

The player character seems slightly weaker than Daniel, physically, but that may just be my perception. The lantern and tinderboxes that figure so prominently in the main game hold less importance here, though they are still present. Recorded messages and written notes supply information about the plot. There are also three invincible monsters, who - as in The Dark Descent - cannot be directly combated, only hidden from or run from.Ĭontrols and mechanics are the same as in The Dark Descent. The player encounters three trapped men and three escape routes that can be triggered or discovered by interaction with the prisoners.

The amnesiac player character awakens in an underground jail cell, where a woman’s recorded voice invites them to explore her “cabinet of perturbation,” apparently arranged to mirror the player character’s psyche. I’m not sure how startling or innovative this was in 2011, when I didn’t play any videogames but Cave Story. There is no way to save in Justine - the game closes automatically when the player character dies, sending the player back to their desktop. The Dark Descent takes about five to seven hours to complete Justine, which can be accessed from the game’s Settings Launcher in Steam, takes about 30 minutes to play depending on how many times you’ve played it before. That is a fact that makes sense, and I’m not sure why I’m telling you about it.

While Amnesia: The Dark Descent is - quite rightfully, in my opinion - widely regarded as a landmark work among horror games, its free DLC has not garnered nearly as much attention. (Hey, I’ve got an anxiety disorder - real life is already kind of like a horror game, albeit a very boring one with no save points.)

It’s just a few minutes in a dark room, crouched behind a pillar while a monster wanders past, but it’s one of the scariest things I now regularly subject myself to. This reaction is consistent, even with the lights on and the sound off. So far, despite many passes through the game, there is one segment of Amnesia: Justine that has never failed to get my heart pounding. The reader is begged to forgive the use of a spoiler cut, and urged to play this game without spoilers if possible.īe advised that this review briefly discusses relationship abuse and child sexual abuse, as well as many other topics that may be expected in horror media. Let this blog be christened with a short review of a game that only just qualifies as “supernatural” horror: Amnesia: Justine, released by Frictional Games in April 2011.
