This is the Definitive Edition of Baxter's Memoirs Act 1
Review copypasting time
Undoubtedly one of the best looking mods to ever be released, and one of better overall. Really refreshing after all the low effort mods
Absolutely nothing to pick on about design. It's divine, and when combined with the particles it sometimes feels like I was playing Rebirth. All of the locations are unique and full of detail, perfect, 10/10
Similar about lighting, everything done well, there's a lot of play with color and it looks really cool. Maybe I should experiment with them myself, 10/10
Puzzles are ok, nothing too crazy but they're original and interesting, some require observation and interaction with the environment, overall I'm satisfied with them, 7/10
Atmosphere is thick as fook. Music is quiet or doesn't even play and is replaced with ambient sounds which work great. Combined with design the mod is really immersive, 9/10
Wasn't scary for me though. Monsters spawning without any warning is a good touch that at first caught me off guard, but it also backfires to some extent, because even when I'm being chased no music is playing, I just hear calm ambient sounds in the background. I wasn't even sure if I was still being chased, and it wasn't intense, it was calm so I was kinda standing in a doorway and looking if a monster is still following me. Other issue is a lack of safe areas. Sure, there are "safe" areas, meaning ones where there's nothing to kill you, but there's always unsettling events, whispering angels and scary sounds, so you never have a chance to catch a breath and after a while the tension is gone. Doesn't change the fact that atmosphere and good scripting give this mod its several moments, 6/10
The story is... eh, not bad. I don't remember much of the previous entries so I wasn't sure what I was reading for the most part. Maybe I'll correct this part after I've replayed the previous parts, for now I can just say the voice acting is well done, though there's not much compared to MH3 for example
The gameplay doesn't differ much from regular walking and solving puzzles but it does a good job at keeping the player interested. There's a good flow between levels, time for puzzles and for scares, many events, just wish there were some more dynamic parts within. And the mod is just right when it comes to length so I was able to finish it in one long play without getting bored, 8/10
Well, It might be one of the last great mods to ever come out. And despite its several flaws... Eh, I might as well give it a 10 since I don't think there were even 5 high quality mods to come out this year. Soon we will see what about other acts
Gameplay
If you like the gameplay of Amnesia, this mod will definitely not disappoint you. What I can give a big plus for is that there is lack of oil and sometimes it is really limited, thus getting the oil management into action. What can annoy me about some mods is the incredible amount of oil where tinderboxes are given no room. Due to the player losing a lantern in one area, they have to help themselves by lighting torches to light their way, but as we know, players don't use them anyway. I also enjoyed the part where the player goes back to corridors they've already walked once and experiences a bit of nostalgia.
Story
The story is nothing particularly special, although it can be considered very well crafted. The story of the black mirror could be considered a figment of the imagination, which gives the whole mod a dark touch that is present in the mod from beginning to end. Thank goodness Sabatu resorted to notes that are easy to find and makes it easy to make sense of everything. Simple.
In Madhouse or Wackersberg mods, you might not have found a journal that might have been important to understand but since it was considered hidden (so the player wouldn’t be overwhelmed by literally a page of words). I'll elaborate on this in another paragraph.
What I consider important, is that if the player is able to make sense of the story, then it’s not really bad thing to add more notes and the author doesn’t have to make them hidden. The player can just skip them, if the notes are not interesting enough for him. The gradual uncovering of more information about other family members that we knew nothing about at the beginning and then begin to find out that they were involved was very well executed. The ending was also well done and was fitting.
Atmosphere + level-design
There's really no need to talk about level design here. Sabatu has once again shown that he can overcome his limits and create something that speaks about his abilities. The linear style fits this FC as most mods where the level design is more opened and the player has a choice where to go, there is a much higher chance of the player getting confused due to poorly designed levels and a lack of information for the player to know where to go next, which would result in the continuous wandering throughout the rooms over and over again without any progress.
There are also many things to say about the environment but one thing is clear. It is extremely rich and few FC's have such detailed environment, which makes it is also very believable and the player can imagine what could have happened after reading through various notes, which he would have found by now.
Czech Translation
There are a number of bugs in the Czech version that should be fixed, but I won't lower the points because of this, as most people will download the English version.
I would like to give my opinion on the "solution" mentioned by SwankestCZ, in which he says that the player is overwhelmed with information and therefore Sabatu repeats the same problem that has been seen in other mods.
I have one problem with this though. Look, in original wackersberg story made by Swankest, we have the character of Helen, who Niclas goes to rescue. However, during the mod we learn NOTHING about her, since there is our crappy "solution".
Hide the Helen in the side storyline (secret notes which were hidden so nicely, that I haven’t found a SINGLE one. Yes, you read that right.) which made me not care about her, as I didn’t know a word about who she was, what she did etc. There wasn’t single reason for the player to go to the castle and rescue her.
I'd like to know how to sympathize with a character I know nothing about just because the letters are hidden for the sake of people not being OVERWHELMED BY INFORMATION, which is just dumb. Nothing else. I’m sorry but WHY. That’s like trying to cut a story short in a book for the sake of people not getting overwhelmed by the story but in consequence of people being confused. Some people, myself included, aren't going to cut every corner just because of some hidden notes. If I don’t care about some notes, I’m just going to skip them. With hidden notes, I expect them to be not as relevant and perhaps just to have a supplementary story that only helps to fill the main notes but it’s not necessary for the sympathy of the characters and just helps to complete the story (by this I mean information about locations, additional information about characters etc.)
Wackersberg is an example of poor story-telling, where most players don't care who Helen is and have no reason to save her. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the story but because of these problems, it was somewhat confusing.
I rather put an example here from Wackersberg 1.5 that is available for download on different site, where one diary is 7 WHOLE PAGES. If something is the definition of overwhelming the player with information, it’s this one
This custom story was hella amazing! Best parts were the atmosphere and sound design, they were fantasticly well put together! And before the ending when everything was made of ice and snow, that looked super good and well made, I loved it! The story was pretty good. I'm still suprised at how fast you make these. Puzzles weren't that interesting in my opinion and I like the inspiration.
Overall REALLY solid custom story, may even top Madhouse 3 for me.
Undoubtedly the best mod of the author, and by a lot.
It's too much to put into words so I'll just sum up a few things.
+ Even by your standards the level design is out of this world, the level of detail is more than any other mod I currently know of, while maintaining a stable fps surprisingly
+ Actually great monster encounters, with some currently very unused creatures
+ (Finally) good resource management, oil even had additonal gameplay function in one area
+ Simple-ish puzzles with interesting executions, didn't get stuck once (okay only once)
+ Neat atmosphere, sound design and events
+ Decent voice acting (again, finally)
+ Quite a lot of readables but not too much
+ Good length, not too long!
Additional points:
- While the design is as great as it is, it still puts a huge pressure on the engine, I had a few crashes that required reload. But autosaves "saved" the day lol. And no serious bugs are present.
- The story itself could have been written a bit better but it had some things going for it that were interesting, overall less cliche than usual. But the ending could have used some fine tuning, hopefully the continuation will do it.
- I would have loved some secrets to find, but I enjoyed exploring nonetheless
The best I have played since Amadeus, Simulacrum and Atonement which is basically the last 5 years. Great job, really looking forward to the continuation of this series!
Most detailed environment EVER. Just Spectacular in every way
Very Nice! :)
Really amazing and scary mod. It's a bit short and I would have liked to see a more complete ending, but I enjoyed a lot playing it, also I love how the monsters and sounds from Amnesia Rebirth are adapted here!
Once again, Sabatu has released an excellent mod, but I do slightly disagree with some of the reviews. This is nowhere near his best mods, as there are some prominent issues.
Postivies:
-Level design was pure class as always
-Creativity
-Audio design was fantastic
-Intriguing story. What a fine moment to finally play a Sabatu mod with great
story! Perhaps it was because he wrote it himself, instead of using some of
these so-called "writers"
-Terrifyingly scary. Especially the Infested Archives part
-No vanilla enemies (and no cliché ghost enemy either. A big plus)
-Flawless scripting
Neutrals / Nitpicks:
-I completely missed the lantern after it was taken away (unless it was
intentional). I think it was not, since I kept finding oil all over the place
afterwards. This has happened before in your mods too, hence I recommend you
to make sure the player will not miss it in the future.
-Ghoul AI was lacking, and the thing got stuck in place in the "maze"
-Puzzles were a hit or miss most of the time. They weren't bad in anyway, but
no real surprises here
Negatives:
-Way too linear for me. Not an issue on its own, but given that the maps were
small and short, they just kept passing by and I got no real time to immerse
myself, apart from very few expections
-Absolutely no break from horror. Scary events were constantly happening,
giving me no time for relief
-Could be linked with the one above - there were way too much small jumpscares
which eventually became more of an annoyance than a great feature
Story: 8/10
Great, although not the most original. The plot was unique enough, and there were not too many characters, so keeping track of them was easy. There was visual storytelling too, and even if the majority of the story was told in notes, it was great. Nicely done.
Level Design: 10/10
How could I not give the full score here, when the design is literally flawless? Easily in the top-10 of all Amnesia mods in history, design-wise. Beautiful lighting, rich detailing and all around stunning.
Puzzles: 6/10
This is the one part where the mod falls a bit short. A majority of the puzzles were "get an item from place A to get to place B" which got relatively repetitive near the end. This mod also lacked any new and original puzzles. It is a shame, since usually you manage to make great puzzles. The graveyard code was nice though.
Scare Factor: 9/10
Terrifying. Nothing else to say here - the audio design kept the pressure alive (though as mentioned, got a bit annoying at one point) and the expection of an encounter was always present and high. Very well done.
Overall:
Black Mirror is a great mod, though slightly inferior to other Sabatu content in my opinion. Still, I had a great time playing this, and I can recommend this mod for those looking a scary experience.
Score: 8,25 -> 8/10 - Great
Sabatu has become one of the best modders in the amnesia community. And once more he has proven that he can make the best mods with this full conversion.
Like before, his mapping is amazing. He knows how to make environments and make them alive, with stunning beauty and details.
Then he makes the atmosphere perfectly. Perfectly placed PS systems, the lighting is perfect and sets the mood very well. Nothing in the environment feels static, almost like real life.
The ambiance is always THICC as well. Sabatu likes to use his own sounds and music and knows what to choose, to make it tense and interesting.
Sabatu also knows how to make scary and interesting scripts and events. Something that surprises me and scares me often.
Now to the gameplay stuff, firstly, the puzzles. It seems that Sabatu has ditched his signature puzzles, but replaced it with original challenges. Like the area where you have to stay in the light. In interesting challenge but not so challenging. It would have been better if you couldnt use the lantern there and you had to use tinderboxes and candles, but then if you would try to find the next candle, you can go through darkness but if you stay in it too long, you die.
The story itself is ok, it firstly has some BS references and then goes into its own lore, taken from another video game. Its your standard, "villain tries to open up a portal to another dimension" kinda story, which has been used a lot in custom stories.
The enemies themselves were placed well. Albeit not so scary. The first encounter with the ghul felt really similar to one of the less tenseful ghul encounters in Rebirth. You are in this maze and he is as well. Once you arrive, you hear and see him in the distance and since its a maze, all tension is lost as you know that he will be blocked by the maze. Another enemy is the wraith, which is also from Rebirth. I am sorry Sabatu, but the enemies of Rebirth are not scary. I do think the first wraith encounter was nicely placed, i just dont think its a threatening enemy at all. The last enemy used is taken from another custom story (which name i always forget), which was a bit of a surprise. However as LivayQ also mentioned, there was no real chase sounds and in the end. The section with this enemy became more like an obstacle course than scary.
So all in all,
Positives:
- Mapping
- Environment
- Ambiance
- Scripting/events
- Puzzles/obstacles
Neutral:
- Story
- Enemies/scare factor
9/10
I give this a 9 as if I would compare this to M3, i think M3 is still the better CS.