Your Demo Failed

[Harry]

Of course every game will have people who like or dislike accordingly. If this were a game to 'appeal' to everyone, it'd be a completely miserable experience.

That being said, the OP obviously likes games of a horror nature, considering the previous purchase of Penumbra, and I feel this isn't so much a hatred of the game but more the way we should look at it.

Amnesia is in very much the vein of an H.P Lovecraft story which in turn requires a few things to really be enjoyed.

-Immersion! As many have stated, the game has its greatest effect when we as players create an environment for it. Play it at night, play with headphones, pause as little as possible and generally place yourself in the environment.

-Confusion! This kind of story revels in confusion, and to many who aren't familiar with playing a game where everything isn't explained in the opening sequence this can be jarring. You're meant to be confused, meant to be conflicted and meant to be guessing.

A demo for a game like this obviously has a few problems. Not much, using already designed levels and encounters, can be put in without ruining the buildup to said events in the main game. Another is that the game itself is one big 'level' of emotional buildup, stress, fear and gradual emergence of story... something very hard to portray in a demo.

Honestly though, do buy the game. It's an amazing piece of work which you can never appreciate until you lock yourself in a dark room and let the walls close in... I assure you it'll be a completely different experience to watching someone else play!

[ShadowXOR]

This guy is just a troll.

[Unreal]

Let me start simply with time. The demo took about 45 minutes for me to complete. Judging from a typical value of demos being 1/4 - 1/5 of the total length of a game, I decided it was not worth my $20 for 4-5 hours of entertainment.

Wow, which demos? Never seen one of those.

Me either. Most demos are less than 1/20th of a game. As far as Amnesia's demo is concerned, it gave a good taste of what the game offers. And apparently, it did it's job WELL. Dozens of people have done Let's Plays of the DEMO, let alone the full game- they're that impressed! Forums all over the gaming world have been talking all about Amnesia and it's demo. I anticipate Amnesia to far outsell Penumbra. The amazing demo is one reason why.

[Neomin]

Let me start simply with time. The demo took about 45 minutes for me to complete. Judging from a typical value of demos being 1/4 - 1/5 of the total length of a game, I decided it was not worth my $20 for 4-5 hours of entertainment.

What?! My friend said it's around 10 hours long. 1/4 of 600 = 45? Yeah right.
And Penumbra is much shorter. I think I spent 5 hours on all of them.

[iTIMMEH]

That's funny, the demo is exactly the reason for me buying the game yesterday despite previously deciding to wait a while.

The water monster had me on the edge of my seat through that corridor, filled with an impending sense of doom. I'll admit that I didn't immediately think to throw it the body parts but for the most part the game did a pretty good job in directing the player, although there was one part later in the game that was pretty poorly thought out and confounded me to the point of looking on the internet for hints.

[vanjavk]

I loved the Penumbra series (except for requiem, surprised?), so I thought I'd give this game a go. What you have to realize about demos is that they're supposed to make the player want to buy the game. Your demo did not do that for me.

me:About the demo i agree but i knew the full game is much much better




Let me start simply with time. The demo took about 45 minutes for me to complete. Judging from a typical value of demos being 1/4 - 1/5 of the total length of a game, I decided it was not worth my $20 for 4-5 hours of entertainment.

me:Okey but this is a big mistake 1. the game is good and it's worth 20$, and i like the so much that i will like to play it all over again, and another thing, LEVEL EDITOR WILL RELEASE AND YOU WILL CAN PLAY CUSTOM LEVELS(STORIES) AND THAT'S ABOUT 99999 HOURS OF FUN DEPENDING ON YOU.....

[Yuhaney]

you can find this game for $20 at their store.

Ah, my mistake.
I use euros so it's 16,67€, but on USD it's $21.

[NicolieFrixon]

I disagree with everything you said, the amnesia demo was amazing, and it made me want to get the game even more, the price is fair, and its your fault for watching somone play it on youtube, you shouldnt blame it on the demo for you spoiling it for yourself T_T

[superluser]

I hate to say it, but I agree with OP. I'll explain this in comparison to the Penumbra demo (not the tech demo, the regular demo). In that demo, you're thrown into a mine shaft in the middle of nowhere, alone and in the dark. As you round a corner, a dog jumps at you...

DEMO OVER.

I spent a good chunk of Penumbra believing that the dogs were unbelievably powerful and would instantly sense you if you were near. That was a *very* *good* demo. Amnesia, on the other hand, ends with you opening a door where you appear to be safe (or at least safer) than where you were before. It did make me think the water monster would be more difficult than it was, but still.

The fast pace of the demo and the water monster interactions actually caused me to go onto one of the forums I frequent and tell people that while it was good, it didn't look quite as good as Penumbra. I subsequently corrected myself after playing enough of the full game to determine that it was just the demo that wasn't as good.

Amnesia probably does not lend itself well to demos. I don't know what solutions there are, and I don't know what the developers will do with this information, but I think that feedback is important to improve things.