Guided by lucid dreams of an otherworldly horror, a monk abandons his monastery in search of the answers to his past.
I don't play many mods nowadays, but I knew I HAD to play this when it came out.
I started following this project in 2014, when I first got into Amnesia and stuff.
Now that I saw it released, I decided to dust off Amnesia again, install the game, install the Mod and just experience it.
So, right off the bat, I got invested into the game, into the surroundings and the beautiful "landscape".
It felt like oldschool Amnesia, but with just a whiff of the "Castle Brennenburg"-theme, the rest was original, mostly conveyed through the awesome level design.
Exploring the huge complexes of the Monastery, I was actually dumbfounded by the great atmosphere, lighting, the particle effects that all weren't over the top per sé, but beautifully placed, just right to craft the perfect environment.
When I got to the "courtyard" part, where you had to insert the artifacts, I liked the choice you were given. I can only compare it to another awesome CS called "The Four Horsemen", where you had to explore chapters aptly named after the aforementioned (Death, Pestilence, War and Famine).
It was a bit like that (only with two chapters, Pestilence and Consumption), both aesthetically fitting, regarding their names.
I solved all of the puzzles with no big effort, they weren't too hard, but also not a "key-fetch quest"-priciple, like many bad Mods utilize.
It felt real, it felt like you were really there, confronted with problems you had to solve by thinking creatively.
I liked the "tuner" puzzle, when you had to insert rods into a machine and tune a spinner to the right amplitude, I guess? Great puzzle.
The scares where few and inbetween, as far as I could tell, there was only one big jumpscare, the floor caved in, which really got me if I'm honest. It didn't feel cheap, because before that, a Grunt searched for you, forcing you to run away and not pay attention so much.
Now, I don't know if it was scripted that way, but regardless of where you sneaked, the Grunt followed you with his patrolling and didn't leave your near vercinity if you didn't as well.
It certainly felt like he full well knew you were there, but just toyed with you. Nice.
I didn't like the Suitor encounter as much, it felt quite cheap and both him and the grunt weren't really explained in the lore.
But I really liked the Husk at the end of the game though. It looked a bit goofy, but the sounds it made were horrifying, and I got a glimpse of it through a gated window, it moved fast, I rarely ever felt dread like this when playing a horror game.
The build-up to the encounter also was great, although the monster wasn't there, it felt like it was.
The music was unique and only added to the nice vibes in this Custom Story, sound design was brilliant and so well used that you could never tell if anyone would attack you at any moment.
The one and only flaw was the story. What happened? I still don't understand, but Amnesia was never good in storytelling.
Also, I got a bit confused by how the artifacts where inserted into the slots, there were pictures above the slots, but they didn't have to do with anything I assume? I jsut inserted the three articfacts randomly and it worked.
Other than that, I loved it. A refreshing and nice experience of a game I long considered boring and which I abandoned 2 years ago.
astonishing.. truly worth the wait and the time you spent on it. it provided a unique world piece and story (which felt rather incomplete in the end), brilliant level design and even better puzzles! i need to say dungeon assets always felt boring to me, but you definitely changed my opinion here. the music was very fitting and even the lack of music with only sound effects in some areas provided a great atmosphere to this mod. the weakest point was definitely the monster encounters with the accustomed original amnesia monsters for the majority of them, but i'm not gonna take away a single point for that, since the scare factor was kept up throughout the whole journey, and i enjoyed the exploration A LOT. thanks for the minor optional rewards for that as well in the form of collectables. you managed resources in a clever way, although i was sometimes confused at points due to darkness (i didn't want to ruin the atmosphere by pumping the gamma up too much) and rarely with some not so obvious solutions, but all in all i managed to get through while having a nice time from start to end.
it felt fun to play and was refreshing. all in all, i'd say 9.5/10 for the score, but i'll round it up a bit for this review.
great work! glad to have you back for another masterpiece.
I really can't get enough of this mod, what a piece of art this was, maybe the uniquest enviroment I ever experienced, just wow! Terrifying experience all around and everyone MUST play this mod for sure.
Atmosphere was top-notch I love all surroundings that intro was freaking amazing, all the design is so carefully done and extreme detailed, I was stunned a lot of times. This is the first time I have ever been so impressed with level design, it's freaking breathtaking and I will play it again someday.
Scares are really good and unique as well, there are no cheap-jump scares to break the immersion on the gameplay.
Puzzles are challenging and you have to really think to get further on the mod, I love all the exloring and never get tired playing it. Back and fourth places like Pestilence and Consumption such unique locations to explore and find stuff.
Story is really interesting and well thought, I love all the notes scattering around and when you get it by reading this, you will suck in to the story and imagine you are really there.
Pros:
- Level design (Top notch)
- Atmosphere
- Extremely detailed
- Outdoor enviroments
- Scares
- Puzzles
- Story
- Gameplay
- Music
Neg:
- I want more, I really can't say any negative things here, it's just that good!
- Couple crashes and bugs, but you can avoid those after several times
This is a piece of art on amnesia and I really feel the time what player has effort put into it and so much love and caring design, it just melts my heart with excitement! MASTERPIECE!
10/10 - Can't recommend enough, MUST play MOD, right here
I'll start by the cons, for the very few they were: there were a few bugs (I had one or two crashes and sometimes the monsters would get stuck on a wall) and a puzzle in particular could benefit from clarification (The colour coded lever for the portal was tricky to grasp).
Appart from that I really, really enjoyed myself: I loved the work that went in the environments, the music, the voice acting, the puzzle designs and the pacing was really good - you seriously need to ration your oil here - and the monster encounters were well designed (I felt scared to leave my hiding spot but never felt as if I was unfairly pitted against insurmontable odds.).
The story was quite entertaining as well and the environments supported and fitted it very well. I can definitely see the influence the Mystery series had but also how the team managed to make this into their own thing.
I really wish there was more. It did feel a little short by the end, but I think it's safe the quality makes up for it.
So yeah, that's a 9 out of 10 for me. I loved it.
Welp, I think this mod will go down as my favourite one of all time. For me it was even better than Amadeus. Go and play this if you haven't already!
===============SUMMARY==================
Finally a mod which uses the weirdly unfitting eastern assets from Amnesia in a cohesive way.
I never thought I would witness it in Amnesia, but this mod has an...esoteric feeling to it that is really original and unprecedented. The story was kind of vague, but it works. It's probably for the better that it was kept simple.
The entire mod took me around 2.5h to finish.
===============UPSIDES==================
- Fantastic sound design
- Amazingly creative level design, probably the best I've seen in HPL2. I can't stress how good it is, even in areas which everyone else would leave plain and boring.
- Fun and creative puzzles
- Cool custom soundtrack
- Clear-cut progression path
- Actually encourages using tinderboxes (a rarity in mods)
- The glyph concept was ******* amazing, I wish there was more puzzles involving it. So damn cool.
===============SCARINESS================
The general ambience really spooked me out quite often. There are some clever jumpscares in this mod, but for me they often lacked build up to properly scare me.
The monster encounters were fine I guess, but I am desensitized to them so don't take this for granted.
For me, the scariness was just as I like it - enough to get me immersed, but not to be tiresome.
=================ISSUES=================
The shortcuts looping in on the level are awesome. But unfortunately they are too often left wide open with a long path preceeding it.
This causes pacing issues, because I explored the shortcuts each time only to realise I just have to turn around.
The "second act" (the plaza hub and the branching maps) overstays its welcome. By the time I finally got the 3rd artefact, I was kinda tired already. Fortunately, the later parts were so interesting that I wanted to play more.
Nitpicks:
- Sometimes the geometry intersections get a bit rough when using the bigger assets.
- A tiny amount of needless backtracking
- The mod had an instance of an obscurely hidden progress path (hole covered with planks without a hint)
=================CLOSING STATEMENTS=================
The people who made this did something amazing, furthermore being strengthended by the fact that it was made in the decadent era of Amnesia mods. Frankly, this was for the most part professional-tier content and I wouldn't mind paying a good few bucks for it under other circumstances.
Lastly, I have never been inspired by mods... but wow, this one really did it. Kudos all the way through.
Masterpiece.
To start, this mod has character. Character that is a result of clear dedication and respect to the source material. The areas, music, gameplay mechanics, and concepts are all incredibly polished and beautifully done.
The issue I always have with custom stories is that most of them usually don't make the effort to be different. It's generally always a remix of the original game. But this, this is something of its own.
Where Dark Descent dealt with torture chambers, lumbering shadows, and a story told through notes and memories within a Prussian castle...
This deals with the occult, witchcraft, and an interpretive story told subtlety through visuals and notes under an Arabic ruin battered by time.
What I mean to say is that it has an identity and feel of its own. Every inch is soaked in atmosphere, down to the very last damn detail. You guys managed to capture old school Amnesia magic with this one. The puzzles, the setting, and the horror approach were all original. There was a mystic vibe all the way through.
The "Spout", I think it was called, really does feel like an old sanctuary that has been abandoned and left to rot under the sand. It felt like I was the first to step foot there in hundreds of years. The very subtle audio ques and use of ambient noise added to this, as well as the lighting, and choice of textures. Even the character we play as has a personality of intrigue, bravery, and prior knowledge of the occult. The lack of music for some of the monster encounters was brilliantly done, as that was the thing that made the monsters dry for me.
The ending was interesting, as both decisions led to the same outcome. However those outcomes are interpretive depending on which rune you used. The whole experience made me scared, and I am proud to say this is one of the best mods for Amnesia TDD.
I also found Ephemeral Rift's name in the credits to be very interesting. How much of an involvement did he, as an ASMR creator, have?
Really a beautiful mod. Unique and original story and puzzles, music and sounds complete the mod in an excellent way.
10/10 - outstanding!
yes
One of the most original and creative custom stories out there. I really enjoyed the atmosphere, the story, the puzzles and the horror that it provided.
The only negative is that in order to solve the puzzles you have to spend a lot of time, since there is no help by notes or mementos to do something.
Overall a great experience!