After an over ten year wait for the next installment in the Amnesia series, we finally have the next game! Amnesia Rebirth brings us back to those original horror genre games, where you completely helpless, and left to your own fears. Now, Amnesia is a beloved series, so is Amnesia Rebirth worth the money?
What is Amnesia Rebirth?
It has honestly been a while since I’ve played a horror game like this. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’ve played more than a few just this month, but what I mean is a horror game that has the same formula as all the good ones. In that horror game golden day era. The days of Outlast, Soma, and of course the first amnesia game.
So what is Amnesia Rebirth? Well if you somehow haven’t ever heard of the game Amnesia Dark Descent, this is the third installment in the Amnesia series. The first game came out in 2010 and it basically set the bar in the horror game genre and reshaped the genre completely.
There was also a second game but it was more or less forgotten about, and that brings us to Rebirth.
Amnesia Rebirth is set in 1937, so about a hundred years later from when the first game takes place. The story focuses on a character named Tasi. She’s a french archeologist on an expedition to Africa with her team. The game starts out with a plane crash, and Tasi slowly regains her lost memories, you know, because it’s an Amnesia title.
Good at The Start?
So, with that short little synopsis, I mine as well get into how I felt at the start of the game, which as with all amnesia games, there is instant intrigue.
As soon as the game started I wanted to know more, and this feeling continues for most of the game. Later on, it kinda fades but I’ll get into that later when I talk about the story.
You start to read notes and slowly piece things together and one really cool aspect of this whole memory regaining visualization is the notebook you carry.
Tasi has these drawings in her book, and they are blurred until you reach an area where the drawing took place. It’ll then fill in the rest of the picture and have an audio cutscene where you kinda get more information on what happened.
I really liked this and I think it really worked well with the whole storytelling.
It’s The Little Things
While I am on the subject of storytelling and audio cutscenes, man is the voice acting good.
I mean, I know amnesia has always had good voice acting but this was just amazing. When you pick up a letter, sometimes the person who wrote it’s voice will read the letter and it’s very impressive.
I was drawn in with just that. Arguably the best voice acting I’ve heard in a video game, that is, when you are reading a letter. Otherwise, the rest of it is good.
Also, I wanna say that something in this game grew on me and actually really surprised me with how it all worked out.
So, this game has a good amount of loading screens between doors. Now, when I first saw this I immediately said to myself:
“well we have loading screens between areas in 2020”
However, as I went through more of those, I realized that each and every one of those had a short audio clip and gave a small bit of story. Each one had a little story of the past and by the end of the game, the loading screens had their own story arc from the past.
It wasn’t necessary, but I am so happy that they did that. It was a really nice underlying backstory that was hidden within them and kudos to the developers for taking the time to add that in.
Does The Game Look Good?
Now, One of these things I wanna talk about is the graphics. You and I both know that you don’t exactly need stellar graphics in order for a horror game to be scary, and well that works in this game’s favor.
The game isn’t the best looking game and some character models at times looked pretty bad up close, and even towards the end of the game there was a character, in particular, that was running away and the movement looked so odd, but in comparison to the other amnesia game, this one looks great.
Like I said, honestly, for this game, it doesn’t even matter and the game isn’t trying to be the next best looking game, but if graphics, in this genre mean something to you, then just don’t expect it to look incredible, but overall it looks far better than the other amnesia titles.
Does it Feel Like an Amnesia Game?
How does the game feel? And do the mechanics feel true to the franchise?
Well, the game does feel true to an amnesia game. Same grab and throw gameplay, and the constant need for oil and light sources. It is a lot of the same with an updated look and a different environment.
We still have puzzles and honestly, in my opinion, I think the majority of them were actually really fun. There were a few, as I feel like in all games with puzzles, that really got me annoyed.
One puzzle I was on, had me wandering the area for 45 minutes until I finally realized what to do. That honestly could be on my part, I’m not completely ruling that out, just in my experience, there were some puzzles that were tedious.
Other than those few, the puzzles were really enjoyable, and yes, the game feels true to the franchise, and I think fans of the first two will definitely find enjoyment in exploring this game.
Is It Scary?
Now, before getting a little more into the story and my final thoughts on the game, just how scary is the game?
Well, the answer to that is, pretty scary. The game definitely has its moments, and I’ll admit that it’s probably the scariest game I’ve played in a good while.
I kind of wish there was more in this area, and I won’t say exactly what I mean because I don’t want to spoil anything, but in some ways, I wanted more variety.
Don’t let that take away from what I was saying before, because this game will really make you feel on edge and some parts were downright creepy to where I paused the game because I didn’t want to resume and face my fears.
So if you are looking for something extra spooky, then I think this game should be able to do the job.
Is The Story Good?
Okay, back to the story, I think the story is pretty decent.
It isn’t anything revolutionary, but It kept me interested enough. I think Tasi is a good character and I was pretty invested in her story, but the other side characters I pretty much forgot or didn’t really care for.
Now, this is an Amnesia game, and what comes along with that is a ton of lore, notes, and extra audio clips. All of that is here, and the lore is most definitely there.
I will say that at times it got very convoluted and confusing to the point where I didn’t care for it that much.
In some parts, it got less scary because it was too confusing, but in the end, I ended up really liking the story and I think it fits well.
So, yeah, overall the story will keep you interested for the most part and pay off in the end, that is, if you get a good ending.
Buy or Pass?
This brings me to my final thoughts on the game.
So, is Amnesia Rebirth worth buying? Or is the game just another failed horror game that you should just pass on?
Well if you stayed this long into the review then you probably know the answer to that. Yes, I recommend this game. For horror fans, this game is scary enough to warrant a purchase, and for Amnesia fans, this is more lore and more Amnesia with a different look and slightly updated mechanics.
The game took me about 8 hours to beat and it should take around that much time for anyone else to beat it.
Now, the game costs $30 right now, and 8 hours doesn’t seem like much, but this is a single-player horror experience and I think that the price is actually pretty fitting. So, if you are looking for a good horror game to play, and have an extra $30 bucks lying around, then I highly recommend this game.
