After making the scariest game I’ve ever performed, Amnesia’s developer is contemplating moving on from horror
On: July 23, 2023
In an interview with 80.lv (noticed through Eurogamer), Frictional Video games artistic director and co-founder Thomas Grip revealed that the studio is contemplating de-emphasizing horror in its future tasks, as an alternative utilizing its distinctive immersive, first-person type to inform different kinds of tales.
“Horror video games naturally are where feelings are entrance and middle,” Grip defined. “Nevertheless, we’re additionally exploring themes exterior of creating issues spooky.
“For future tasks, I believe we’ll reduce a bit on the horror points with a view to give better deal with different emotional qualities. I’m assured that these video games will nonetheless really feel like Frictional ones. The immersion, the non-public journey, and a holistic imaginative and prescient are what I see as defining traits of a Frictional game—not simply horror as such.”
Frictional has an extended historical past of first particular person horror video games stretching again previous Amnesia, with the Penumbra sequence being its first main success. Whereas that historical past makes a possible flip to different storytelling priorities a little bit of a shock, it kinda has me extra excited than ever for what comes subsequent.
Whereas Amnesia was a revelation again in 2010, I may take or go away its run-and-hide horror after a number of entries. I like sci-fi spinoff SOMA and 2020’s Amnesia: Rebirth extra for his or her high-concept tales and tactile, dwelling environments than the bits where I am chased by a nasty man.
Even this 12 months’s Amnesia: The Bunker feels extra like an exception that proves the rule to me. It is now certainly one of my favourite horror video games, interval, with an unbelievable setting, terrifyingly clever monster, and hardcore, old-school useful resource administration, nevertheless it solely pulled that off by breaking sharply with Amnesia sequence custom. I imply, The Bunker provides you a gun. I say let Frictional prepare dinner and see what else the studio comes up with.
We reported again in February that Frictional artistic director Fredrik Olsson let it slip that the studio is working “on a much bigger mission you can say has way more of this sort of philosophical stuff such as you noticed in SOMA.” Apparently that mission can be being headed up by none apart from Thomas Grip—is that this but to be formally introduced game where we would see a move past horror play out?
A January narrative design job posting from Frictional needed somebody who “loves sci-fi and horror,” so who’s to say what ratio of spooky to “one thing else” Frictional will choose for this subsequent mission and what comes after.
