History NightmareFuel / AmnesiaTheDarkDescent

The creators of ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' set out to make one of the scariest games ever. They did.

* The ambient music for the game does a great job of creating an unsettling and foreboding atmosphere. Some tracks involve [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FsgKB9qlGo haunting]] [[https://youtu.be/-mG90Tb69yQ choirs]] while others feature [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltZTmZ3Iifw ominous]] [[https://youtu.be/ji8S2ZkpdNM moaning]]. Overall the soundtrack can give out a heightened sense of paranoia.

* The Cellar Archives is one of the first dangerous areas of the game. The whole area gets flooded and there is an invisible water monster chasing you. You need to safely navigate your way without stepping into the water and you sometimes have to toss severed body parts to distract the monster. At the final corridor, there are fewer objects to stand on to avoid the water so you have to RunOrDie. Additionally, the music in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0yHHM0coEE this level]] is absolutely terrifying since it sounds like the screams of tortured souls.

!Per wiki policy, Administrivia/SpoilersOff applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.

* There was a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScZdRnP7ZzI diagram]] which was eventually cut out of the final version; [[spoiler:appearantly Daniel tortured ''a child'' in the Chancel section.]]

** This custom story actually has quite a few endings compared to the base game. To whit, [[spoiler:Charles can be defeated before he's able to stop Moriaen's resurrection, be defeated after disrupting the resurrection and subsequently ''[[GrandTheftMe used as a new body for Moriaen's consciousness]]'', be consumed by the Shadow, escape the college with the orb in hand and extend his life like Samuel Hartlib so he can guard it in isolation for the rest of his days, or give Hartlib the orb so that he can escape while being given an amnesia potion to wipe his memories clean of the trauma he's endured. While the last ending is the most hopeful, it doesn't erase the fact that Jane is dead and Samuel is left at the "mercy" of the Shadow]]. In short, there really isn't an especially happy ending to this story.

* There was a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScZdRnP7ZzI flasback]] which was eventually cut out of the final version; [[spoiler: Daniel tortured a ''child'' in the Chancel section.]]

* There was a flasback which was eventually cut out of the final version; [[Daniel tortured a ''child'' in the Chancel section.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/steamworkshop_webupload_previewfile_155689841_preview_2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:When you see these ([[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4giyol.png or these]]) ([[https://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/scale_medium/2/28598/1778134-2011_04_19_00003.jpg or this]])...Hide! Or run in the case of the latter.]]
The creators of ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' set out to make one of the scariest games ever. [[GoneHorriblyRight They did.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amnesia_dlc_justine_monster_alois_360.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Is that you, my love?]]

* The Shadow itself is the most terrifying. This... [[EldritchAbomination thing,]] whatever it is, it takes up the entire house. It is '''[[NothingIsScarier never seen]]''' aside from the fleshy residue it left behind and there is NOWHERE to hide from it. Nowhere to run, either. Because the Shadow [[ParanoiaFuel REALLY.]] IS. [[UpToEleven EVERYWHERE.]]

* [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/servant_brute_morgue.jpg Servant]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4giyol.png Brutes]] in general. As with the Grunts, [[BodyHorror they look horrific with metal jammed in their body (especially their face)]], the low-groan they make when they're around, and their loud footsteps that make it's [[ParanoiaFuel difficult to tell where they are.]] (The "footsteps" are actually drums in the "danger music", but it's hard to tell the first time.) Doesn't help that they can OneHitKill you. Brute's are also smarter than Grunt's...

* The Morgue room is filled with disturbing moments. There is a room full of bones and you can hear the echoes of a man who was trapped there screaming for help. There some rooms where there are corpses piled onto each other and being in those rooms will drain your sanity. You need to vaccinate yourself to progress through the game and that involves [[NauseaFuel creating a makeshift syringe and injecting yourself with the blood of a recently deceased man]]. To top it all off, there is a sudden Brute encounter after vaccinating yourself.

* The Morgue room is filled with disturbing moments. There is a room full of bones and you can hear the echoes of a man who was trapped there screaming for help. There some rooms where there are corpses piled onto each other and being in those rooms will drain your sanity. You need to vaccinate yourself to progress through the game and that involves [[NauseaFuel creating a makeshift syringe and injecting yourself with the blood of a recently deceased man]]. To top it all off, there is a sudden brute encounter after vaccinating yourself.

* [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/servant_brute_morgue.jpg Servant]] [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/4giyol.png Brutes]] in general. As with the grunts, [[BodyHorror they look horrific with metal jammed in their body (especially their face)]], the low-groan they make when they're around, and their loud footsteps that make it's [[ParanoiaFuel difficult to tell where they are.]] (The "footsteps" are actually drums in the "danger music", but it's hard to tell the first time.) Doesn't help that they can OneHitKill you.

* Near the end of the sewers, there is a brute guarding the exit and you need to distract him by throwing a rock. After it gets distracted, you believe the coast is clear and advance to a doorway. But then the [[OhCrap monster notices you]] and it becomes a desperate chase as you try to reach the ladder and climb to the next area.

** A room that contains nothing more than a heavy, iron weight with chains attached to it, along with a pulley system connected to another set of chains. Just give the winch a few cranks and see what happens.