Posted September 15, 2010
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destroyermaker
damaged lemon
Registered: Nov 2008
From Canada
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Namur
Malkavian
Registered: Oct 2008
From Portugal
Posted September 15, 2010
Well, due to an irritating lack of free time for games right now i'm not that far along, or at least i don't think i am, but from what little i've played.
-Daniel's VA - to put it kindly, it's no good. It's forced, it's overdone, it's...just no good. I gave the first note a free pass but when i came to the (3 or 4 ?) notes about Algeria, well, it was a let down. Bugdet was probably a factor here, i get that, but it's still a flaw, a pretty big one considering it's the main character we're talking about.
-Paintings, books, heraldly related stuff : All of these can add to immersion, support the plot and/or make the settings more believable. As it is they're just filler. When i stumbled upon the same 3 paintings in two adjacent roooms in the demo i kinda had a bad feeling, and in the game, sure enough, the same 3 or 4 paintings can be found all throughout the walls of an European castle. Same for the book titles/covers, 2 or 3 cloned to infinity and that's it.
-Light sources and interactivity - i sure can understand why making them pickable/movable would create all sorts of problems, but when i'm in desperate need of a dark corner...i can't put out out a candle ? I din't find a way to do it at least...
And a few minor gripes aswell, lke the glowing items not being an option, the texts on area load not staying on screen long enough for a re-read or until key press/mouse click, etc...
Awesome game, incredible atmosphere, they've done wonders in terms of audio, story seems interesting enough although i still can't say for sure at the point i'm at, but i have to agree with wojciechfelczak, the game is not without its flaws.
-Daniel's VA - to put it kindly, it's no good. It's forced, it's overdone, it's...just no good. I gave the first note a free pass but when i came to the (3 or 4 ?) notes about Algeria, well, it was a let down. Bugdet was probably a factor here, i get that, but it's still a flaw, a pretty big one considering it's the main character we're talking about.
-Paintings, books, heraldly related stuff : All of these can add to immersion, support the plot and/or make the settings more believable. As it is they're just filler. When i stumbled upon the same 3 paintings in two adjacent roooms in the demo i kinda had a bad feeling, and in the game, sure enough, the same 3 or 4 paintings can be found all throughout the walls of an European castle. Same for the book titles/covers, 2 or 3 cloned to infinity and that's it.
-Light sources and interactivity - i sure can understand why making them pickable/movable would create all sorts of problems, but when i'm in desperate need of a dark corner...i can't put out out a candle ? I din't find a way to do it at least...
And a few minor gripes aswell, lke the glowing items not being an option, the texts on area load not staying on screen long enough for a re-read or until key press/mouse click, etc...
Awesome game, incredible atmosphere, they've done wonders in terms of audio, story seems interesting enough although i still can't say for sure at the point i'm at, but i have to agree with wojciechfelczak, the game is not without its flaws.
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good old games enjoyer
New User
Registered: Sep 2008
From Sweden
Posted September 15, 2010
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I don't like save system and respawning after death in another place than you died. Also, you can stuck in some places (I stuck under some stairs) and can't get out. Voice acting is sometimes goofy, Alexander is great but Daniel sounds sometimes unnatural.
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destroyermaker
damaged lemon
Registered: Nov 2008
From Canada
Posted September 15, 2010
^I don't think of those as "real" flaws. I didn't die much but when I did I respawned in the same spot..at least once that I recall. I dont know. I dont remember being bothered. Hmm. I can see why people wouldn't like Daniel's voice but I was rather fond of it. Bit more natural could be good but overall I really enjoyed it.
Same to Namur...it's really nitpicking to me.
Anyway, some interesting insight: http://frictionalgames.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-week-after-release-of-amnesia.html
Short version: sales are not bad but not great, and they're hoping they pick up again.
Same to Namur...it's really nitpicking to me.
Anyway, some interesting insight: http://frictionalgames.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-week-after-release-of-amnesia.html
Short version: sales are not bad but not great, and they're hoping they pick up again.
Post edited September 15, 2010 by chautemoc
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Wolfox
Gdfsgsdfhgsdfghs
Registered: Sep 2008
From Brazil
Posted September 15, 2010
I'll buy it eventually, if only to support the developers (I usually play games to unwind, not to tense up, and thus I usually avoid horror games). But not this month, as I already spent much more than I should on games (damn you, Civ 5).
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Namur
Malkavian
Registered: Oct 2008
From Portugal
Posted September 15, 2010
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Anyway, some interesting insight: http://frictionalgames.blogspot.com/2010/09/one-week-after-release-of-amnesia.html
Short version: sales are not bad but not great, and they're hoping they pick up again.
Nitpicking ?
I guess so, for those who don't pay any attention to that kind of thing. If you do pay attention, then trust me, you won't think of it as nitpicking and you'll be plenty disappoint when you notice two instances of Altdorfer's 'Crucifixion' and two instances of the same Gelleé landscape in the SAME freaking wall. Talk about immersion, uh?
But whatever, let's go with nitpicking if you wish ;)
Anyway, those aren't great news. I hope the sales improve some, these guys really deserve a more stable situation, and i'd hate to think they'll be forced to accept a few compromises in their next project in terms of where they want to go with it on account of (even more) financial considerations.
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destroyermaker
damaged lemon
Registered: Nov 2008
From Canada
Posted September 16, 2010
http://frictionalgames.com/forum/thread-4427.html Taking a poll on game length.
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Navagon
Easily Persuaded
Registered: Dec 2008
From United Kingdom
Posted September 16, 2010
Mod tools are available now. So hopefully someone will take it upon themselves to add a bit more variety into the game's scenery. Don't forget that it's a very small team behind the game. So there's bound to be some copypasta in there. Hell, in what games isn't that the case?
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Datajack2050
Om nom nom
Registered: Sep 2008
From United States
Posted September 16, 2010
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Purchasing this as soon as I get paid.
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Got it, but I didn't get a Steam code, just the standard serial and the download links for all 3 versions.
Downloading now!
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Elenarie
@tweetelenarie
Registered: Sep 2008
From Sweden
Posted September 16, 2010
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Downloading now!
Try contacting FG then. I know the pre-orders got a bonus Steam key. I think I read that this thing is also valid to future customers. It would be best to ask them about this subject.
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Datajack2050
Om nom nom
Registered: Sep 2008
From United States
Posted September 16, 2010
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Downloading now!
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Emailed them but if they don't have it available anymore, no big deal. I just wanted it on Steam as a second backup copy.
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Datajack2050
Om nom nom
Registered: Sep 2008
From United States
Posted September 17, 2010
UPDATE:
Just got an email back from Frictional, here is the take on getting the Steam key.
Hi,
No sorry this was only for pre-orders. If someone got theirs after, it must have been a pre-order they were late to activate or that the store still had pre-orders available even though game was out too.
Thank you for the support!
Jens
Just got an email back from Frictional, here is the take on getting the Steam key.
Hi,
No sorry this was only for pre-orders. If someone got theirs after, it must have been a pre-order they were late to activate or that the store still had pre-orders available even though game was out too.
Thank you for the support!
Jens
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StingingVelvet
Devil's Advocate
Registered: Nov 2008
From United States
Posted September 17, 2010
Sales are lower than expected sadly, and like too many small developers it seems they risked all they had on this being a large success: http://beefjack.com/news/reviewer-leaked-amnesia-the-dark-descent-say-frictional/
I'd buy it now despite my love of boxes if I really liked it, but I didn't. Maybe I will anyway though, the who piracy thing is really sad for a small studio like this.
I have a feeling the briefly mentioned "waiting for a sale" thing is their worst enemy. Steam seems to have created an atmosphere where there is no point for most people to pay $20 for an indie game, as it will be $5 down the road anyway.
I'd buy it now despite my love of boxes if I really liked it, but I didn't. Maybe I will anyway though, the who piracy thing is really sad for a small studio like this.
I have a feeling the briefly mentioned "waiting for a sale" thing is their worst enemy. Steam seems to have created an atmosphere where there is no point for most people to pay $20 for an indie game, as it will be $5 down the road anyway.
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Datajack2050
Om nom nom
Registered: Sep 2008
From United States
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stonebro
Love Lumberjacks
Registered: Sep 2008
From Netherlands
Posted September 17, 2010
They could also have priced the game differently, say 19.99 euros instead of 14.99, or even 24.99. Thing is, the people who have bought the game would also have bought the game at those prices. The other people are mostly on the fence, obviously more will come over due to a lower pricepoint but I doubt that's enough to make up for underpricing their game in the first place.