PRESSING X TO COMFORT MY UNBORN CHILD IN AMNESIA: REBIRTH

We’ve come a long way from pressing F to pay respects.

- James Davenport

Amnesia: Rebirth casts you as Tasi Trianon, a young explorer with a case of amnesia. Besides bobbing and weaving around cosmic horrors, getting your memories back is the goal here. Early on, you’ll recall the tragic fate of some loved ones, and chip away at the extra tragic local colonial history. Soon enough, Tasi will gather enough memory scraps to piece together a particularly big one: She’s four months pregnant.

Tasi’s pregnancy isn’t marginalized, stowed away for certain cutscenes and story beats. As the player you will need to literally babysit, pressing a button to make Tasi hold her belly to feel and listen for her unborn child. I’m not very far into Rebirth, but the simple existence of a ‘Press X to check fetus’ system already gives the horror new dimensions.

Sure, it sounds goofy without context, and brings to mind Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s infamous ‘Press F to pay respects’ scene. But that moment is an empty gesture— you don’t spend the next ten hours pressing F to salute soldiers to maintain your Respect stat. It’s a button prompt that turns the page. Amnesia makes its baby button prompt a lever you can pull at any time, and for good, spooky reasons.

I would tell you exactly how the baby button works, but the key here is that the explicit function of the baby button isn’t really explained. I only put together how it works through play. Rebirth is leading with action and theme: You’re pregnant, protect the baby. It’s mum roleplay.