Hello,
yesterday I finished the game. It took me a week, 20min-2hours per evening, but just because I played it VERY slowly.
There are so many good things to say about this game, that maybe I can start on a negative note so that I can end on a positive one.
Insanity effect. I really like it, it's cool. But since it is present even at the "hands shaking" stage, it means that it's almost always present. I've been playing games for more than 20 years now and I have never, never suffered any physical effect because of them.
But the insanity effect in this game causes me headeaches. Literarly. And everytime. I would really appreciate (and I really hope I'm not the only one) a Lite Insanity effects in a future patch, that would kick in only at a lower sanity levels. I had to switch them off and play the entire game without them, and I fear it ruined my first playthrough.
Daniel. Actually the guy knows how to read.
But his voice direction in the diaries is absolutely out of place. His voice acting is good in the "flashbacks" but his diaries make me wish to switch off the dialogues, and I would if there was an option. I can still hear his voice saying "Your FORMER selffff... DanIEL." as in a cartoon for kids. That spoiled everything for me. I'm not saying he is not capable, because he is, but I was under impression that he's been told that was a horror game only after the recording.
Alexander on the other hand is the most menacing voice, given the background, I've ever heard. Almost as good as the unbeatable Constantine from Thief The Dark Project.
The Ending. At least the 2 endings I saw. They are to short, with no climax, something that is really odd given the plot's direction. The entire game is a long crescendo, a long descent, a long wait for that final scene that everyone is trying to imagine since the very moment when you read the "note to myself". Instead it is very modest, underdeveloped and extremely short. I had the impression that Frictional Games simply forgot about the ending and added it as an afterthought.
It's a shame really because it could have been an impressive clash between two bad guys in the game. What an encounter could have been! What a change of pace, after all those scares.... Oh well. This game is all about "The voyage is the reward, not the destination."
These are the only weak points of this game. For the rest, this is truly a GEM, a game so polished, so well executed, and so unique that I'm sure it will change something in the future of the videogames. Frictional Games started with the humble yet impressive Penumbra (that I play to this day, bought all versions of it), and delivered something that can be produced only by those that are experts at making games. Controls are fluid and the graphics are very good, actually the visuals are simply beautiful, and I kept taking screens during my playthrough, thinking "I'll use this as a wallpaper"... And took tens of them, unable to decide...
Sound and music. These are true characters here. Sound is awesome, and music is pure genius. It was perfectly crafted for each environment, making it unique. I can still hear the music in the torture chambers.....
And I am not ashamed to say that I found myself unable to play at some points because I was scared. REALLY scared. I can remember when I entered a room in the storage... most probably you all know what happened... I can only tell that my heart WAS pounding and that I realized I had lost my MOUSE when I stopped running. And when I finally managed to get to that door in the cistern, only to read MORGUE on it.... "You must be joking me...". And I quit for that night.
With Penumbra Frictional Games won my heart and mind, with Amnesia assured that I will be buying anything from them, at any price and with no questions asked.
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Finished the game. (some spoilers)
