The beginning...and then the end

We had to compromise on the atmosphere as Ashley refused to play in the dark with headphones on.  By the light of her Ikea floor lamp my fiancée cranked up the gamma and brightness to Spongebob levels and proceeded to enter a very brightly-lit Castle Brennenburg.

No, not like that...

Yeah, that's more like it.

As Daniel regains consciousness, Ashley takes stock of her surroundings.

"Are these rose petals or blood?"  Rain filters through the crumbling masonry and there's a clap of thunder through the windows.  "This must be Portland."

Ashley tries to get a hang of the controls but Daniel's insanity vision quickly turned the game into a sobriety test simulator.  "Seriously, am I tripping on acid or something?"

No dear, that part comes later.

Suspicious of anything that could trigger a jump scare, Ashley approaches practically all objects with suspicion.  The suit of medieval armor in the starting hall was inspected warily just to have its helmet torn from its body by my blood-thirsty fiancée.

Who's the real monster here?  Not I...

"I'm hitting your butt with your own head!  How does your butt smell?" Ashley taunted gleefully at the helpless inanimate armor.  Amnesia can detect such hubris in its players so when she dared to confidently stride down the hall, a sudden breeze blew open an adjacent door.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!  I'm done."  

So this is why she's afraid to enter supermarkets...

Ashley was able to regroup from the game's first intended jump scare but startled herself when she accidentally hurled a chamber pot to the floor.  "Oh oh!  It came at my face!  Heheheheheh"

The hallway shook and rattled in anger at the sudden loss of pottery and Ashley lost her nerve to continue past the second hallway.  

"I don't want to play this anymore."  Three minutes into the game.  She didn't even get to the lantern.  That's the power of Amnesia: its atmosphere.  There isn't even a single monster until a half-hour into the game but all it needed were sound effects and wind to scare off most players.  

Ashley's dark descent into Castle Brennenburg is done but that's probably for the best.  If she's too scared to sleep at night, then I'm not allowed to sleep either. :(

Anyawdy eee eye entures?

After exiting the game, Ashley opened Tropico where she could take on the role of cruel tormentor.  Maybe we could return to Amnesia another time but 10 minute intervals is enough for her.  In the mean time Generalissimo Ashley is going to deny her people basic healthcare and religious freedoms.  Viva la Revolucion!  

And now to turn all the corn crops into tobacco...