I got the Penumbra collection on disk a while back, but never got around to it. Im wondering if playing Amnesia first will spoil some of the scares from Penumbra when I get to that later. Also, the other way around of what I just said.

I'm worried about this, because video games hardly ever scare me anymore. Sure, I jump at jump scares occasionally, but I'm never actually afraid anymore. I miss that, and I want to play these game in the order that will allow me to get the most scares. When I ask people to recommend me scary games, they always suggest Fear or Dead Space. Fear was only scary at the jump scares, and the rest of the game didn't seem to even try. Dead Space really did try to be scary all the time, but it kept using the same tricks over and over. After the first level or two I knew exactly when and where enemies were going to come at me, and I knew that those scary noises actually meant that I was safe. No fun at all. This game sounds like it could actually scare me, but it also reminded me that Penumbra trilogy collection has been in my closet for a few years, and I bought that at the time because It also looked like it might actually scare me. I just don't what to learn all the developers scare tactics in one game, and then have it ruin the game that would have been the better game if I had played it first.

Neither Penumbra or Amnesia are scary. No kidding. I never understood the hype around Amnesia: there is absolutely no sense of danger in it. An enemy pops up? Grab his attention, get killed: the game automatically revives you at the same point, and the enemy is gone. Meh. I was startled once (1) in all the game, but that was because of something surprising, and not scary.

I would recommend playing Penumbra first, as it is way more enjoyable, has, in my opinion, a relatively mysterious atmosphere, and where you are really vulnerable. Dang, this forsaken mine/complex is much more interesting than that generic-looking castle and its blubbery 'monsters'...

I should add that gameplay-wise, the two games are very, very similar, yet Penumbra features some likeable tricks of its own at some point in the trilogy. Oh, and by the way, the third game is more of a puzzle game, so no scare to be had with it. :)

Horror of games like this are subjective to the player. Everybody handles fear differently.

I downloaded it today for my Mac after hearing so many people say it was terrifying. It certainly doesn't disappoint. I find it sort of unnerving and the narration can be disturbing. The dialogue reminds me of H.P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos (which is obviously something they intended.)

Is it the scariest video game I have ever played? Not at all. I remember being terrified of Phantasmagoria when I was a kid, but I was really young back then. I was also pretty scared of Resident Evil 2 back in the day. Dead Space could be kind of frightening at times, but this is an entirely different type of horror. Those games relied heavily on horror and gruesome violence. This game is more psychological. The game lets your imagination scare you.

If you don't have an imagination, or are a left-brain logical thinker, this game probably won't be frightening because your brain will be constantly looking for answers and rationalizing everything you are seeing. On the other hand, if you're willing to run with the story and immerse yourself, you'll likely have a good time and get some good scares.

There is no danger in any video game ever, on account of them being, you know, not real. And if what scares you is, for some reason I cannot fathom, a death in a videogame, then Amnesia is indeed no scarier than any other game.

Actually, "Amnesia" doesn't even try to actively scare you - it just builds up tension. Slowly. Gradually. You flush out some of it when you turn the game off, but not all of it, and so it keeps burrowing in. Telling yourself "It's just a game" doesn't help - you obviously are aware about that all the time and it doesn't matter, nor does figuring out monster appearance and despawn rules -- because it's not those monsters what make the true horror of this game - it's the sense of primal (and thus not susceptible to rationalized "It's all just a game!" attempts to fight it), pervasive, absolutely hopeless dread.

Of course, some imaginations might not be affected - people are different, after all, but if you try it, do heed game's advice - play it in the dark, preferably alone, and sound is an absolute must.

Also, Penumbra may have a better story, but it loses by a huge margin in atmosphere, which for me is more important a factor in a horror entertainment.

Sir, are you implying I am a moron?
Did you only, you know, read what I wrote? Sense of danger does not equate fear. Without a sense of danger, you will not consider an (in-game, if I have to be that specific) opponent to be a threat to your character. That character will therefore stroll around, be killed, and you'll have to restart the whole process, and never get to play anything. Does it sound thrilling to you? So yes, caring about the actions of the character potentially endangering him is important. ("so as to transfer from our inward nature a human interest and a semblance of truth sufficient to procure for these shadows of imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith." may ring a bell) I do agree that Amnesia is a rarity in the sense that the story gets the player more interested and involved as he progresses. Its depiction of morality is interesting. Still, would you care to detail what you mean by "pervasive, absolutely hopeless dread."? Which I did. Personnally, I prefer the atmosphere of Penumbra. For example, the silence around all the machinery in the mine made me feel that the whole place was lifeless, while I knew there was something lurking around.

Doesn't matter. The games are independent of each other. The Penumbra series should be played in order, however.

Well first order of business, ignore Wesker as he is just one of those gamers who is trying to sound cool and buff himself up by pretending like he wasn't scared, either that or he has desensitized himself which is a real shame since they are all genuinely terrifying games.

Secondly they are completely unrelated so play them in whatever order you want. I played Penumbra first and it is a wonderfully terrifying game, the sequels are alright but Overture is still my favorite as far as story and atmosphere.

Amnesia is completely unrelated but still a very scary and fun game, assuming you aren't a troll who just runs at enemies full sprint or looks for bugs and weaknesses and actually allows yourself to enjoy the experience.

Enjoy.

Forsooth nay, sir, and yes, sir. :-) I said I don't understand people finding fiction dangerous, and I stand by it. Never felt any danger in either Penumbra or Amnesia or anything fictional really, and monsters were actually a welcome sight for me, since they reset the tension somewhat. Sir's brain, apparently, reacts to such stimuli in different way, which doth not make thee a moron, only gives you an additional theme to argue in video game forums. Also, it can be that my definition of danger simply is narrower and more limited than yours. That's okay too and doesn't make me a moron either. It's a bit difficult to explain an irrational thing out of subconsciousness. It doesn't have to do anything with the story, which I didn't really care about in this game -- basic Lovecraft, reduced to just a minimal barebone structure to hold the essence. It's just something like "Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. This place. This place...I'm doomed, right? I'm doomed. There is no way out of there even if there is. Oh god." I meant that for the OP there who is going to try it for the first time. *Light spoilers ahead*


First two Penumbras both had what I considered utter mood killers - that is, your invisible but audible companions. In "Amnesia", you are alone for the most of the time, and when you finally encounter someone else, it's a bit too late even with all his amusingly out of place amiability and cheerfulness. Ones in Penumbras enter relatively early and it didn't take long for them to irritate the crap out of me -- especially the hammy scenery chewer from "Black Plague". Also, the first game gave you stuff to kill things with, turning the "monsters" from tension builders (scary) into yet another part of a puzzle to be solved with extreme prejudice (not scary at all).


*End of spoilers*


Back the the OP --

as for which game to play first -- whichever you want to defend as "The better one" later on Internet forums. :-)

I don't think that he is trying to be cool or insensitive. I understand his point of view, because while I enjoy the tense atmosphere of the horror novels, movies and games do these generate real emotion of fear and horror? Unfortunately I have to answer no. Sure I might feel occasionally slight discomfort when I watch some extremely brutal scene (scene where woman cuts off man's leg in Takashi Miike's Audition is one of the best examples of this) and surprising action can make me startled for a brief moment (so far Amnesia has managed to surprise me couple of times), but I don't feel genuine dread and horror. I also really love Cthulhu stuff, but that's because the mythos is cool, the stories themselves aren't actually scary at all. I know that I can feel genuine fear, because I have felt that when my own life has been in real danger, however it has been replaced with calmness in action when the adrenaline rushes in. What horror games create is some sort of tension of waiting when the monster attacks or something bad happens. No saving and permadeath of Justine IMHO increases the tension, because there dying has real consequences.

You guys are going to love me for this. I got busy searching for wargaming paper miniatures. I can only afford 15mm miniatures. When I shrink the papercraft terrain and vehicles that I love down to a 15mm scale, they become more difficult, and less fun to assemble. I got sick of it, even though I love making papercraft models. So anyway, I figure my only option for the time being is using paper miniatures as well. It turns out that there is a huge amount of figures available. So anyway, what happened was that I went into kid-in-the-candy-store mode, and just could not decide what style of figures I wanted to purchase. By the time I finally made up my mind, many, many hours had passed. I ended up missing the amnesia sale. At its regular price I no longer feel like I need to get it right away. I can bide my time until I really feel like playing it. But hey, don't worry guys! From your help I at least know that I wont ruin anything by playing Penumbra first. I can play those before I buy Amnesia.

Nope, they're scary games. A few posts on a message board does not discredit the thousands of player testimonies and reviews that back me up on that :] and I respectfully reiterate my point of desensitization and lack of imagination being the cause for your lack of fear, and my condolences, because that really sucks for you. Sorry, but gore-porn and game mechanics as you state are just PART of the package of the compelling horror atmosphere, and in that regard the boys at Frictional have certainly done their homework.

This is certainly the first time that anyone accuses that I lack imagination and sensitiveness and I trust in this matter more to my own feelings and those who know me than to some random guy in the Internet who tries to claim that there's something wrong with me. I'm sorry, but I thought we could discuss this matter in a civilized manner so that both sides could make their arguments, without personal attacks.

Just because someone doesn't agree with your subjective experiense of fear doesn't mean that he/she is lacking imagination or sensitiveness. Some people can't watch horror movies at all, because they see nightmares for weeks after watching the movie or the violent scenes are simply too much for them and they have to stop watching. Other people react to these same scenes with mild disgust at best. It doesn't mean that someone is lacking emotion, but rather that the other person can take that stimuli as entertainment rather than as an actual cause of fear and horror. Personally I enjoy the mild spooks, just like people go to roller coaster to feel the thrill of speed without the actual danger. To be honest I would be more worried if an imaginary danger would throw me mentally off balance and make me so scared that I couldn't sleep.

EDIT: I might sounded bit more annoyed than I actually wanted to sound, but my whole point was that fear is subjective experience and if someone doesn't find something as scary as you do it doesn't mean that they don't get any stimuli from the game, it just means that their reaction to it is different. It doesn't mean that those people are less sensitive or lack imagination, which IMHO was bad choice of words and somewhat insulting. I enjoy watching horror or playing horror games, because those stimulate my emotions, but horror doesn't disturb my sense of security, like it does to some people.

My opinion Play Penumbra series first then Amnesia, because the later is a major evolution and if you play the other way around you will sense like Penumbra misses something and be unable to enjoy it well.

Now my two cents on this debate about scariness, first i must say Amnesia was not scary to me to the point of scream or quitting the game, but it did made me think more carefully on how i should approach and navigate the levels, and some times it did got on my nerves a little, why, because i tried very hard to immerse my self on the story, first by playing alone at night with headphones (this does makes any game scarier), i also tried to read all the papers and listen to all sounds and search all corners, i tried to simulate like i was really someone on a old and scary mansion, i didn't run when not needed, i walked or crouched most of the time and instead of rushing through doors i opened them slowly and used leen to see around corners, i played this game with the intention to get immersed and not to get to the end and win, (just followed the developers advice) by playing like this it made me love the game. But there's also an important aspect, i bought and played the game on day one, i didn't saw any "lets play" videos with guys exaggerating the screams and scares just to get views, this made me not have any wrong expectations on the game but only the ones that came from playing Penumbra before, and i wasn't disappointed.