Amnesia: The Dark Descent Review (Ex Machina)
Amnesia: The Dark Descent was the first horror game I ever played, back around 2013. To this day, it is not only still my favorite horror game, but one of my favorite games of all time. It was responsible for sparking a passion in my mind for the dark and horrific that has never ceased.
My favorite thing about the game, by far, is the story. It impacted me at a time in my life when I was questioning everything, when I was almost an adult but not quite, and feeling generally very lost. It guided my mind into taking a good, long look not only at the nature of humanity and the outside world, but inward at my own morality and reasoning. It is such a rare game that can bring up such philosophical topics while remaining constantly engaging and never overwhelming, and that is just incredible to me. On top of that, the story to be told about the characters themselves and the situations in which they find themselves is extremely emotional and unforgettable. While the story itself is primarily told through flashbacks and audio cues, there is optional supplementary information in the form of Notes and Diaries that serve to fill in the lore and provide context to the characters' actions, and I highly recommend taking the time to search them out and reading/listening to them.
Another thing that really stands out about this game is the sound design. The ambiance is lovingly crafted and wonderfully detailed. It is incredibly immersive. The musical scores also capture the vibe and feelings of wherever you may find yourself perfectly, from the comforting safety of the Entrance Hall to the hellish depths of the Prison.
Also adding to the immersion are the surprisingly realistic physics. The way you interact with your environment in the game simulates what you do in real life, and the way the objects act is lifelike and convincing. The combined immersion resulting from everything working together means that I can play this game for hours on end, and not even realize the time has gone by.
I truly cannot recommend this game enough. It is an icon of not only horror gaming, but what makes horror so worthwhile to experience in the first place.
To note, Amnesia: The Dark Descent also comes with:
- "Remember," a collection of short stories written and illustrated by developers of the game that serves to fill in more lore and give some background (accessible via the Settings Launcher)
- Justine, a short side game with references to the main game (accessible via the Settings Launcher)
- Custom Stories, the ability to make and download/play user-created content within the same engine the game was made (accessible via the Main Menu)
- Commentary, an option available in the game's menu that toggles nodes that you can interact with in-game to hear the developers' thoughts behind building the game. I recommend toggling this on a subsequent play through, not the first.
- super_secret.rar, a hidden file that is password locked with codes that you obtain via the game's three main endings. It is full of behind-the-scenes content like early development builds and concept art. To access the file on modern-day Windows, navigate your File Explorer in the following order: This PC > (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > Amnesia The Dark Descent. The folder will be located there.