Penumbra's Plot

[BAndrew]

Firstly, let's get one thing straight: Amnesia was in general way better than penumbra in many aspects (graphics, gameplay, horror/fear,etc). But the plot/story in Amnesia never really "touched" me or interested me. On the other hand the plot in Penumbra was a masterpiece. I don't know what is in it that makes it so majestic. Everything in it: From its simple beginning to its complicated end; from a situation full of suspense and mystery, through the amazing way the plot unfolds like the piecies of a grand puzzle fit together, to its eventual revelations. I can't explain why but I loved it.

Which game's plot do you prefer?

Also do you happen to know whether Penumbra's story was based on a specific novel and if yes which one?

[Kman]

neither really impressed me that much but penumbra was 19958853 better at actually telling you its story so yeah that

[i3670]

Among these two Penumbra. However when it comes to games with the HPL engine:

1. Machine for Pigs
2. Penumbra
3. Dark Descent

[Cuyir]

Penumbra was more interesting as a whole.

The Dark Descent rubbed me the wrong way (plot-wise). A Machine For Pigs' plot was good though.

[Froge]

Amnesia's story was better. Daniel's situation touched me a lot more than Phillip's, because I felt much more sympathy for him. With a couple of exceptions, Penumbra lacked the truly despairing emotions such as guilt or shame.

Spoiler below!

The exceptions are when Red and Amabel dies

In Amnesia, from the storage to the end of the game there was a persistent and almost crushing feeling that Daniel had something truly dark on his conscience. It made the final reveal when you reach the torture rooms that much more despairing.


I also don't like the message in the ending of Penumbra: Requiem. Humans are social and conformist creatures and there is nothing wrong with Phillip returning to society, even if being subject to human authority is no different than being subject to the Tuurngait hivemind.

I dislike AAMFP's plot in general. It did make a couple of good statements about how shitty the 20th century was, though.

So IMO: Dark Descent > Penumbra > Machine for shit

[Googolplex]

Firstly, let's get one thing straight: Amnesia was in general way better than penumbra in many aspects (graphics, gameplay, horror/fear,etc).

Amnesia's graphics aren't so much better than Penumbra's. I think that Amnesia has some nice features like SSAO & a lot of engine tweaks, but most of the textures (especially the brick walls) looks like cloned surfaces. In general there are more details on the walls in Penumbra Black Plague. The quality/resolution is very different in both games, some textures are sharp and others not.

The gameplay is equal in both games. Amnesia may feels more "precise" but I always enjoyed the tricky physics in Penumbra and missed it in Amnesia. For example the room in Black Plague where on the right side you can see a corpse lying on the ground through a window and where you have to come over the laser beams. You have to climb on the shelf and then use boards to walk above. Penumbra is full of such puzzles, while Amnesia is very simple (only pick up an item and place it into a fitted slot). In this case I would say that Penumbra is even better to experiment with objects in the environment - what means automatically better gameplay, even when it's less precise.
An other reason why Penumbra is a lot better in gameplay is the option to examine objects and read the player's thoughts. And that the journal is written by the player instead to be hints by the computer like it is in Amnesia (Find a way out, You have to drill a hole first, etc.). That was the biggest fail of the game and braked the immersion so much for me.

The horror/fear is very different in Amnesia and Penumbra. I like both ways in their own. Penumbra was more disturbing, danger and earnestly, while Amnesia have the melancholic atmosphere (scary and beautiful at same time). I love the Back Hall, the Entrance Hall, the Hub and the Cistern, the Machine Rooms in Amnesia and the general machines in AMFP. I also love the mining shafts and the shelter complex in Penumbra. Both games are brillant. I like the dogs, the infected, the grunts and the brutes!

But the plot/story in Amnesia never really "touched" me or interested me. On the other hand the plot in Penumbra was a masterpiece.

Both plots are masterpieces. The story in Penumbra was more interesting, but no game has a better (intellectual) story than A Machine For Pigs. It's maybe less interesting, but it wants to make us thinking about what's going wrong in our world of capitalism.

Which game's plot do you prefer?

If I had one choice, I would say Penumbra.

[i3670]

Firstly, let's get one thing straight: Amnesia was in general way better than penumbra in many aspects (graphics, gameplay, horror/fear,etc).

But the plot/story in Amnesia never really "touched" me or interested me. On the other hand the plot in Penumbra was a masterpiece.

Both plots are masterpieces. The story in Penumbra was more interesting, but no game has a better (intellectual) story than A Machine For Pigs. It's maybe less interesting, but it wants to make us thinking about what's going wrong in our world of capitalism.

Yeah, you lost me.

[eliasfrost]

I think AMFP took its own plot way to seriously. To the point that it's almost silly and embarrasing, considering it's not all that great imo. I prefer the plot of Penumbra over the other, the theme and unwrapping of the story felt more solid than both Amnesia games.

[Googolplex]

To explain why I said it is less interesting:
It isn't. In contrary, the story of AMFP is something we should esteem.
I just meant that it was more interesting for me to be Philip who searched his father in greenland than Oswald his children.

Penumbra was more "fun" to play. But Amnesia is a story from what we should learn. The intellectuality of Amnesia is much better, because it is like a "mirror" showed us what's wrong in our real world. They just cutted the game too much. Less interactivity etc. This is one reason why I enjoyed Penumbra more.

[eliasfrost]

Plot and story is so much more than just the literal story (like a plot summary on a wiki), it's also about the gameplay and how it complements the story and essentially the gameplay is the story-teller, it's the medium through which the story is presented and unfolded, from that perspective, the story of AMFP was extremely lackluster compared to past FG titles, because it didn't weave gameplay and story together like the last games did.

This is also why I think Penumbra is the better FG title imo because the gameplay complement the story in that you solve puzzles that are believable and actually makes sense (Philip is a physician, and making most of the puzzle science based is only sensible), it also makes use of your items in a much better way than Amnesia, in amnesia there aren't really that much you can do with your items but to use them on one single occasion, while in Penumbra (especially Black Plague), your items can be used in multiple situations and sometimes even let you solve it in different ways, unlike Amnesia.

Contrary to what Googol says, I don't think Amnesia is a story that we should learn from, even less so the story for AMFP, but the story for Penumbra.