Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a survival horror game set in 19th century Prussia.
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Story & Themes
The protagonist wakes up in a castle with little to no memory. He knows his name is Daniel, but even this is uncertain. He begins following a trail of blood and discovers notes and letters that tell his story. Some of these notes are from his past self. He has written that he is the one who gave himself amnesia and that he must kill someone.
It turns out that Daniel was once a member of an archaeological expedition to Africa, where he found a mystical orb in a tomb. Upon bringing the orb back to England, he began experiencing nightmares. People began to die after coming into contact with the orb. Daniel received a letter from a Prussian baron, Alexander, and traveled to the castle when Alexander promised he would help rid Daniel of the shadow plaguing him. Unfortunately, it was all a lie; Alexander was, in reality, an otherworldy creature himself who wanted to use the orb to return home. He also needed vitae, a substance harvested from humans in pain. Alexander employed the desperate Daniel as his personal torturer.
After Alexander’s betrayal, Daniel decided to drink an amnesia potion himself in order to atone for his sins and escape the burden of his own memories.
Throughout the game Daniel must avoid running into mysterious beings that inhabit the castle, or else his “sanity” decreases; his vision blurs, he begins shaking, and he breathes heavily. Sanity can only be increased by lighting a lantern or candle, and darkness makes it worse. There is no fighting in Amnesia. Daniel has to hide in shadows (at the cost of sanity) or run away from monsters.
Save Points
Players may save at any time.
Heads Up!
Violence There is blood, though it is fairly unrealistic (kind of a pinkish glowing substance). There is also some gore covering the castle walls, meant to be an otherwordly, acidic substance. Mentions and implications of torture are also present.
Scary Imagery Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a horror game, so fear is endemic to gameplay. The atmosphere is quite eerie. There are elements of psychological horror involved, but there are also a few jump scares. The fear the protagonist feels when a monster is near is made obvious by the blurring of his vision and heavy breathing.
Sex & Nudity There is a “Ken doll” level of nudity when it comes to the monsters, but certainly nothing explicit.
Conversation Starters
- Do you think people can be redeemed, even if they have done terrible things?
- Does your opinion change if those people don’t remember what they’ve done?
- Do you think this kind of story—in which the resting place of a dead person is defiled—is meant to warn people about a societal taboo? What might be some reasons we don’t want people disturbing graves or tombs?
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