Just got to the flooded cellar and the water monster killed me. Time to take a break.

Great game, anybody else played it?

Yes. Favoritest game EVAR@!!

I really love the survival horror genre and Amnesia it one of the finest examples of the right way to do it.


Also, watch this, it explains why the genre is good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoK29EL2SU0

Thanks for posting that, it was brilliant. I've never thought much about the concepts of Disempowerment but can say that the are very intriguing. Its a very stern role reversal that shocks you when it takes place. People are generally, as the video says, use to blowing shit up and being armed to the teeth. I love the helpless fight or flight feelings disempowerment gives you. You have know choice but to react spur the moment.

I do have to say, Lovecraftian themes are brilliant for this genre. It so accurately captures the essence of those works. Being trapped with some inconceivable horror while descending to your own madness and trying to solve the mystery of it all.

Well said, absolutely agree with you. Amnesia took quite a bit from Lovecraft and it felt right.

Not enough "true" survival horrors out there anymore.

I still need to beat Amnesia too :O I was so damn far and lost my save and I've just been reluctant to get back into it again.

More survival horror bitching

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frx69FHMDQw

Kids these days are raised on a strict Call of Duty diet where they must be overpowered an able to kill anything with a plethora of bullets and explosions. They are also used to overly easy difficulties so when they play a true survival horror game they no longer have the patience to finish it. My friends are bewildered when I tell them I like the bad controls in old Resident Evil and Silent Hill.

I guess the biggest thing that bothers me is if the community stays small, so will the amount of games.

Survival Horror is definitely my favorite genre of game.

You may also want to take a look at Slender, which is a free to play indie game based off of an urban legend. There is also steps being made towards a playable version of a "quarantine containment breach" game that I can't remember the name of but I played the alpha of it a while ago and it was pretty awesome.

I've played Slender and it was great. The Slenderman is another example of Lovecraft inspired work. Kind of funny how things like that work. The game is minimalistic but very effective. It's such a daunting feeling that you are always being followed, even worse when you never see your assailant actually move. He's like a Boo or a Weeping Angle.

What else would you recommend in the Survival Horror genre? I'm looking to get into the Fatal Frame series, which plays with disemporerment, and The Suffering.

Bad controls are game killers. In order for the community to get larger, and thus increase the number of games, the first order of the day is that the controls be as tight as they can be. Then, if you want to put in things like, your attacks aren't always effective, or you have no weapons to speak of at certain points, that's great, because I can at least walk down a hallway without trying to figure out which angle I'm walking at or how the camera is going to follow my character.

The problem with that is it takes away one of the core elements of survival horror. I see Resident Evil 6 and it has fluid controls and a huge emphasis on action, nothing looks even remotely unique about that. But back up even further to the first original three, mainly Nemesis.

Like you say, you fight to have your character walk in a direction, you fight to aim your gun, you fight to have ammo etc. But with 3 you suddenly have a dodge and counter ability which, like cancer, infects every other aspect. I have never played a survival horror game that I liked which featured fluid, quick response controls. Its all in the disadvantage.

I get the control thing but I really think Survival Horror is the exception to that rule. Do I think every genre needs bad controls? Heck no, that would be awful. Do the controls need to be so piss poor they completely ruin the experience? No. In order for the community to get bigger you must abandoned the hardcore players of it, water down your series to a generic Michael Bay serial then appease the most casual of gamers.

How can you recreate that scrambling feeling in Amnesia when you are struggling to awkwardly close a door knowing that there is some unstoppable horror is behind you? Changing the open and close option to just a click? Some games are just built around the aspect of clunky controls. Some of the most praised survival horror games had these clunky controls. All of the crappy ones featured perfect aim and mobility.

Mainstream survival horror is dead, its time for the Indie devs to shine.