A pioneer of the genre responsible for popularizing the first-person, combat-free approach of contemporary survival-horror commonly used by studios like Bloober Team and Red Barrels, that replaced the tank controls and ammo scavenging of yesteryear. It released to a fair amount of acclaim back in the day, and is still held in very high regard even now after all this time. For good reason too as it's genuinely a superb experience in most regards. However, after having finally played it for myself I must say it does have quite a few flaws that seem to go largely ignored or get glossed over whenever the game is talked about due to its reputation and influence.

It certainly has an exciting premise to start things off with. You wake up in a castle with no memory and a note from yourself that says you have in fact "chosen to forget," while instructing you to reach said castle's inner sanctum, find its baron, and kill him. Oh, and it also mentions something about being hunted by a malevolent "shadow" that will cast you into eternal darkness if you fail. So maybe no lollygagging, yeah?

The setting is by far Amnesia's greatest strength. The halls of "Brennenburg" are eerie and haunting with a solemn atmosphere. Plus it's architecture can be quite stunning. I've never been in a castle before so I can't say for sure how realistic its design is, but the layout and locations do begin to feel a little absurd after a while. It doesn't make the grounds any less memorable or a blast to explore though.

It isn't until about halfway through that the plotting picks up as the location's dark history begins to be revealed and encounters with enemies become a more regular occurrence. Up until that point you're mostly just solving puzzles. That isn't any sort of knock against the brainteasers at all as they're really clever in design and I appreciated how some of them required a lot of awareness in regards to what was around me in the environment so that I could use it in thoughtful ways, rather than just strictly tinkering around with various machines and doodads until I figured out how to make them work properly (although there was plenty of that as well). It's more a critique of the pacing as it takes a while for the notes you'll find to give the most interesting parts of the backstory and the terror is primarily reliant on audio cues early on, most of which are red herrings. For example, at one point I was tricked into being on alert in an area with no danger whatsoever by the sound of steps creaking footsteps on the wooden stairs I had just come from. No matter how many times I looked however there was never anything there. Ambient noise can be a very effective means of adding to the tension in a horror game so long as it is backed up by a legitimate threat. Here it doesn't take long to realize the few red flags you need to keep your ears open for and begin basically ignoring the majority of everything else you'll hear.

The monsters are shockingly the most disappointing aspect of the entire package. Not because they aren't freaky to look at (all two character models of them…), but rather due to them being almost pathetically easy to avoid. Without any means of self-defense you'll have to resort to stealth and hiding in order to survive. Should one of the disfigured humanoids catch sight of you, the idea is you'll run into an empty room and crouch with your face in a dark corner like you're dealing with the Blair Witch or something until it toddles off and despawns. In all honesty though you might just be better off letting it kill you as your foes don't seem to respawn when you do. The most egregious case I recall being during a scripted chase sequence where I got killed after hitting a dead end on a wrong turn and upon reloading the checkpoint I didn't have to deal with my pursuer again until after I passed the point I originally died at. There are still plenty of tense moments, but it's stuff like that which prevent it from being the pinnacle of stressful gaming it's often touted as in my eyes.

What keeps the moment-to-moment action engaging in spite of this is the unique sanity system. Sneaking around in the dark is obviously the best way to avoid drawing attention to yourself, but it takes a serious toll on your character's mental state. To keep from losing your head you have to spend time in the light, which not only puts you at risk of getting seen by the deadly entities searching for you, but also drains your precious reserves of tinderboxes and lantern oil. Running out of which can leave you seriously screwed. It adds an exciting risk/reward element to the mix.

Overall, it's easy to grasp why The Dark Descent was so inspirational. Yet, while many other titles have since perfected the core elements of its design with arguably more compelling ideas and effective scare tactics, it remains worthy of attention and praise. This twisted tale of the supernatural and the macabre may take a bit to get fully going, but once it does you'll find an intriguing, mature, and thoughtful nightmare deserving of its iconic status even if it's actual quality is slightly overstated in some areas, as it has managed to continue blowing a lot of its peers over the years out of the water regardless.

8/10