 They're coming for you. An archaeological expedition uncovers a mysterious orb. The "shadow" of the orb has chased the player into a mansion. The player must kill the owner of the mansion, who is the source of the evil power. Stay in the light, stay out of the shadows. Move fast, but be careful. It's right behind you.
1. Gameplay
Amnesia: The Dark Descent is that kind of survival horror. You enter a mansion and have no idea why you’re there. All you know is that you need to kill a man named Alexander who is deep in the inner sanctum of the castle and that something wants to keep you from achieving this goal. You have to try and push forward while constantly reassuring yourself that, as long as you keep going on, there has to be a way to accomplish your goal. 
...right?
I have played other survival horror games in the past, some of which were extremely difficult. The Silent Hill and Resident Evil series (the beginning games, I mean) were designed so that the player would normally try to avoid killing an enemy when possible. However, there would be some inevitable combat. Amnesia doesn’t play like those games. The player will never directly kill a single creature. The only direct violence comes from if the player gets attacked by a monster, and those attacks will almost instantly kill the player. It was a serious change of pace from the run-of-the-mill shooters and other violence-riddled games that I have played over the past 15 years. 
Getting this picture was a dangerous assignment.
However, don’t let the lack of violence deceive you. This game is dark, scary, and bloody. It includes some of the most graphic depictions of torture that I have ever seen, and this is made exponentially worse by the fact that all of the methods of torture were used in history. There are few things scarier than seeing a blood-lined iron maiden while you constantly look over your shoulder, hoping that nothing is going to surprise you and push you into the horrible execution device. One awesome element is that light is an extremely valuable commodity. It may seem strange, but light is the only thing that allows you to see your enemies effectively and keep your character from going insane and giving away his position. Players that can effectively manage their tinderbox and oil use will find this game much easier than those who waste light. I ended the game with over two dozen tinderboxes and plenty of oil, so even an amateur player should have enough light to get through the game without any problems. 
Don't waste it though.
The only slightly unfortunate thing is that this game suffers from the exact same problems as suspense-based horror movies. In the end, the nightmarish creatures conjured up by my imagination were far more intimidating than the slow, mindless zombies that dogged my tracks constantly. As long as I stayed a good distance away from the creatures, I was never in real danger, and the final “boss” was almost laughably easy to dispatch. Overall, this game was an excellent change of pace. It’s definitely worth playing if you’re a member of an older audience, but don’t let the kids see this game.
There are a few mods that will increase the length of the game, but I wouldn’t count on these to add more than a few hours.
There were a couple of times late in the game where I had to look up the solution to a puzzle. Most of these involved subtle elements that I missed simply because there was something else that drew my attention. These occasions were fairly rare though. 2. Parental Notices
This is what you see right before death.
That being said, take note of the “Miscellaneous” section below. What the game lacks in violence it makes up for with the remnants of violence and torture.
I could make some grim morgue jokes, but I'd rather not.
However, there is nothing sexual about these bodies at all. It’s hard to consider anything sexual when there’s a significant chance that a monster will chase you into a corner with a dead body in the next moment.
Pretty colors!
There is one potion that the player has to make late in the game that is somehow used to trap a person’s soul in the head of a husk. It’s difficult to explain because I did not fully understand the concepts behind the potion. It required blood from someone who was being tortured, mucus from a water monster, and spores from an extremely poisonous mushroom. 
It also needs some eye of newt and wing of bat.
The player does have health vials with a substance called “Laundanum”. This could be a typo or a purposeful misspelling of the substance “Laudanum”, which my research says is a combination of a number of serious painkillers. Laudanum includes morphine, codeine, thebaine, and papaverine. The game makes it seem like the substance heals wounds. There is also mention of some sort of “amnesia” potion, but it is only mentioned briefly by the main antagonist.
3. Other Factors
These pictures don't offer much comfort.
Other than these, religion is completely absent from the game.
Thank goodness I'm a lightweight.
Other than that, extreme sports are not a factor in this game.
Look into the crystal ball and see...
The end of the game has clear magical elements. In one section a still-living body that has had its jaw removed talks to you and gives you specific quest-related requests. 
For a guy missing his mouth, this guy is sure talkative.
In a number of sections in the game, the player encounters signs and documentation that a person (or people) was torturing both people and animals in order to extract some sort of “fear” from the dying victim’s blood. I’m assuming this blood was used for the magical rituals used throughout the game. At the end of the game, the main antagonist is performing some sort of magical ritual in order to open up a portal to what is assumed to be the underworld. 
More like a portal to nowhere.
Also, it should be mentioned that the monster or monsters that constantly follow the player around are almost certainly created through some sort of magic.
The first half of this game was completely devoid of any sort of “mature” content (other than the heavy fear-based elements, of course, which are discussed below). Yet after the player goes through the castle’s sewer system, the player ends up in a sort of underground prisons / dungeons / torture chambers. There were a number of them. All of the various torture devices were absolutely absurd. Sure, they were real devices, but it seemed like the only purpose for including them in the game was that the antagonist wanted to collect the fear from the victim’s blood. 
Arms open wide, inviting you in for a deadly embrace.
There are also some devices which I have seen in the Tower of London but of which I would rather not be reminded. For example, the classic “hang a man by his spread legs then use a large saw to slice him in half from the groin down”. 
Thank goodness there were pictures in case I didn't already understand the brutality.
The torture chambers are impossible to miss, and the storyline makes it extremely clear that the antagonist is very skilled in how to use the fear of other prisoners to heighten the tension of all those in the holding cells. Animal Cruelty Early in the game the player discovers a room where some character (possibly the antagonist) was experimenting on dogs in order to find out how to extract the fear element from the blood of the animals. A number of severed heads of dogs can be found. 
That's just not right.
Gore There are a number of instances where body parts will be lying around. Aside from the severed dog’s head that can be found early on, the player will have to pick up severed limbs and torsos and throw them in order to get away from a water-demon. 
Is that a wing or a drumstick?
These types of gore are included a number of times throughout the game. 
You might see a torso, but in this game it's bait.
Scary Images There aren’t many specific scary “images” in this game, since nothing jumps out at the player. However, many of the environments can be extremely creepy. There was also one particular instance where a portrait ended up looking absolutely horrifyingly creepy. This may have been a result of my character losing his sanity, since once I regained my composure the picture returned to normal. 
Weird.
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