Amnesia: Rebirth is Strange

In the calmest way for which I can describe them, Frictional Games has one of the most whiplash video game catalogues I have ever seen. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an important title when it comes to the survival horror genre. It came out around the time many of the genre’s legends were dying out. Resident Evil had completely lost its identity, and Silent Hill kept getting worse. Hey, at least Dead Space was kicking quite a bit of ass! Until it didn’t and started sucking ass instead. The Dark Descent strayed away from survival horror roots in favor of delivering a more unique experience. A game where you were absolutely vulnerable to whatever horrifying threats were to creep towards you, and playing more on the senses rather than direct terrors. It wasn’t the first game Frictional had made, but it was the one to boost them towards success. With many online personalities showcasing their game, reacting, and spreading of how Amnesia is one the scariest video games ever made. Even though Amnesia: The Dark Descent spawned a flood of horror indie games overutilizing the run and hide formula, it still holds very well to this day.

Whether it be the design of the game, atmosphere, or intriguing story about a man venturing deep into an asylum to not just confront the monstrosities below but also pay for his past actions. It is one of few stories where the journey and development of a character is both literal & figurative. I say the story of The Dark Descent is a key reason why it’s still remembered today. That people still look back fondly on it, because of what it managed to do. The Dark Descent is a classic, and then you have A Machine For Pigs. Now it’s well known that Pigs wasn’t made by Frictional. It was done by The Chinese Room who made Dear Esther and recently Still Wakes The Deep. The different development teams makes it understandable why the quality and design of these two games feels so different. Even then as a follow-up Machine For Pigs is really embarrassing. It made several steps backward upon the foundation set by Dark Descent. More of a linear journey rather than the explorative survival horror game the previous entry was. And while I know the story does have its fair share of lovers it failed to click for me the same way Dark Descent did. It is a very mid game in my opinion. After that Frictional made Soma, and look you probably know what Soma is already. There’s dozens of video essays on this game and how it’s dark unraveling of the human soul and mind. MandaloreGaming did a video on it a few weeks back, so listen to that instead. Soma is amazing. Probably my favorite Frictional game.

However, there were some people harkening for the fight and flight reactions and scares the first Amnesia game had. They wanted a title with strong writing like Soma, and survival horror design like The Dark Descent. After five they eventually came up with this game, Amnesia: Rebirth. A return to the universe Amnesia now following a new set of characters, setting, etc. A fresh start after the rough narrative of A Machine For Pigs, and honestly this was a good move. Following the original storywise already proved to be hard, so straying away from it but also paying respect to certain elements was right. You had the classic return to gameplay such as navigating the dark, solving puzzles, being chased by monsters, rise and fall in tension, and being put somewhere you absolutely did not want to be. Amnesia: Rebirth was on the right track, and Frictional should’ve struck gold  when it was released. Only that’s what happened. The game came out and reception for it was all over the place. It wasn’t mixed like A Machine For Pigs, but it was divisive. Some people liked this game, and some didn’t. Some loved the return to form, and others believed the Amnesia formula was getting old. Again, it didn’t help that dozens of indie horror games tried to chase the success of Amnesia and failed. Creating an oversaturated scene of indies trying to scare you every second they can, but come off more annoying than actually being scary.

Also doesn’t help that traditional survival horror was starting to make a comeback. Resident Evil returned with the amazing Resident Evil 7. A game that proved even with guns you can still scare the sh*t out of your players. Then there was the Resident Evil 2 Remake, which is considered a gold standard for modern survival horror games. Alien: Isolation revolutionized the genre with an adaptive stalker who learned from your actions creating an interesting approach to survival and difficulty. The Evil Within sucked, but then came its sequel which managed to improve a lot. Amnesia: Rebirth was a game that wished it could’ve achieved a lot, but was met with ok results. Those were the reasons I believed Amnesia: Rebirth didn’t do well. After having played every other Amnesia entry and Soma it was finally time to conclude this series. I got Rebirth on sale, spent the last few days playing it, and……… I have a lot of things to say about this game. I don’t think Amnesia: Rebirth is a bad game. Far from it, and there were times I actually really liked it! This is a well made game that does a decent job replicating what made The Dark Descent good. It’s not a bad game, but at the same time it’s not a great game either. I could say the game is mid just like A Machine For Pigs, but I don’t want to call it that either. Amnesia: Rebirth is a strange game, and I want to explore why it feels that way to me. To be reborn comes with consequences.

Story

Taking place in the late 1930s, approximately two years before World War 2, Anastasie Trianon is flying back to her home country of France after her latest expedition. She’s a drafter in charge of recording any of the findings her team comes across. Her husband, Salim, also works with her and together they unravel the remnants of the old world. Tasi thinks about the future, and what awaits her children. Of the kin she’ll raise and whether she’s a good mother or not. Salim tells her not to worry and enjoy the vast view of the Algerian desert. All is well until the plane which they’re riding on begins to malfunction. A storm brews out of nowhere and the passengers get a glimpse of a world beyond their own. A bright green glow flooding the sky, energy shaking the foundation of this alien landscape, a black spire pointing towards nothingness, and the shrieks of creatures in pain. The passengers begin to panic as the plane teleports back and forth between the alien world and their own. One of the plane engines catches fire and sends the crew hurling down towards the scorching desert sands. Hours later Tasi awakens to find the plane abandoned. A few people have died, but the rest of the crew have disappeared.

Tasi then decides to exit the plane and figure out where she is. Following a path left behind from most likely her surviving team members. Ever since the plane crash Tasi struggles to recall key details of her life, why they were there in the first place, or what occurred after the crash. All she knows is that the plane crashed, but more should’ve happened seeing how everyone is gone and she stumbles upon campsites left behind by her crew. As she further explores the landscape she is knocked out, wakes up in a strange cave with a weird amulet on her wrist, and this amulet then gives her the ability to walk between two worlds. The alien world she slightly remembers and the cold damp caves she finds herself trapped in. Some of her memories come back, and she recalls she is pregnant with her second child. Shortly afterwards she finds Salim’s corpse, and from then on promises to make it back to France safely. Find a way to call for help, discover where the rest of her crew went, and slowly remember what the heck happened. All while learning more of the alien world she was teleported to and the strange creatures that are lurking in the shadows.

Gameplay

Similar to the original Amnesia you’ll be navigating a series of areas, solving puzzles, and trying to avoid whatever dangers approach you. Amnesia is known for forcing players to navigate dark areas with little to no lighting. That doesn’t mean light can’t be created. There are forms of light in Rebirth that the player can whip out and use to easily navigate the world. Returning from the first game is the oil lantern. It’s not the first tool you’ll come across, but you pick it up early on and it’s the most useful one. Creating a beaming light you can point forward to see what lies in front. The downside is that the oil lantern consumes oil of course, and oil is a scarce resource you have to check the environment carefully for. This is where some survival horror elements come into play as Amnesia has a pretty good physics engine. Pick up objects, move them around, and throw them. Some puzzles will require you to make use of objects and physics.  It’s a game with high interactivity and with good searching skills you can find supplies you need hiding in places you normally wouldn’t expect. The second lighting tool at your disposal are matches. They serve as a replacement to the incredibly useful tinderboxes from The Dark Descent. Providing a small source of light for a couple of seconds, and allow you to light candles and torches in the world. Creating environmental lighting instead of having to always utilize the oil lantern.

Between the two tools, matches are easier to find than oil. You want to have as much light as you can, because not only is it difficult to navigate the darkness but Tasi will build up fear. Similar to how in The Dark Descent you can build up insanity. Fear will have numerous effects if allowed to build up. Tasi’s vision may start to sway back and forth, the game becomes harder to control, and at max fear Tasi begins to have flashing visions. Something has infected Tasi’s body and if allowed to break loose she’ll pass out. Sending Tasi back to a safe area a little bit before where she passed out. Having light is good, but at the same time it’s not. Why’s that you may ask? The monsters which lurk from the shadows. Returning are monsters from The Dark Descent and they function identically to how they worked back. If you stare at a monster you build up fear, and if a monster sees you they’ll charge. Trying to grab a hold of Tasi and knock her out. During these moments you want to hide. Use cover to your advantage or even the darkness. However, the dark increases your fear. That and you want to know where the monster is at all times, so you know when to evade or sneak by. Then you remember looking at the monster increases fear, so it’s this careful consideration of what to do when placed under stress. This has always been a strength of the Amnesia series. Introducing a downside with gameplay decisions and forcing you to decide what is best. The fight or flight response, and in Rebirth it still shines. Aside from that there’s not much else for me to say. Rebirth is more Amnesia. For better and for worse.

Thoughts

The way I’ve been describing Amnesia: Rebirth thus far makes it sound like a good game. Yeah, I do think it’s a good game. I think it does a good decent job at carrying over what made Amnesia great all these years later. It’s well designed for the most part, and there’s even a couple sections that stood out to me more than The Dark Descent. A good example for me is the section where you have to navigate a drainage system. There are vents you can crawl around in, but the water is high enough to submerge you in it. At the same time you are being pursued by one of the many monsters this game throws at you. It’s this high speed chase where you gotta crawl away from the monster, but bob out of the water every now and then so you don’t drown. Another section which is probably my favorite is the late game carriage ride in the alternate dimension. Here you are being transported to somewhere you need to be, but the carriage stops to be investigated by the spotlight monsters who fly around. If you get caught you are killed and have to restart the section. However, you dealt with one of these creatures moments earlier. You know how they work by now, and there’s some cover of the carriage. It’s you constantly repositioning yourself and staying out of sight long enough until the carriage moves on. The overall design of this game is good. It’s not perfect. I mean Amnesia has always had its faults, but it works well.

I wish the game had more puzzles like The Dark Descent. There is some good stuff here, but not as much as the chase or stealth sequences. The fortress area has a large gateway you cannot open. There’s a tank and gives you the idea you need to use the tank to blast the door wide open. The only problem is that there are no shells to fire, so you have to make one.There are three areas in the fortress you can explore. Technically two because two of the doors lead to two sections for one of the zones. You explore, solve puzzles, and collect the resources you need to make a single artillery shell. Then you gotta figure out how to make the shell itself, which requires figuring out how to use certain things. Another puzzle later on has you setting an operating procedure. Using diagrams on the wall so you know what to plug in. A majority of these puzzles aren’t hard, but much like The Dark Descent they help break up the gameplay every now and then. The tension that comes with each monster is still high as ever, and like I said, the fight or flight response that comes with each situation is great. Other reviewers have already brought this up, but I like how the game gives you the option to throw things at the monsters. Amnesia didn’t need physics, but it included them to not only add immersion but the realization that no matter what you do these creatures remain unstoppable. You try fighting back, it doesn’t work, and you run away. You learn from a choice you made, and this has always been a genius move.

The environments and visuals have seen a huge uplift since The Dark Descent. I mean it’s been more than ten years since The Dark Descent released and they’re still using the same engine. It’s what they were able to process that makes it amazing. Frictional Games is technically an indie studio. They make and publish games themselves without the funding Triple A or even Double A studios have. To see how far this team has gotten over the years is heartwarming. The vast dry plains of the desert, the canyons, the caverns, and eventually the alien world you go to. They pull what I like to a Soul Reaver. I don’t think any of you know what that is and I haven’t played it either. Perhaps it’ll be something I check out in the future. Basically it was a PS1 where one of the gimmicks was being able to cross between two worlds in an instant. It was mainly aesthetics from what I can tell, but it was technically impressive for its time. Rebirth has this thing where you cross between worlds by opening gateways. It’s just you opening a room or hallway you can go down, but the fact Frictional Games were able to pull this off with an engine they’ve used for ten plus years now is great. I really want to highlight that alien world for a few minutes.

Amnesia has always been a lovecraftian game series. There’s been a lot of lovecraftian games for the past few years, but not a lot of them do it well. The only games that do it well in my humble opinion are Look Outside and Bloodborne. The Amnesia series might have the best take on this kind of horror behind these two games. Delving into horrors beyond our comprehension. Worlds and creatures greater than our own state of existence. The horror comes not from the creatures, but learning the truth behind them. The existentialism that arises. The Dark Descent has given us knowledge of these worlds before, but never has it shown us it. Rebirth finally does it and in a way it’s exactly what I thought it would be. A world that is both living and dying. Where life has thrived and died multiple times, and continues to do so. Traditions we would find inhumane. It’s a world that truly feels alien, and I think this is the greatest strength of Amnesia: Rebirth. This is a good game. I think it’s a good game, there were moments I was really enjoying, and if you like the previous Amnesia games I think you’ll certainly enjoy your time with Rebirth.

I liked Amnesia: Rebirth, and then I didn’t. Rebirth has the most messiest narrative out of all the games Frictional has made. It’s not a bad story and some parts of it worked. The game starts off on a strong note, and overtime learning more about the ongoing situation is interesting. The main protagonist of Amnesia games have always been interesting. The title of each game aside from The Bunker always hints at some sort of guilt they have to confront. The Dark Descent was about Daniel learning to confront his sins. Of the torment he inflicted onto his others and paying for his actions. I may have disliked A Machine For Pigs, but I won’t refuse to understand what it was trying to say. Today is not the day I stop being media literate. It too followed a similar narrative where one man must face his past. A machine he constructed that brought madness rather than actual good. What do you think when you hear the title Rebirth? In the dictionary ‘rebirth’ means the process of reincarnation or being reborn. Undoing everything you’ve done and starting anew. Rebirth is a perfect title for a game series well known for being about guilt. Maybe this story is about a woman trying to undo her regrets and sins. Starting again and trying to work up from the rock bottom she got kicked in. For now this review will dive into spoilers, but this is a five year old game so I don’t think many of you care. If you don’t want any skip to the end.

Rebirth is not about a person starting over. Well it is, but it also isn’t. Rebirth has a messy story not because of what it’s about or how it executed said story. That I think the game does decently. Midway through the game you start to recollect more of Tasi’s life. Before the current expedition she had a daughter. Salim and her did everything she could to raise her child, but one day this child grew ill. A sickness with no known medicine that could cure it. The child passed away in their sleep and Tasi has been filled with guilt since then. Feeling like she could’ve done more to stop something beyond her control. Rebirth is not a game about guilt. It’s about grief and trying to overcome your grief. Hey something for the Clair Obscur fans like myself to sink their teeth into. It is about a woman who believes she has a second chance with her next upcoming baby. That she can start over and avoid what she failed to prevent the first time. That she can live the life she wanted rather than everything taken away from her. Over the course of the game though you learn that things aren’t that easy. Recent choices Tasi made actually made things worse, and she has to come to the reality that what she desires most will only hurt her more. She can’t live this dream, and she has to move on as a person in order to start healing again.

That is what it felt like the narrative was heading towards for me. There’s even a moral choice by the end of the game where you decide what problems you want to face more instead. Remember how I asked you what you thought the word ‘Rebirth’ means to you. By definition it means to be reborn, but in the case of Amnesia: Rebirth it goes somewhere wild. It goes in a direction beyond what that word means, and I’m not sure if it’s the greatest direction. The ending I got for Rebirth was the one where I left the second child behind. Knowing it had the same condition as the first, and that it’s only treatable with the resources only available in the alien world. I thought this was a message for moving on from grief, and bettering yourself as a person. However, consequences that followed afterward worked against this message. It was an unsatisfying ending. I decided to look up the other endings and the rest of them were pretty bad too. I praise the game for trying to give us a unique moral choice to make, but unlike past games these ones are kinda sh*tty. In the original Amnesia the end choice felt more satisfying. Prevent Alexander from going home, but allow Daniel to confront and overcome his guilt. Let Alexander go home, but Daniel never rises from his past and is instead punished in the worst way imaginable.

Both endings had pros and cons, but I think they were evenly balanced out. Same goes with the ending for Clair Obscur, another game about grief. The two endings without giving spoilers are morally gray, have you deciding what is best, and live with the consequences. I do not think this game has this. I think the cons outweigh the pros too much, and it’s what makes the endings so unsatisfying to me. I even think Amnesia: The Bunker had a more satisfying ending despite how nonexistent its story was half the time. Come to think of it, I'm starting to understand more on why they went the way they did with The Bunker. Now I liked the story of The Bunker once you piece it together. Its major plot twist and final confrontation were exciting, because if you try to undo a mistake you didn’t think you made. It was a simple narrative presented interestingly, but I will admit looking back at it now it was a really safe narrative. One that could only be drafted up if they wanted to avoid the risks that came with Rebirth. With its unsatisfying endings, how the game conveys its main topic, and how all over the place the narrative got at times.

Amnesia: Rebirth is a really strange game. Part of me really likes what it attempted to do, and the other part of me is upset with how it went off. I don’t want to say the game is bad, mid, or good. This is a game I have very conflicted feelings for, because it’s not as fondly memorable as the rest of Frictional’s lineup but it’s also something I can’t forget. It is an Amnesia game. I think that’s the best way I can describe it. It tried to subvert expectations storywise like Soma, but unlike Soma whose major plot twist led to interesting questions about life and existence this one didn’t. It led to a bumpy rollercoaster. In the end I am going to have to give Amnesia: Rebirth a 7.5/10 for being just kinda alright.

7.5/10, Alright