Back in 2015, Frictional Games released SOMA. Two years later, Safe Mode was patched into the game, removing the tension of a fail state. When they released Amnesia: Rebirth late last year, I somehow figured that’d be it. No major updates. Just a fun, yet terrifying, new game. For once, I’m happy to have been proven wrong as that one now has a similar feature in the form of Adventure Mode.
I love it when games feature difficulty assists. Not difficulty levels. Those can burn in hell, for all I care. Assists. Celeste is a perfect example of player assists – or cheats, I suppose – done right, a handful of entirely optional tweaks readily available to make the game noticeably easier in key areas. Love it. That goes for SOMA‘s Safe Mode too, and Amnesia: Rebirth‘s Adventure Mode, as they do what it says on the tin: enable players to experience a safe adventure. On a personal note, they probably should have done less when trimming the horror of Amnesia: Rebirth and called it a day early.
Playing the game in Adventure Mode still contains the same serious themes and story – and the atmosphere can still be quite unnerving at times – but the experience is going to be much less of a horror experience and more one of an epic adventure.
Not so much because monsters will no longer attack Tasi, the protagonist, or the removal of its active fear mechanic. Those are great tweaks. I mean, they went so far as to even add bonus puzzles to Adventure Mode, so what on Earth could possibly be even remotely controversial about it? Well, areas dipped in absolute darkness have been ‘brightened up’. It’s not that I don’t get why either, but I’d rather experience the original aesthetic and tweak the brightness setting myself, and chances are I’m not alone in that. Small price to pay for a mode that lets fans experience Tasi’s story with a far lower barrier to entry though.
Besides, the original Amnesia: Rebirth experience wasn’t patched out or otherwise changed in the update, so let’s chalk that up to me nitpicking and give a round of applause to Frictional Games for taking the time to add Adventure Mode.
(Source: Adventure Mode for Amnesia: Rebirth)