Amnesia and Penumbra Question

[Wayneguard]

I just downloaded the demo for Amnesia: Dark Descent and so far it seems pretty cool. I've heard tons of praise for Amnesia and yahtzee seemed to think it was alright so my question is this: how much of the praise is legitimate and how much is fawning over its indie origins? Is it really as good as they say? Second, is Penumbra any good? I've not heard as much about Penumbra as I have Amnesia so I would appreciate some opinions on that. Thanks.

 

[ELD3RGoD]

I shat myself playing Amnesia. Shut yourself off from the world, go into a dark room, sound up full and make a video of yourself playing it. The facial expressions you pull are lol. Never played Penumbra, but I hear it is a similar concept.

 

[OctalLord]

If you play a demo and like it, buy the full game. That's the point of a demo.

Anyway the difference between Amnesia and Penumbra is actually pretty staggering. Without giving away any spoilers, Amenisa is Monsters and Magic, Penumbra is Monsters and alternate dimensions and insanity. Which actually create for two difference(Similer in gameplay) styles of horror.

You should try a demo for Penumbra before you dive into that one.

Edit, do what the above posters says as well. Even watching yourself play the game it's still funny watching people get scared.

 

[Zhukov]

Yes, Amnesia is as good as they say... or at least I think so. It's a horror game that actually manages to get the horror part right. That is to say, it's scary.

As for Penumbra, it's... pretty good. Has a lot of rough edges though.

If you're trying to choose between them, then I'd definitely recommend Amnesia. It's fairly similar to Penumbra, but more refined, more polished and much scarier.

PS. Wear headphones if you have them. It improves the game a great deal and even helps with some puzzles.

 

[Fleischer]

I've owned Amnesia for over 6 months, and after being scared by playing the demo, I haven't mustered the courage to play it. Eldergod is correct that you should be in a darkened room, preferable alone, but I would also recommend you play the game late at night as well as with headphones. Don't want to get the neighbors worried and calling the police, do we?

I've played a bit of Penumbra. It's more of an adventure game than Amenesia, which is more in the survival horror vein. In Penumbra, you can fight back, while in Amensia you must run like Hell and pray you escape.

 

[TheAceTheOne]

I've played Amnesia: It's really good and it feels like horror done really right.

I've also played Penumbra. It's good too, kind of rough. Penumbra is more modern, of course. They're both really good, tense, and atmospheric with emphasis on puzzles. I agree with Zhukov...

If you're trying to choose between them, then I'd definitely recommend Amnesia. It's fairly similar to Penumbra, but more refined, more polished and much scarier.

...But if you can get both, do it. In my opinion, it's worth it.

 

[JasonKaotic]

Amnesia isn't scary. It's goddamn terrifying. Yeah, it's good. No idea about Penumbra though.

 

[Hader]

I have only played Amnesia, and I love it. Does everything a good horror game should do plus some. I still haven't finished it, at first I stopped about a third of the way through because it was getting a bit hard plus pretty damn scary. Once you get to the later stages of the game though (not trying to spoil anything here, but trying to spur others onward! ) it is a bit less of the hiding from monsters thing and more of the solving puzzles. The puzzles get progressively harder (granted they are not extremely hard) and you might find yourself racking your brain over what to do next a bit more than ZOMG MONSTER RUN!

 

[AlternatePFG]

I've played Penumbra: Overture and Penumbra: Black Plague. Both great games, really atmospheric and interesting. Requiem was too puzzle heavy for my tastes though.

Amnesia is even better though, more polished.

 

[3AM]

Amnesia is an excellent horror game. It's technically near perfect, the puzzles are challenging but not maddening, the story is very engaging. It's damn terrifying. When you have to hit the Esc key to pause the action to get a breath and look around you for assurance that you're not really in that hellhole, you're playing a great game.

Oh - for safety, do not play the game wearing headphones. It's TOO realistic and even looking out a window on a bright sunny day will not help your sanity. Which at those times for me were measured as "..." (I loved that!)