Slightly better than The Signal but still nowhere near as good as the base game.
The level design is more interesting, leaning into the surreal and dreamlike aspect of the dark place. The combat isn't as frustrating, with some parts that feel more puzzle like where you have to resort to the environment, like exploding barrels and fireworks. Then there is weirdly some sort of platforming? Which is an awful choice with how clunky the movement can be.
But again, the biggest letdown for me is it doesn't really add anything new to the plot. We knew since the ending of the game Alan was stuck in the dark place writing a new novel, and the whole journey throughout these 2 dlcs is just him navigating the dark place to write said novel, ending pretty much in the same place we left him in the base game. I didn't expect a major breakthrough as these are specials and they will save that for the sequel but still, I expected at least some new plot points or information about Thomas Zane or something? The whole thing feels pointless.

A little weaker than The Signal, I think. The setpieces are more ambitious but also jankier, and the plot is mainly just tying up loose ends as all the most interesting elements were pretty effectively established by the end of The Signal. The segment where you clear out rocks and use the lights to just decimate the Taken is cool but it's unfortunately immediately followed by an AWFUL boss fight. If you feel the need to put an unlimited supply of ammo in your boss arena you've probably fucked up. Still, not a bad time overall and provides a pretty satisfying end to the first entry in Alan Wake's story.

conclusive act for the alan wake 1 experience or at least thats what I think should I play American nightmare? ionno

anyho

wasn't a fan of the first dlc and am not a fan of this dlc it picks up where the first one left off and still plays on those chords: asset reuse same gameplay same enemies same story beats and somehow they also decided it was a good idea to implement platforming ??? youre joking

so again I probably said everything I wanted to say in the other dlc part because this is basically just a continuation of that one soooo yeah it's still mid I sure didn't want to play more Alan wake but I guess I'm just trying to cover all the bases before AW2

the story conclusion is still pretty confusing I thought these additional contents were gonna give some kind of explanation but to this moment I have no idea how the dark place and the normal world connect if Alan is actually mentally ill or its just about external influences where the fuck is the wife of this man and are the flashbacks he experience real events or just schizophrenia induced

I'm confused but I guess this is a vibes first game or at least that's what I felt

ughhhhhh so anyway can finally conclude the first games exploration its still not as good as I wanted it to be but I'm glad I played it before getting my hands on the second game

sassy barry slays

Continuation of the episode "Signal". As in the Signal episode, there is a gameplay based on shedding light on the words and turning them into reality, and this gameplay has parts that are used more creatively than the Signal episode, and thus, this was the episode I had the most fun with in the combat. In the story part, it ends the game by leaving question marks in the mind and does not explain many things to the player, but it still clarifies some things you were wondering about at the end of the main game. If you do not want to leave the story of the game unfinished, I recommend you play this additional episode, which has a gameplay time of 1 hour, after the "Signal" episode.

Depois daquele sabor horrivel que The Signal deixou, a segunda DLC de Alan Wake, The Writer, simplesmente traz o refresco merecido para finalizar o jogo. Pegando toda a criatividade do episódio anterior e melhorando, aqui vemos um aprofundamento muito melhor na história do jogo, e fases divertidas de serem feitas. Admito que o final boss é bom, mas fica cansativo. Uma ótima DLC que, na minha opinião, deveria ser o final do jogo normal. Picotar assim foi uma péssima decisão, se você apagasse The Signal e colocasse isso no final do game principal (cortando outras partes, claro), teria feito a história ficar ainda melhor.

My expectations were 3000 feet beneath the floor after the first DLC, and The Writer at least gets back up to floor level, but not an inch higher. I admire the fact that they tried so many new things here instead of just making it another combat gauntlet, but just because they were new doesn't necessarily mean they were successful. A big chunk at the beginning was a platforming section, and I think that's all I really needed to see to know this still wasn't gonna be that great. I will say that the final fight was kinda neat, and I like the place the story ended up, but honestly I think I could've skipped both of these and not been confused at all. Just completely inessential, even if it's a bit more palatable.