Verloren in der Wüste…

No spoilers in the following sentences

Annoying flashbacks

Moronic protagonist

They finally found my kryptonite

• The overarching narrative (and how it links to the now decade old original Amnesia) is intriguing and invites the player's consideration both while playing and afterwards.
• The decision to [spoiler]have the protagonist deal with the real life horrors, complications and difficulties of pregnancy[/Spoiler] compounds the overall horror found within the 9 hour runtime of the game.
• The sound design, including voice acting, is atmospheric and oppressive, capable of being calming and suffocating at the game's whim. It knows when to use cacophony and when to leave the player alone in silence.
• Interacting with the world is the same immersive mouse moving as always - when you crank a wheel, you will be moving your hand just as Tasi is.
• The game is graphically an improvement over the original Amnesia and even SOMA - the environments Tasi encounters are spooky, otherworldly and impressive.

• The game insists that you engage with the narrative at almost all times. Of the first 90 minutes of gameplay, I'd wager 60 minutes is spent reading notes or viewing cutscenes/vignettes. They're all excellently voiced and well crafted, but the result is that Tasi must be the most well informed amnesiac in the entire world.
• When the game finally does let up on the exposition, it is quickly replaced with [spoiler]caring for your pregnancy, up to and including talking to your unborn child[/spoiler]. The insistent and constant nature of this makes sense, but it increases your feeling of connectedness. Horror thrives on isolation.
• I won't belabor the point - the voice acting is top notch, but there is entirely too much of it. I don't mean that there should have been more notes, but rather that there should have been less cutscenes that required voice acting.
• More than other offerings from the developer, AR is split into very clear 'puzzle' and 'spooky' moments. You can immediately tell when you're going to be tasked with completing something and you likewise know when the game's expecting you to sneak, crawl and scavenge your way through. All games are like this - including Amnesia and SOMA - but here it feels extremely obvious and defined.
• Graphically, I truly don't have many complaints. A very minor one being that horrific environments maybe should not be made 'pretty,' but that feels a cheap blow. The game itself is very good looking and deserves any accolades on this front. I think I saw one minor graphical glitch my entire playthrough.

• Like the Monsters that appears only truely in the last half of the game and sometimes even just despawn after the player respawned when killed, what makes it not really scary at all.
• Like the Fear mechanic that appears in areas where i wondered often why even and keeps out in areas where i even felt the atmosphere myself.

9/10

Amnesia: Rebirth

Review

One word or phrase to sum up the experience

Performance/Bug related incidents

Similar to games

Rating ★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Story

Gameplay: Enemies & Horror Elements

Cutscenes & Choices (No spoilers)

Graphics & Sound

Technical

Conclusion

Rating: 7/10

The Short and Sweet

• The world of Rebirth is just as visually engaging as Frictional’s other works, including the new addition of the “other world”.
• The horrors that stalk Tasi are solidly presented, with great organic introductions and presence.
• The references to Dark Descent are numerous, and the story greatly expands on the lore of the series in enjoyable ways.

• The story and character of Tasi are overbearingly focused on heavy maternal and childbirth themes, which don’t resonate well with some people, like myself, a 23 year old male college student that doesn’t really care about having kids.
• The plot is very convoluted and feels like it keeps taking steps to intentionally revert progress, making it both hard to keep track of and hard to stay motivated to complete.
• The entire game is so dark it genuinely hurts the eyes when set to the “correct” display gamma. You are only given matches and a lantern to counter this, both of which run out within seconds.
• The monsters aren’t anywhere near as memorable as the abominations of Dark Descent and SOMA, coming off more as generic ghouls than anything more significant.

Short Conclusion: Not Recommended

In-Depth Analysis

Gameplay

Story

Visuals

Audio

Technical

Conclusion

Forget-me-not