What I wish to see more from Frictional

[gfurst]

I heard that FG was considering doing Amnesia 2 after the big success it has accumulated over time( 200k sells). So I wanted to share my opinion on this, I've posted the entire same thing as a reply to another, but it got so big and I want to better discuss this whole thing, so I've made this new thread for it.


-> To the point:


Should FG develop Amnesia 2? No way, i mean, i love this game, but making a sequel/prequel with the same theme and still get a nice story and mystery behind it is actually harder than making a whole new game.
In this matter I think add-ons like Justine fit perfectly, or maybe porting Penumbra ( which i also loved) to the Amnesia engine as a custom story or add on. Alternatively if FG picked some of the most prominent CS and help develop them. This is great because it keeps the game and the community alive, the game everything with only keeps getting stronger pulling in more costumers and with relative no cost to the developers.

Now finally to the new game I'm about to suggest.
The mystery really amazes me, more than the terror. I wish i could see something more on the detective side, also less of the obvious "from one level to another", something more open where you really have to put your head together and search for answers.
Even with Penumbra and Amnesia I'm kinda let down when I realize everything turns around unnatural things. It can be just as horrifying without the "out of this world" stuff, just imagine a man with a big axe searching for you. The stuff that really get me, for example, is the torture rooms and the texts of people going crazy. In Penumbra, i just cannot forget about the man who gets stuck in the cavern, start seeing things and eventually had to cut his own tongue, that was simply psycho to me.
About the setting. The medieval stuff really got to me, dungeons, castles, flames and torches, the superstitious mind of the time, its just a great setting for the bizarre.
Also settings from the earlier 1900s, just take a look at "Kingdom Hospital" and "Shutter Island" type of genre, lots of experimentations going, wars, bizarre hospitals. And of course, a cannot miss setting, the future, a colony on Mars or Space Station, things going bad, you're stuck in there, weird experimentations going on.

A nice example I thought about:
You're a kind of detective of the Holy Church sent to investigate some mysterious happenings on a small town near a monastery. The priest there are corrupt and doing some bad things to the pleasantry, or maybe there is a mix with the pagan and catholic religions. Something bizarre experiment the church ordered to occur there but you weren't aware.
Anyway there is plenty of stories just waiting to be picked up, sorry for the bad examples, I suddenly leaked imagination.

Furthermore, I would like to see more on the self narrative style, also some npcs we can interact a bit more, some more realistic scenarios( symmetric maybe). The engine is already powerful, it only needs better npc and open map( instead of level to level) support. Also go towards a more modable engine, by what I've seen its already in this direction, I'm sure you understand the benefits of this.

In final words. I have to thank Frictional for providing a wonderful game and sticking with its principles. Its a great example that small and independent companies CAN survive and prosper.
I've read somewhere about Justine, one guy said "of course they will release it as a paid expansion". Its just wonderful that you didn't, it show us that you don't need to be a capitalist pig to be successful. Just Thanks!