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As a parent, Amnesia: Rebirth destroyed me—and I loved it.
I was surprised, though, because I came in thinking I would not like the game from my experience with Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
However, recently I fell in love with other horror games like the Little Nightmares series, Dead Space, and, most recently, Cronos: The New Dawn. And ever since I finished Cronos, I’ve been craving a new horror experience.
I know we have plenty of Resident Evil games available on Switch, but I just can’t get into this franchise no matter what, and I’ve tried multiple times.
So, when Abbylight Studios approached me with a key for Amnesia: Rebirth, I knew this was the right opportunity to get my heart racing with fear once again and finally step into the Amnesia series.
Surprisingly, what scared me the most wasn’t the dark and gloomy caves, or even the ghouls that lived in them, but rather the responsibility for another life and failing to protect them.
And with this, let’s dive a bit into Amnesia: Rebirth’s story, without spoiling the game.
The Story Is the Reason You’re Here
The story starts with an expedition group flying through the Algerian desert, and you get to see said plane crash down in the eyes of Tasi Trianon.
After Tasi regains consciousness, alone, inside the plane, she is having trouble remembering past events. But even so, she understands that she must leave the plane in hopes of finding the rest of the crew and, most importantly, Salim, her husband.
During her journey, she finds clues in the form of notes, letters, and photos that jog her memory and give a clearer picture of what happened. However, Tasi will still need to reach the end of her journey to recover all of her memories, which is still far from where she stands.
But right at the beginning, she remembers the most important thing: she’s pregnant.
From here the narrative gains more weight, and we can feel the urgency and the fear of failing this new life that is still to come. Even more so when you learn of what happened with Alyss, Tasi’s first child.
As a player, I was rooting for Tasi the whole time, whether traversing the dark alleys, the ruins of a parallel dimension, or escaping from ghouls and other twisted creatures.
And reaching the end of her journey left me heartbroken. There are a few possible endings, all bittersweet, and I wish there was one that could soothe this parent’s heart after 10 hours of making sure this pregnant lady returns home with her baby.
Still, as a true Amnesia game, not every story bit is told, leaving plenty of holes in the story to be filled even after thoroughly exploring everything and reading every single note you find.
This is the most powerful tool any game can have, since it allows for continuous discussions that turn into wild theories.
How the Gameplay Works
Amnesia: Rebirth is a first-person survival horror game with a heavy emphasis on exploration and puzzle-solving to progress.
Since you’ll be doing most of this in dark places, you need to keep a watch on your sanity, which will make Tasi black out and run further back in the level, making you lose some progress.
But not much, though, since everything you explored will remain as it was. I think it’s a great accessibility option, but it definitely makes the game easier.
Managing Light and Sanity
To avoid going insane, you need to be in the presence of light, and throughout most of the game you’ll find matches scattered around everywhere.
With just one match, you can light up several candles or torches, but if you move too fast, the match will run out much faster.
If you find yourself short on matches, don’t worry, because at a certain point Tasi will be equipped with a lantern, which requires oil to function. From my experience, it runs out pretty fast, so I tried to light it up only when I had no other option and only for brief moments.
But even if you see yourself out of options, you can still navigate the game quite well in the dark for a while—except for the first section of the game for some reason.
In later sections, if there is no light, you can see the darkness light up a bit, but in that first cave area, if you don’t use the matches, everything will be pitch black. This is probably because it’s the tutorial area, and they want to teach you how to navigate the game properly while avoiding going insane. And believe me when I say that this is the most frustrating part since you need to manage your matches quite well.
Puzzles That (Mostly) Respect Your Intelligence
I love puzzles in horror games, but I understand that if they are not implemented organically into the world, it takes away from the experience and ultimately reminds you that you are playing a video game.
And not just this, but they need to have a logical solution, and not one that relies on trial and error.
For the most part, I think Amnesia: Rebirth does all of this successfully, especially when she ventures into ruins from another dimension. She has to figure out how things work with us at the helm, and everything feels organic here.
Except for one column puzzle that I could not understand no matter what. Then, I looked at it and found out it was all trial and error, as I was suspecting.
It’s the only puzzle I can negatively criticize—all the others were great and well placed inside their environments. And I can recall at least one that was a direct reference to another puzzle in the original Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which was fun to solve.
If you don’t like puzzles, though, this game might not be for you. From my experience, it places way more emphasis on this than the original game.
How It Compares to The Dark Descent
After finishing Rebirth, I had to go back to The Dark Descent to fill in some blanks and to see how it compared.
I never got that far in the original and never watched a full playthrough at the height of its popularity on YouTube.
Booting it up again with a new understanding, not just about the Amnesia series but the horror genre as a whole, made me appreciate it so much more, and as of writing this, I’m playing through Chapter 3—the furthest I’ve ever been.
Narratively they complement each other quite well, and in that regard it is a perfect sequel. For example, not far into The Dark Descent, you learn about Tin Hinan, and years later, she appears as one of the pivotal characters in Rebirth.
Rebirth also expands and shows you more about the other dimension, the orb, the vitae, and other tidbits that are referenced in The Dark Descent.
This shows how much the developers care about having a cohesive story with no loose ends.
However, both games differ in one critical aspect.
Unlike The Dark Descent, Rebirth leans its narrative on the emotional stakes of Tasi’s journey, and more often than not, this is what is being used to build the tension and atmosphere.
This game is beautiful, and sometimes the level design alone is enough to convey that intended dread. But Tasi being pregnant and having to check on the baby occasionally in these sections elevates the experience.
As I said in the intro, the scariest moments were the ones that reminded me that I had failed Tasi and her baby.
How Does It Run on Nintendo Switch 2?
Overall, it runs at a constant 30 fps in either docked or handheld mode with no notable issues. The only thing I can criticize is that there is some pop-in that is more noticeable when you’re outside and some dithering.
Even so, there are places that left me gazing in awe for brief moments from how amazingly well they looked.
Overall, it’s a great Nintendo Switch 2 port, although I wish this one had mouse-mode support since I feel it would’ve been perfect for this series. But given how this mode is still a bit gimmicky, I can understand it not being present.
Should You Play Amnesia: Rebirth on Switch 2?
As a parent, Amnesia: Rebirth broke me with its emotional narrative and left me wanting more of its exploration-based gameplay—which means now I have to play the rest of the series.
For newcomers to the horror genre and even the Amnesia series, I think this is a great place to start due to how accessible it is. You can even turn on Adventure Mode and enjoy just the story if you so wish.
For veterans, although it offers a much different experience, you’ll definitely enjoy the expanded lore of the Amnesia universe.
As a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, it’s a good port with a steady 30 fps, good visuals, and solid performance.
The game is not long, though, and you’ll complete a single playthrough in about 10 hours—but if you’re like me, you’ll play the second one to be mind-blown by all the references you now understand.
Amnesia: Rebirth is a must-play horror game on the Nintendo Switch 2 right now.
Thanks for reading, and I’ll be seeing you again next time with brand-new content.
Perfect 10/10
More info on the game:
Developer: Frictional Games
Genre: First-person survival horror/narrative adventure
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2 Performance: 30 fps | 720p handheld / 1080p docked (dynamic resolution)
