spent 80 percent of the game in the dark and crouched. The distorted vision, the bugs and the clicking didn't affect me personally nor did they seem to bother Daniel much. The only times when the sanity system actually worked like it was supposed to was during scripted scenes.

I started this topic to defend AAMFP from unfair reviews and opinions but I must disagree with you. The character was barely controlable at low sanity, not to mention that dreadful rustling sound. As I said before - half of it gave TDD more game-ish feel, particularly the syren sound when looking at monsters.

[Klarden]

The character was barely controlable at low sanity, not to mention that dreadful rustling sound.

I'm also one, who didn't have a problem playing with low sanity. When I started playing I was slightly worried about sanity, but after Daniel collapsed once, I didn't care about it mucha nd it didn't hinder my playthrough much.