![]() The level design itself provides some of the horror as you must backtrack through areas to complete some puzzles and you are constantly scrambling for supplies along the way in preparation for what may lurk ahead. I mean that literally as there are cockroaches involved covering your face when you lose your mind! It is the foreboding of darkness, with only shadows to guide you, that can whittle away at your composure because just around the corner could be the next unexpected horror. On top of this, your sanity deteriorates the longer you stay in darkness, so you have to maintain some sort of light source just to keep from bugging out. The atmosphere takes center stage here, as you will be completely surrounded by darkness for the majority of the time unless you light torches or candles and sparingly use an oil lantern than can run dry without oil refills. It really is all about the pacing and anticipation of what the player’s choices will be in a given situation. There is even a somewhat non-linear feel to it even with the linear progression and scripted jump scares because of the way the sections allow the player to choose what to do first and how to do it. ![]() What the game excels at most is providing some of the best pacing of tension, survival tactics, level design, puzzle gameplay, and horror story telling I’ve ever come across. Lovecraftian overtones and macabre narratives can only go so far. The story actually carries itself fairly well, keeping the player on their toes with anticipation and provides insightful revelations with twists and turns, but that really does not define the game, to be honest. On the surface, I have to admit it really does feel like that at first and I’d go so far as to say that some folks may find it rather boring to simply walk for hours searching for snippets of the story like a twisted easter egg hunt. So, this sounds like a kleptomaniac jump-scare walking simulator in a castle? Also, you’ll be looking in every corner possible to find supplies pretty much non-stop. I won’t ruin the story, but just be advised that you will be walking around to look for diary pages and other various written parts to piece together the plot. There is a mystical orb involved, imbued with extreme supernatural power, that must be recovered along with a few other small character sketches to fill in the plotline. As you progress, Daniel finds notes he has left about himself before he had amnesia along with other writings from a certain Baron Alexander, who owns the castle and conducts some rather dubious activities. You play as Daniel, an Englishman who wakes up with amnesia in a terrifying gothic looking place called the Brennenburg Castle, which is in Prussia near the Baltic Sea. The Dark Descent is more of a Myst-like exploratory puzzle game bound and sewn together in the still bleeding skin of survival horror, so in essence it is the Necronomicon of puzzle games. I’ll start from the top and work my way down to the end of the collection. ![]() It is definitely one of the scariest game collections to play on the Switch mostly because it includes Amnesia: The Dark Descent, a game made by Frictional Games in 2010 for PC, and it is a hallmark masterpiece of horror game design. While not perfect by any means, as there are graphical and control issues to consider not to mention A Machine for Pigs isn’t exactly the best conclusion for the series, it does offer those new to Amnesia some fantastic scares even without over the top gory monsters or zombies. After playing the Amnesia: Collection on the Switch, I have to say that it is, by far, one of the most complete horror game experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure to play.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |