You can check out my full play through here!
-https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFgWlynmlfmelGuHDC9Qmkye-JvfHBHQ3
The voices in your head called out to you, the scratching won’t stop, the light is your only source of comfort in a world where everything you thought to be true was coated in aesthetic lies. Truth is subjective. The world you live in isn’t real and relying on the past is the only thing keeping you sane.
Amnesia the Dark Descent is a first person psychological horror video game released September 8th, 2010 by Frictional Games. This game delves into the horror of what can happen when you let one person control your life. When playing this game, I didn’t realize how strong of a message it had of an emotional/mentally abusive relationship. Forget Harley Quinn and the Joker, Alexander and Daniel are Height of mentally unstable companionship's. Daniel wakes up in the beginning of the game knowing nothing of why he is in castle Brennanburg only to live out the horrors that he was made to take out on others by non-other than his “companion” Alexander. Living in this existential nightmare through notes, visions and creatures of the night Daniel finds himself becoming more aware to say the least through completing a series of puzzles and reliving memories.
In Amnesia the Dark Descent I was a bit trepidatious, to say the least about this game. This game was released in 2010 and is a bit older but that’s not the reason why I was skeptical. I was nervous about the overall story and quality of the game. “Back in the day”, as we know, the plot lines in games were not as well thought out as they are now. I was very happily surprised to find that this game not only had an amazing story but seamless game play! The two in unison are very hard to come by, the only other games from what I saw that have perfect unison in story and game play were Resident Evil and The Evil Within. The major thing that I personally enjoyed with this game was not just the story or the game play, but the voice acting! The voice acting was brilliant in more ways than one, first off for a game that was done eight years ago the voices sound well-crafted and sure of themselves. What I mean by that is, in this game you don’t get voices that are half-assed (for lack of a better term) you get well constructed, well-rehearsed lines that embody well-developed characters
When playing this game “go to the light” is a phrase I would most certainly use with confidence, since the only way to stay sane is to have light around you constantly as well not looking at monsters for too long. The monsters in this game are easy to avoid, but you must be smart about the routes you take in the game. You have the choice of using tinderboxes, your lantern and completing tasks to regain sanity back and/or keep it in tact. Much like the game OUTLAST, your options are to hide and run. This game is set with the intention that you should be smart about the decisions you make in this game and that the choices you make have consequences.
Another thing that I found rather intriguing was the concept of the “Vitae”, which is a substance that comes out in the blood of mammals during times of stress, such as torture. The Vitae is more potent in humans than in animals and it has properties to extend life, which is why Alexander wanted it so badly. Daniel was made to torture people by Alexander to extract the Vitae needed to make Alexander immortal if I understood his reasoning’s correctly.
Overall, would I recommend this game? I would highly recommend this game in a heartbeat, if you enjoy unexpected twist and turns, a plotline that keeps you on your toes and gameplay that matches the story in its structure and pace. If you think you know everything, you’re wrong. The world you live in isn’t real and relying on the past is the only thing keeping you sane. Remember…It’s all in your head.