Reviews - CheesyDeveloper

You seem to either blindly love this game because it's Amnesia, or you don't like this game at all.

I did not like this game.

I did not like it, because I found the constant interruption of unnecessary flashbacks, notes and cut-scenes to be immersion breaking and much of it felt cringy. How for example, Herbert went several years into the future and died at this random place in the desert, he should have listened to Brennenburgs warnings, how the protagonist got Amnesia somehow without any good explainations, how she somehow doesn't realize at first that she is pregnant, despite being close to giving birth and how the baby somehow survives all she goes through.

In Amnesia: TDD, the gameplay is interrupted by a cut-scene only if it was absolutely trivial to progress with the plot. Flashbacks did not stop you from playing either, and it worked very well. In Rebirth, during an hour of gameplay, the actual "gameplay" where a cut-scene or otherwise isn't interrupting you, is around half that time or less.

The story feels silly, as if created by a fan of amnesia as a sort of fan fiction. The material and lore of Amnesia was used poorly here in my opinion.

It wasn't scary either, especially when you realize there are no consequences for losing here. In fact, sometimes if you "die" by monsters, you respawn at a place further forward.

Poor balancing in general too. Matches dies out in around two seconds. Oil lasts for an extremely short time as well and you lose your sanity and have to struggle very often.

The entire game for me screams "let's try to do something completely different". I appreciate the effort, but it just doesn't work for me.

At the time of writing this, Rebirth have a few mods released. Half of them are mods improving visuals and overall gameplay. Improving the poor balancing, the annoying protagonist and so on. It seems to me like the Moddb community knows how to make a better sequel, which is quite sad considering the many amazing games Frictional games have under their belt.

Positives:

- Scary, at least at first

Negatives:

- Severe bug
- Storyline is very underdeveloped
- Very repetitive puzzles

Level design: 4/10

I know the game is a few years old, but even by 2013 standards, the maps are so basic and so small. Textures are often low-res even on ultra settings. At least the maps have fog and particle effects in them and the layout is simple and easy to navigate in.

Story: 3/10

Minimal effort to the story. I found like 2 notes mentioning some kind of portal. That's it. That's basically the plot. I guess it's less cliché than your typical zombie outbreak plot, but it's very underdeveloped.

Puzzles: 4/10

Some variations from time to time, but you will be searching for keys a lot. I would often find keys for a door that's right next to the key, and in that room is another key to a cabinet and in the cabinet is yet another key. Where is the creativity?

Music and atmosphere: 5/10

Scary in the first half of the game. Then it turned to a mix of scary and silly (check the bugs & flaws section further down).

Creativity: 2/10

Maps are very basic, has a cliché ghost girl enemie, the other enemies are basically rip-offs and 90% of the quests are "look for the keys".

Bugs & Flaws: 3/10

The AI is really bad in this game. The second monster is so big that it often glitches through walls and ceilings. I was standing on the second floor and could see its claws going through the floor.

Several instances of me trying to pick up items, but not being able to. Or I was able to, but only at the "correct" angle.

Sometimes, notes could be read several times, sometimes I could only read a note once and then the interaction key for the note didin't work.

Doors close unrealistically fast. I actually "jumped" of fear because of these damn doors more than the actual scares. Sometimes doors would open and close again for some reason, even though I only clicked once. Maybe the doors close if something is in the way, I have no idea.

In the last level, the monster showed up once. After that, it walked straight to a corner and got stuck there. I never encountered it after that introduction.

Conclusion:

I saw a review on the game's store page saying "This is scarier than Amnesia". That is the biggest ******** lie I have ever heard. I understand subjective opinions, but the reviewer did not write "I think" or "For me, this was scarier than amnesia", he/she flat out said "This is scarier than Amnesia". No, it's not. Not by a long shot.

It was scary the first two maps, but bugs, rip-off monsters and lame jumpscares quickly destroyed the atmosphere. I don't understand why most people can't make a horror game with a good story, puzzles and atmosphere. It is possible, there are games like that out there.

The score is barely a 4. The score I got when calculating everything was 3.5. I got this for free thanks to a friend of mine and I thank him for that. I would not want to spend even 5 bucks on a game that I completed in 1.5 hour, and doesn't have much creativity to show.

4/10 - Okay

Positives

- Enviroments looks well crafted
- Story starts good
- Good music and sound design
- Fun for achievement hunting

Negatives

- Unfortunately, the story is lackluster after the first maps
- Character models are very low-res compared to the maps
- Weird and confusing transitions
- The horror element feels either out of place or cliché

Level design

Enviroments are often stunning to look at. Very well detailed and crafted. However, character models looks very low-res, and the spiders even seem textureless. There were also minor things, such as the radioactive spill and certain decals that looked somewhat silly (one example of this was a hole in a wall that turned out to not really be a hole, but a plane decal), but overall the level design and lightning looks very well done.

Story

I was very interested in this game's story for a while. A survival horror game, that isn't based on a zombie apocalypse or war, but rather something less common, cool! I loved to explore the island I arrived at and expected something cool to happen later on. It did, during the first 3 or so levels. Right after that it went down.

I still don't fully understand the antagonist's motive, why the extreme weather cataclysms began in the first place, or really what the protaganist hopes to accomplish other than reaching a certain destination. The weird and confusing transitions is also something that drops the story quality a bit. Like, at one part of the game, a giant spider destroyed my walkway. I feel down to what looked like my death. I then find myself in a snowy map with the explaination that two days had passed.

I will say this: The story idea is great, but doesn't build on that idea a lot.

Music and sounds

Sound design was in my opinion well done. Protaganist sounds realistic and breaths differently depening on weather conditions and situations he is in, when I went inside the greenhouse in the first level I could hear the rain dripping on the glass. Music is real good as well, if perhaps somewhat overhyped for a story like this.

Flaws

Seems to work fine and runs smoothly. I found minor things though. I could for example, jump on a wooden crate and it would vibrate hysterically and then disappear through the floor.

Creativity

Great ideas here and there, and pretty fun for achievement hunters. I would have liked to see more ideas when it comes to puzzles. Sure, a few puzzles are in the game, but very few and often the same. I do understand it's a walking simulator, but it didin't have to be if more effort was put into the gameplay part of the game.

Conclusion

A well done game on a level design point of view, but it suffers from a lackluster plot. Having made mods, I know coming up with a good story isn't exactly easy, and in my humble opinion, this story ain't bad. You just could have done more with it. If only more work was put into the plot, and perhaps it was a bit longer, it could have been a great experience.

I still had fun though. Hunting for the achievements in beutifully crafted maps made it worth the time for me personally.

Do I recommand this?

If you want a walking simulator, and you aren't looking for a strong story, sure go right ahead. It's dirt cheap and it's especially great if you love to hunt for achievements and explore beutiful enviroments.

If you are looking for a great storyline and a more interactive gameplay experience, then no I don't recommand this game.

6/10 - Decent

Oh boy...

Let me start by saying this. I played the first Outlast and the whistleblower DLC and, well I didin't love them, but they were pretty good.

This game, however is a different story.

I enjoyed Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Penumbra and even, like I said, the first Outlast, because of the pacing and contrast. First I was scared, then I entered a more calm area and could catch my breath. Then back to the horror again.
Outlast 2 don't have that. Horror, horror, horror, horror all the way. You know what happens when the enemies are everywhere, and chase scenes are added constantly? It gets annoying, repetitive and frustrating. Not to mention the god aweful chores I can't complete without being constantly attacked by the non-stopping enemies.

The story itself has very weak character development. It's hard for me to care about someone right from the get-go when I don't know the character at all. That's exactly what it is though. I have to save my female colleague (yet another damsel in distress. Go ♥♥♥♥ing figure. I'm not an SJW, it's just that this plot is so incredibly cliché at this point) pretty much from the start of the game, without knowing her at all. That's no good motivation for me.

Level design gets repetitive fast, and the "hub areas" many other horror games, including the first Outlast have (a bit of at least), is nowhere to be found. It's very linear constantly. One major criticism I had for the original Outlast was the ridiculous scripting. Example: There is no one behind me. I then move 2 cm. Bam, enemie is right behind me. Outlast 2 is the same. No enemies nearby. I move 1 cm further, touching the invisible trigger. Bam! Town filled with enemies. Oh what's that, I have to escape the barn by walking on this legde? Well, thank good the enemies are downstairs and can't catch me *Moves 1 cm* and enemie is upstairs, pulled the chain and hit me with the corpse, making the protagonist fall down, ofcourse. Oh thank god I found the exit, and the enemie is very far away *moves closer to exit* aaaaand chase scene, despite the enemie being very ♥♥♥♥ing far away and couldn't possibly see me.

Oh yeah, and one last thing. The batteries lasts for like 2 minutes o_o. Why? I get it, it adds to the tension this game desperatly needs, except that they are doing it all wrong in my opinion. This further adds to the frustration. I don't believe for one second, that a battery is used up in 2 minutes, even if your camera is crap. It would be so much better if they instead made batteries harder to find, but made the battery life longer. This is just like the games with weapon durability and the weapons break after 4 hits. Please, developers, stop doing this.

I can recommand this game if you love to be in constant danger and extreme pressure. That's about it though. Can't recommand it to people that enjoyed the first Outlast, because I did as well and I don't like Outlast 2 at all. I can also not recommand this game to horror fans because there is almost no tension at all in this game. Only frustration.

3/10 - Bad

I can not recommand this game for several reasons. Review may contain spoilers. You have been warned.

First of, the game isn't necessarly bad, but the game is pretty terrible based on my own preferences.

Pros:

- Creepy at first
- Freedom to explore

Cons:

- Small map
- Obvious scares
- Ridiciously difficult to survive (for me anyway)
- Cliché and uninspired story-line
- Very basic level design

This is what happened when I played:

I enter the house and start exploring. I see a few scares here and there, most of them obvious onces, like a stalking doll, or a doll that gave me a jumpscare when I walked up to it. Scares every horror gamer out there have seen a thousand times before.

I read a couple of notes from, what I guess is Emily. She feels like her parents never loved her and now she is haunting the house. I listen to a couple of cassettes from her mother that apparently delt with psychological problems, basic horror story settings. Nothing very intresting.

Then, the clock tics and I notice it's midnight. From nowhere, a doll jumps at my screen and kills me. Game over...

I restart from latest checkpoint and decide to move away from the killer doll. Apparently, she followed me and killed me again. Game over.

I restart from the latest checkpoint again, knowing how to deal with the doll this time, or so I thought. The doll only moved when I wasn't looking, so I was constantly looking her way to assure she wouldn't kill me again. I entered a room and closed the door. Apparently, she could teleport past the door and killed me yet again. Game over.

I restarted from last checkpoint again. This time, I decided to pretty much run around so that ♥♥♥♥♥ wouldn't catch me. I ran into a room I had not yet been in. A second doll appeared out of nowhere and killed me instead. This time I gave up and turned off the game.

I died 5 times in less than 10 minutes.

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, maybe I gave up too easily, I don't know, but this game was just too frustrating for me. Even without the annoying dolls all around me, the game wasn't intresting. It's way too cliché and offers nothing new to the table, at all. Level design is basic, story is unoriginal, scares are way too overused.

2/10 - Would rage quit again.

*REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Positives:

- Creepy
- Good level design for the most part
- Hard puzzles

Negatives:

- Cliché storyline
- Only one type of monster + one boss
- Boss looks like the eye from lord of the rings ^^
- Some soundtracks are from sites with free music (in other words, not made by yourself)

- Some floating objects
- Very short, with no replay value
- Rushed ending
- Zero character development (I don't even know the name of the character I played as)

Conclusion:

Astray offers hard puzzles and horror, but lacks in everything else.

The level design is pretty good, but several objects such as books and mushrooms are floating in the air.

You made one single enemy (excluding the boss) and used it over and over again. It was very scary at first, but after encoutering it over and over again, I learned pretty quickly how it behaves and could easily avoid it with zero deaths after a few maps.

The storyline is yet another "we found a mysterious artifact with evil powers" we all have played a thousand times before, one of them being Amnesia The Dark Descent, but what really ruined it for me was the huge lack of character development. In fact, there aren't any. The main goal is to find my uncle, right? I found one dead body near the end of the game, not knowing if it was him or someone else from the expedition, and the character I played as showed no emotions about it what so ever.

I think this game puts too much faith in us as players, that we will take the role as the main character and react for him.

The ending was pretty weird and suddenly turned into a black screen with the credits printed on it. I hate when game developers don't put enough time with outros, and this game developer sure didn't.

But you did a good job with the puzzles and it was very scary for me. At least before I got used to the monster, but as I said earlier, it lacks in everything else. It doesn't offer much new to the table besides the puzzles and a few intresting level design ideas.

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Glad I bought this game during the summer sale because it took me less than 3 hours to complete it, even though I spent quite some time with some of the puzzles.

4/10 - Okay

Not recommended.

Positives:

- Scary moments
- Intresting story
- Creative features

Negatives:

- The story line is too obvious
- Repetitive gameplay
- Bad graphics
- Short

I thought the first two chapters were decent. I didn't love them, but it was a pretty nice experience. I saw the pictures and trailers and though that this chapter looked even better and was excited to finally see some real monsters in the game. But in the end, it feels like the developers took a step back.

The gameplay is painfully repedtitive. It looks like you used the same engine they used for Penumbra. Don't get me wrong, Penumbra is a great game, but I expect better graphics in the year of 2014.

Almost every area in every map looks exactly the same. It looks like you made one tunnel and then copied it over and over again.

I liked the amulet feature, but all the other quests are also way too repedtitive. First map - find keys. Second map - find more keys and some valves. Next area in the second map - find more keys and more valves. Third map - find a key.

The monsters are not balanced very well. The first monster is super fast and kills you in one hit. And to top the cake, you have very few hiding spots and you can't crawl behind him or hide in a different hallway because he can sense you and have eyes on the side of his skull (or at least that's how it seems like), while the second monster is too easy to avoid and looks like a mutated hulk. Silly and not slightly scary.

The story wasn't bad, in fact, I like these kind of stories, but it was kinda there already. I play some games twice, and still don't know everything about them because the story is so complex. I read three notes and knew exactly what the story was about and what to expect. You leave almost nothing for the player to explore.

Conclusion:

If you are looking for a scary game, this might be good for you. I don't recommend it though if you want a deep story or good gameplay. It doesn't have any of those.

5/10 - Decent

Positives:

- Every moveable object is interactable
- Pretty nice design
- Touching story

Negatives:

- Way, way too short compared to what it costs
- Even though the story was touching, it wasn't developed very well
- No challange

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For starters, Gone Home is not really a game. Yes it is a game, but there is absolutely no challange (the puzzles are basic "find the key" and find the map so the hidden path you couldn't open before suddenly can be opened) and the only thing you really need to do is explore and click on certain objects in the right order in order for things to happen.

Is the story emotional? Yeah. Is it well developed however? No, not at all. The main story (about the protagonist) is touching, but it is a cliche teenage love story with no real plot twists. The main character is ****, which is perfectly fine, I am in no way against that, but it doesn't matter at all. It could as well have been a guy and a girl, or two guys. It makes no difference. Most of the names are even gender neutral. It is that extremly cliche.

And when I say it wasn't very well developed, I mean, for instance, that a huge part of the story felt repeditive, and the whole "psyco house" thing was only mentioned once. Other students from Sam's school said she lived in the psyco house, but it was never even once explained why.

The biggest reason why it wasn't as good as I was hoping for is the lenght of the game. I have played for around 1.6 hours and I have finished the game from start to end, and I went into every single room. Someone mentioned that it is possible to remove the puzzles so you freely can move around the house from the beginning. The game would literally be a minute long if you went straight for the end.

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In conclusion: Is it worth buying it? No. Not for 19 euros. I suggest you watch it on Youtube if you want to know what the story is about. 19 euro is a ridiculous price.

4/10 - Okay

This game made me bored faster than a math lesson can do.

Positives:

- Decent scripting I guess

Negatives:

- Pretty much everything
- Boring gameplay
- No storyline

You spawn in a world with absoutely no clue how you got there. You don't have a name, you don't have a goal, you don't have anything to find. The story is non existing.

Some games can be good even without a clear goal or a background story, but not in this case.

Not only do you have no goal, enemies or purpose in Kairo whatsoever, the puzzles are also simple but yet confusing. You can not interact with anything and you don't have an inventory, meaning that all you can do is move objects by walking towards them, or jump on random platforms in hope that something will happen. Really, really simple puzzles. And when I say it's also confusing, what I mean is, you don't really know why you are doing what you are doing due to the non existing story and the few hints you get doesn't really help that much at all.

Do I recommend this game? No. I don't recommend it to anyone.

People that love adventures, no. The game is as simple as it can be (including the soundtracks and gameplay in general) with nothing to explore or discover at all. You don't even have a purpose or anything to lose. Not even health (no, you can't even die in this game).

People that like puzzle games, no. Again, the puzzles are basic, yet confusing, and you don't really know why you are doing them.

People that love a good storyline, no. There is no story in this game at all.

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Why people like this is beyond me. I have played many bad games, but this without doubt in my top 5 most boring games ever.

2/10 - Really bad

I truly enjoyed this game. The plot is very unique and a lot of the times pretty touching and intense. I love the graphics, I love the characters and I love the fact that the game is, to a certain extent, based on your own choices.

This is a game I will remember and I recommend it to anyone that wants a creepy and challenging game in which you choose what you want the character to say and do.

10/10 - Masterpiece