i'm of two minds with this one. after being announced it was kinda an "oh another one of these?" moments which followed up with how much influence this looked like it was taking from Capcom's RE remakes among other things it didn't inspire confidence. i wouldn't say it's GREAT or anything but with quite a few reservations i do think this is the second best game in the series behind only the original. honestly, it's probably the second solid game in the whole series at this point in general.

to begin with, yes the aesthetics are patchy and gameplay is rough to say the very least. the combat is hot garbage (even beyond the already low standards of the horror genre in gaming) and there were multiple instances of me getting caught on level geometry across the whole game among other things. for the most part combat can be avoided if you sneak around, get out of an enemies short aggro range, or just run through which leaves you to the rest of the game. it was a bit refreshing to see how puzzle and exploration forward the presentation of it all was. exploring Derceto Manor really hit the spot for me and i enjoyed the puzzles even if they didn't stand out in any significant fashion.

tonally, the game was much better than i had expected it to be. for all of the outside influence that shows through, this still feels decidedly Alone in the Dark. not necessarily a difficult thing as the games had been all over the place in tone, aesthetics, and the like from the beginning but it's nice to see the kitchen sink approach still be here.

another thing that impressed me was the cast of characters plus the dialogue and voice acting that came with them. i'm indifferent to the casting of Jodie Comer and David Harbour (they were fine but i can't imagine it helped the budget lmao) but this completely nailed the offkilter, never spoken to another human in their life conversation flow more than any other horror game i've played in years. Emily asking if Edward is doing some fashion analysis when he talked about the portal in the closet and then the conversation that followed killed me.

i'm giving this a tentative 3 upon this first playthrough but i could see it maybe getting a bump to a 3.5 if it holds up in replay value and so forth. perhaps the biggest pleasant surprise i've had in gaming since Dead Island 2?

looks like this got a patch that added NG+ which comes with some shifts in the middle of my first run as Edward. looking to play at least one more round as Emily before i return my borrowed copy to the library. i'll leave further ones for all the endings and the like after i grab my own copy in a future sale.

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also, now why did they make Edward Carnby kind of hot with a fat ass...?

knew this was leaving game pass so i had intended to spread it out over the remaining days of the month with plenty of time to spare. ended up playing this over two days in bigger binge sessions instead. i really enjoyed myself.

didn't know a ton about this going in other than the charming artwork. i had assumed this was going to be an RPG (a turned based one at that) with more focus on combat and the other elements that come with it than the puzzle adventure game with light combat that this turned out to be. what i ended up with is more to my tastes most of the time so it worked out for the better.

cannot stress enough how taken i was with this for its duration. loved the universe with the characters within, visuals/colors, music, and even the combat was better than i had expected when it showed. i could see where this might be a bit repetitive but it also probably didn't help that i played through this the way i did.

i've been drifting away from going for 100% in most games but i'm really glad i did here. some of the stuff could be taken or left (the litter?) but pretty much everything else felt essential. the mystery side diversion with the cameo from Frog Detective and general Ace Attorney elements was so wonderful.

i would've gotten to this eventually but i want to give thanks to @Wollom for suggesting this in my you choose, i play list. the mixture of that and it leaving game pass brought me to it earlier than i would've otherwise.

looking forward to my eventual replay.

Remedy make a boss fight that isn't shit challenge. Hartman honestly might have been full on worse than the final boss in Quantum Break. the only thing that gives me pause is the lack of a long load screen and cinematic in front of this one in comparison.

otherwise this was once again more Control. the setting has less of the drab caves which is a bonus but the connection to Alan Wake wasn't as exciting as it sounded which was a bummer. surge as an additional weapon type seemed like a gamechanger but ended up being much less immediately busted than i thought. </3

i find myself thinking that i had my fill of this one with the base game and could've done without the expansions completely. they're both serviceable but they don't have anything to offer that made me feel like i was particularly glad that i played them or anything either. that's the case for a solid 80% of the DLC i've played for any game ever so it's not a big shock, i guess.

hopefully by the time Control 2 rolls around my fatigue from these will have faded.