by 
Horror is a hard thing to do right. Worse, even when it is done right, it has to be accepted by the viewer. Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a puzzle/physics/horror game set in a castle somewhere around the mid-19th century. Your mentor must be killed, but a shadow is hunting you. From what I understand, Amnesia is well done horror. And the first time I played Amnesia (some years ago), I think I felt that. This time, I did not. I don’t think it’s entirely Amnesia’s fault – I think I’ve just been exposed to more video games since then and am more aware of the imperfections. It probably didn’t help that I was going in to it for a First Impression, either.
Whatever the reason, I didn’t find myself immersed in the world this time around. Instead, I found myself solving puzzles I didn’t realize I was solving and a little frustrated at my walking speed and camera angles. The first part I am okay with – if I were truly terrified, there is no doubt I would have trouble solving those same puzzles. The walking speed is easily circumvented since you have unlimited stamina (which is a bit of an odd choice), and encouraged me to go speeding around the castle to make the most of my lantern time.
I feel quite bad that I didn’t find myself experiencing what so many others have (and I am only picking at the game because it is well-designed). Indeed, my only real frustration was the “puzzle” I got stuck on at the end of my hour. An invisible water monster was chasing me (indeed, the first enemy that seemed capable of doing damage) and you can only escape from it by hopping on top of boxes. Unfortunately, there’s a hidden switch somewhere in the corridor that I just couldn’t find because I had just run out of lantern oil which made everything very, very dark (as you can see in the screenshot).
Stuck hopping from box to box, I was unable to find the switch to open the path forward. Eventually I struck up a conversation with the invisible water monster, asking him why my sanity wasn’t draining like it does in every other part of the game when you are trapped in the dark. Then I considered that I was talking to an invisible water monster, and realized that I, myself, must have already gone insane – so I congratulated Amnesia on its success and closed the game.