When Alice tries to put the pieces of her life back together, only for chaos to ensue... :o
Introduction
AMEN 11 11 is a psychological horror, dystopian hidden object game developed and published by Sons of Welder and FM Simple Games Studio. It is the spiritual successor to
Alice Mesmerizing Episodes of Neurosis (AMEN). (For my review of that game, please click
here.) For story progression purposes, I would recommend playing the previous game before getting into
AMEN 11 11 although the latter can certainly hold as a standalone game. Anyway, Alice is back in the real world although it's an alternate reality in which the Cold War ended with lots of nuclear attacks (according to the store page description XD). Alice is living in one of the countries affected by the attacks, and despite that she's trying to get her life back together, events keep happening that draw her back into Wonderland.
With the gameplay, it consists of seven levels, and you have to proceed in a linear fashion. In each level, there are a set number of moths to find and you can't move onto the next level until you do so. There is a hint function that recharges after you use it, so if you have difficulties finding one or two of those moths, it can help. You use the left mouse button to click on moths as well as to drag the scene around, and you can choose to play either in full screen or windowed mode. (However, in windowed mode, you can't adjust the screen size, so it's almost like playing in full screen mode.) Lots of Steam achievements are present, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
Review
Having just finished
Alice Mesmerizing Episodes of Neurosis (AMEN), I really wanted to dive into
AMEN 11 11 next. Thanks to the wonderful developers, a review copy was sent, so I had the chance to check out the game and give my thoughts. ^^
As I mentioned earlier, the story is a sequel, and I like that the devs explore what happened to Alice after she escapes from Wonderland. There are plenty of metaphors that can be made here. Even though it's explained more through graphics than words, I was able to get the gist of the story. Wonderland is sort of like Alice being trapped in a prison of her mind, and
AMEN 11 11 explores how Alice copes with the aftermath. She definitely has difficulties at times from completely escaping that place, but I think that's pretty natural for people who have been exposed to traumatic places and whatnot. As for the ending, gosh, it blew me away, and I can't help but ponder as to whether there might be a future game in the works.
Of course, it is the gameplay that's the main focus. Compared to the previous game, it's a bit simpler. There are no secret items, so you simply have to find moths. (In the previous game, it was keys.) Also, I like that a hint function is available, which was a complaint I had in the previous game. However, I should caution that if you use the hint function at any point in a level, you won't get the achievement "Heightened senses". The description doesn't state this, but it's basically for completing a level without using hints. Even though it's possible to obtain all achievements in one playthrough, it can be difficult to find all the moths, especially without a guide. However, the usual gameplay functions, like zooming in, are available, so they can help. One gripe that I have is that when you're in Alice's room, which is where all the levels are, it isn't made clear which level you're supposed to start, as the levels are indicated by objects in Alice's room. Although I like that it isn't your standard map level, I wish that the order of levels was somewhat clearer (despite that I eventually figured it out).
As for the art, I love that the same style has been kept as in the previous game. It gives off that hauntingly dark, psychological horror vibe. Although the majority of scenes are on the dark side, there are a couple that have more color in them. Even then, those seemingly lighter scenes end up having a more disturbing purpose.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3667253521
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3667253272
With the music, several tracks are present that, like with the art, give off that psychological horror vibe. Listening to them makes you feel like you're in a twisted version of the real world. Each level has its own track, and the tracks will loop if you take a while to complete levels.
Conclusion
Would I recommend
AMEN 11 11? If you enjoy hidden object games, especially want ones in which there are darker tones, and/or like getting all those Steam achievements, then it's definitely worth checking out. I enjoyed this wonderful successor to
Alice Mesmerizing Episodes of Neurosis (AMEN), and for the asking price, it's worth it, as all the art is hand-drawn and it's obvious that plenty of care was taken into making this HOG have great gameplay and an entrancing story. Of course, you can choose to wait for a sale, and it's in a few Steam bundles.
Finally, I'd like to thank Sons of Welder and FM Simple Games Studio for the review copy. It was such a crazy journey with
AMEN 11 11, and I definitely would love to see more HOGs in this style. ^^
For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow The Introverted Gamer, prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^
