Amnesia: Dark Descent. Scariest game ever?

[CleverNickname]

My friend let himself be coerced into playing it by some chick from the other end of the continent. Playing half an hour gives him tremendous headaches but he "has to" finish it by next week or something. Ugh. If that whole situation wasn't laughably idiotic already, he doesn't shut up about it. Finish it already so I never have to hear of it again. I don't give a shit. It sounds annoying as hell, not scary (when he talks about it - I don't doubt its horror-potential when played voluntarily by a normal person).

 

[Tallim]

Yeah Fatal Frame probably takes the baked pastry. Although I found Haunting Ground to be rather nerve racking at points. That damnable housemaid and her screaming at mirrors.......

 

[Anonymous Henchman 1]

Has anyone ever played a game called Echo Night on the PS1? Now, I never finished Amnesia cuz I always buy more games than I can play, but Echo Night scared the living crap out of me. If you don't mind outdated gfx and whatnot, I would recommend it.

 

[Shirastro]

Wow, i must have gotten really jaded by all the horror games and movies since i found Amnesia to be extremely dull.
But than again i found silent hill 2 very disappointing in the scare department as well. Probably because i only played it recently.
And i really tried to scare my self, playing in the darkness, with headphones on and all...

Come to think of it i cant remember the last time i actually got properly scared in a video game (not counting those cheap pikabu "monster popping out of a closet/vent/window/corner" crap).

 

[Anonymous Henchman 1]

Your Clock Tower post made me realize I probably should have posted a pic of the game I linked as well, so here's the box art for the game. Doesn't instill much fear though lol. Google image echo night for a better sense And don't let the T rating fool ya

 

[smearyllama]

Tales of Symphonia, for a JRPG.
It's just soooooo good, and it does a great job of being as cliched as possible until the big reveal, and then starts doing its own awesome thing. Also, I have 50+ hours logged in that game.

For a WRPG, Morrowind.
It may not be the best, but it sticks in my heart for being my first experience with such a massive sandbox environment, as well as helping me realize how much potential games had. I remember just being being blown away by the simple fact that I could just go anywhere I wanted and do whatever with no regards to the main quest, if I so wished.

 

[Vegosiux]

-nevermind-

 

[Harb]

Maybe it's due to my age, but I still count System Shock 2 as the scariest game I ever played. Amnesia is brilliantly executed and those guys know what the hell they are doing, but SS2 wins for me.

I'm looking forward to the next game Frictional makes.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

I think SCP-087 is scarier.


I've played Amnesia, System Shock 2, Alone in the Dark, Dead Space, Fatal Frame, Silent Hill, Penumbra, Dino Crisis, Resident Evil, Clock Tower, Haunting Ground, Echo Night Beyond, and Siren. Survival Horror is my favorite genre by far. For me, the scariest game was SCP-087. The atmosphere it was able to establish in just the few minutes of gameplay was terrifying. No other game I've played besides Resident Evil 2 when I was a kid managed to frighten me as much. Amnesia was pretty good though.

 

[ObliviousJerk]

Bitches please, Amnesia - The Dark Descent is fking scary hellish nightmare, patrolling monsters are loose, horror can linger in every corner, FUCKING CREEPY SOUNDS ARE CREEPY, opening a door whispering : Hellooo? Anybody there???
Many starting parts of the game are like "Tsk, not scary at all" but say this after passing the "Machinery Room" and go into the elevator : FKING CREEPY AS FUCK, many cells *Spoiler* you can encounter the ****** like 3 - 5 times, and he can easily get you, i've got him chasing me after using the acid on the broken door, since i let my guard down since i didnt except him to be fking behind me, though just forward there was the "escape door" which leaded me on the sewer shits, fk it, its scary as fuck, first time i played the game i was alone, in a dark room, like 3:15 after midnight, with headphones on, sure, not scary at all, NOT SCARY AT ALL, ok im lieing ;_; HF PLAYING IT BROS

P.S I didnt finish it yet though, im just after the cells part.

 

[camscottbryce]

snip

I feel as though you've either already bought it or downloaded the demo, or something, but I'm going to add my two cents in at the end of this.

I didn't find Amnesia scary at all. I was really disappointed with how everyone hyped it up as being the scariest thing in the world. The main problem is that all of the monsters despawn if you wait long enough. There were only 2 that I counted that did not despawn, and you could make one of those despawn by traveling far enough away from it that it disappeared. This was really depressing. It meant that you never really had to deal with monsters. As soon as you heard it spawn, you could find a door, close it behind you, hide in the corner, and wait until the "monster music" died down. NOT scary.

I don't want to spoil any of this, but even the infamous water monster was boring. Examination of the level design often removed a lot of the tension and told you that monsters were coming/about to come.

That being said, I enjoyed Amnesia's narrative and world building. Atmospherically I think it was pretty great, but the scariness/monsters were a bit of a disappointment, and I hope they sort that out for the new one.

 

[ObliviousJerk]

I have a feeling you never payed attention to the cells part bro.

 

[piinyouri]

That being said, I enjoyed Amnesia's narrative and world building. Atmospherically I think it was pretty great, but the scariness/monsters were a bit of a disappointment, and I hope they sort that out for the new one.

This was my sentiment as well.
It's got a great atmosphere and I certainly have no issue conceding that the developers' hearts are in the right place and they know what they are doing.

The game made me jump a number of times, but it never really got in my head, made me afraid when nothing was going on that would signify bad shit was a'comin'.

It was a good experience while I was playing, but after the game went off, it very rarely crossed my mind again in any capacity. I unfortunately require this in any kind of horror medium.

 

[Bug MuIdoon]

Back in the first RE days, like RE2 on N64, I couldn't play more than 20 minutes at a time in the dark basement, then I'd pause and turn on all the lights and maybe go upstairs and talk with my parents for a bit... then go back at it lol.

ha ha, so true. I remember not daring to play RE2 too late at night as it was no longer light outside and couldn't give myself a 'sunlight break'

I agree Amnesia is a cool game and can definitely see why people would be scared of it. I think I'm just a bit too old now to be 'scared' by the dark and monsters. If I'd have played it when I was younger though, I don't think I'd have slept soundly for a while. Looking forward to the new game later this year too!

 

[Mr Cwtchy]

It is in my opinion. Even after watching a bunch of LPs and playthroughs of it first, the game still kept me paranoid and on edge almost the entire time.

Definitely won't make that mistake with AMFP though. Playing blind all the way.