It's still a decent horror game, even if the ending is predictable. It's a short experience that takes about an hour to play, and your satisfaction depends on how much you buy into the puzzle-solving and how much you know beforehand about the affects your choices have. The three games offer an intriguing package for horror fans. The game differs from The Dark Descent by forcing the player to make life or death decisions concerning torture victims you find scattered throughout the levels and the choices you make affect the ending. Justine was free DLC for The Dark Descent that took some of the themes and a couple loose plot points to create a whole new story surrounding an unnamed woman who's trapped in a dungeon full of puzzles. The game is also a great example of how different lighting levels can be used to provoke multiple horror responses, and how using light itself as a resource to be coveted can raise the stakes tremendously.Įither way, this is something you should - no, need - to play.Īs for the other two titles in this collection, your experience might vary. The pacing, however, keeps the player in the dark both literally and figuratively, allowing for the lack of knowledge to add to the terror. This works to string the player along and encourages them to uncover more secrets about the castle, the creatures that inhabit it, and a mystical orb. For one, it's a masterclass in narrative tension, utilizing the titular amnesia to present an unreliable narrator, named Daniel, who has already lived a life that the player is not privy to and must rediscover it for himself. Regardless, the game is essential for horror fans. This isn't a review for The Dark Descent, so I'm not going to bore you with a complete breakdown of why you must play this game.

It's a masterclass in narrative tension and lighting techniques. The Dark Descent is essential for horror fans. The constant search for light, which runs parallel with your mission to discover what you've forgotten and to take down the mysterious Alexander of Brennenburg, creates a push and pull that wears on the player since they must solve increasingly complicated puzzles and climb deeper into unnameable, Lovecraftian lore. To counteract it, you need to find oil and tinderboxes to keep the candles and torches lit and your lantern on. The Dark Descent is the one that started it all - a survival horror game with an insanity mechanic that both darkens and distorts the screen and provokes hallucinations when you're faced with darkness.

The Amnesia collection comes with three titles: The Dark Descent, Justine, and A Machine for Pigs.

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