About 6,5 hours in and I'm liking this quite a bit more than the original Amnesia but I was never that much of a fan of that one, though it did scare the pants off me when I first played it. But I'd say that ,given the "cult classic gone mainstream" thing that happened to Amnesia, Frictional were setting up for disappointment in trying to do a sequel to it. There is just no way it would ever have the same impact, and a game like this is all about the impact.
But it's a pretty uneven game. Like someone said, the biggest problem is the pacing. Personally I don't really mind the main character, even though there is a bit too much emoting going on (mother of god!) but it's not a problem for me. But the way everything is spaced out, from flashbacks, notes, puzzles, spooky sequences, it feels very "choppy". Especially the beginning of the game kinda infodumps on you with characters and stuff right away, and all you want to do at that point is just *get into the gameplay*.
It gets better as the game goes on but it still feels uneven, much due to how the journey unfolds with various environs and the way you go from to another. I mean, it's *good* that the environs are varied (and some are very well done) but it really highlights that you're really going through various levels.
I like that there are some puzzles to be found. The sequences with monsters feel too easy and forgiving of the player. It needs to feel way more deadly and punishing than it is now. In 2020, the saturated horror market just makes it too easy to see through some of the tricks that the game pulls. There are some nice "setpieces", interesting setups but the actual gameplay of the whole hide and seek thing isn't very interesting any more. And again, too forgiving.
Story-wise it's also a mixed bag. Some parts of it are really good, some parts have potential that just isn't quite reached and some parts just aren't that interesting.
When it's good, it's really good and still quite scary to me (though I'm a wimp when it comes to these types of games). It's just that the lows are a bit too low. I still have a ways to go but I'd rate it above The Dark Descent so far (again, not a huge of TDD). But I much prefer the Penumbras and especially SOMA. Machine for pigs is not worth mentioning.
In some ways, it is what I expected for the game. I would've rather had them do something completely new like they did with SOMA.