When comparing Amnesia: The Dark Descent vs Costume Quest, the Slant community recommends Amnesia: The Dark Descent for most people. In the question“What are the best PC games to play on Halloween?” Amnesia: The Dark Descent is ranked 5th while Costume Quest is ranked 7th. The most important reason people chose Amnesia: The Dark Descent is:
Amnesia offers immersive puzzles to the player by creating interaction that comes natural to the player. When a door needs opened, the player must pull their mouse towards them to actually open the door, same goes for drawers as well. It is through these interactions that the player can feel as if they are actually manipulating these objects instead of just pointing and clicking like so many other puzzle games.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Immersive puzzle solving
Amnesia offers immersive puzzles to the player by creating interaction that comes natural to the player. When a door needs opened, the player must pull their mouse towards them to actually open the door, same goes for drawers as well. It is through these interactions that the player can feel as if they are actually manipulating these objects instead of just pointing and clicking like so many other puzzle games.
Pro Excellent, unnerving atmosphere
Much of the game is inspired by Lovecraftian horror wherein the player is constantly assaulted with their sanity being eroded as they try to regain their memories. Monster lurk within the game that are quite frightening and the whole game is sparsely lit with constant sounds surrounding them that could be eluding to their next encounter.
Pro Incredible use of sound effects
As has been mentioned, the atmosphere is incredible, and I was scared out of my mind the whole time. There's mostly silence. A floorboard creaks, a chain rattles, the shuffling of your feet on the floor, it all serves to take your experience to new, terrifying heights.
Pro Epitome of horror, but that's not all
The game manages to keep you tense at all times, but there's more. Even if the monster wasn't there, this would be a great game to walk around, solve puzzles, and read the letters. The atmosphere is just very well crafted.
Pro Tons of extra stories
Users can download and install mods/stories created by other users, which can extend the gameplay of the game by quite a lot. Being that these are custom stories, being able to find one that appeals to the player should be pretty simple enough. A good comparison of the top available stories can be found here.
Pro Great turn-based combat
Combat is what you would expect for a normal turn-based RPG, but there is a cool timing based mechanic that allows a quick time action, that can help boost attacks. This gives a bit of a twist to the combat, making it a bit more enjoyable than your bog standard RPG as the player is given more choice as to how they want to execute more powerful moves.
Pro Good amount of content
The game is pretty linear, but there are three areas you get to explore (a suburban neighborhood, a grim mall, and the dark countryside) that each have hidden secrets and items to collect. This should take a good bit of time for those that enjoy completing a game 100 percent.
Pro Good save system
The included DLC has a newer save system (over consoles) that works better, which is applied to the whole of the game. This way there should be no issue with game saves, which is great for an RPG (as no one want to repeat content due to lost saves).
Pro PC version includes DLC from consoles
For what was an extra $5 DLC for consoles is included with the normal price of the game on PCs.
Cons
Con Puzzles tend to be easily solved
Sadly the core of the game is the puzzle aspect but they tend to be easily enough solved, which makes for a bit of a let down for players who are used to or looking for difficult gameplay.
Con May be too child centric
While this game is great for kids, adults may find it too easy or cartoony.