I miss Lance Reddick.
Over the last couple of weeks, I developed something of a ritual for playing this game. I would wait until at least 9 PM at night, ensuring that I could make my room pitch black. I cranked the volume on my headphones and connected my dualsense controller to my PC. I brewed myself a mug of herbal tea and let it cool while I extinguished the lamps in my room. Finally, I booted the game up.
Alan Wake II is squarely Remedy's best. I have rolled credits on all their games and have loved each in their own way. I was driven to treat this one with reverence in a way I never did the others. I don't think I have ever seen a game so bold and strange get production values this enormous. It's a pure delight from start to finish, and feels like a once-in-a-generation game.
The decade-long gap between Alan Wake II and its prequel has allowed its concepts to simmer in the minds of its writers and designers. The game is clearly better off for it in every way.
True survival horror is a perfect fit for Alan Wake II. The game borrows heavily from the Resident Evil games to great effect. The stress of high-risk combat and resource management bring a player closer to Saga and Alan's journey. It also gives compelling reasons to follow the delightful collect-a-thon side quests in order to bolster one's aresenal. I was morbidly delighted when some of the cult stashes had me bust out a pen and paper to do algebra problems.
The technology behind Alan Wake II is peerless. My jaw dropped as soon as I stepped into the forest of Cauldron Lake and I was rarely able to pick it back up. Path traced lighting and reflections make every tiny detail shine. Audio deserves a shout as well, with incredible binaural simulation making me swing the camera around every time I heard a twig snap off in the distance. I played through the whole game with everything cranked up and I felt like my monitor was showing me a glimpse of what AAA games will look like a decade into the future.
What will remain in conversation and stick in the memory of players the longest is undoubtedly Alan Wake II's metafiction story. It is sublimely layered and rewards careful attention. A player doesn't need to have played Alan Wake to enjoy the twists and turns in this game's narrative. On the other hand, previous experience with Remedy's stories will allow a player to recognize rich detail in every aspect of the game's story. It's a story about stories that interrogates the process of both creating and consuming media. Who should decide how the story goes: the writer or the audience? Is a creator responsible for their fandom? Can we really kill our creative darlings in permanent ways?
Alan Wake II is squarely Remedy's best. I have rolled credits on all their games and have loved each in their own way. I was driven to treat this one with reverence in a way I never did the others. I don't think I have ever seen a game so bold and strange get production values this enormous. It's a pure delight from start to finish, and feels like a once-in-a-generation game.
The decade-long gap between Alan Wake II and its prequel has allowed its concepts to simmer in the minds of its writers and designers. The game is clearly better off for it in every way.
True survival horror is a perfect fit for Alan Wake II. The game borrows heavily from the Resident Evil games to great effect. The stress of high-risk combat and resource management bring a player closer to Saga and Alan's journey. It also gives compelling reasons to follow the delightful collect-a-thon side quests in order to bolster one's aresenal. I was morbidly delighted when some of the cult stashes had me bust out a pen and paper to do algebra problems.
The technology behind Alan Wake II is peerless. My jaw dropped as soon as I stepped into the forest of Cauldron Lake and I was rarely able to pick it back up. Path traced lighting and reflections make every tiny detail shine. Audio deserves a shout as well, with incredible binaural simulation making me swing the camera around every time I heard a twig snap off in the distance. I played through the whole game with everything cranked up and I felt like my monitor was showing me a glimpse of what AAA games will look like a decade into the future.
What will remain in conversation and stick in the memory of players the longest is undoubtedly Alan Wake II's metafiction story. It is sublimely layered and rewards careful attention. A player doesn't need to have played Alan Wake to enjoy the twists and turns in this game's narrative. On the other hand, previous experience with Remedy's stories will allow a player to recognize rich detail in every aspect of the game's story. It's a story about stories that interrogates the process of both creating and consuming media. Who should decide how the story goes: the writer or the audience? Is a creator responsible for their fandom? Can we really kill our creative darlings in permanent ways?
Holy fuck.
Been forever since I played a Remedy Game, and it's been a couple years since my first playthrough of Alan Wake 1 as well. Decided to try this one out to see what I would get and...
Yeah, if there's a high-quality Twin Peaks ripoff out there, this one is absolutely that one. And boy I'm glad it exists, because the concepts and ideas this game has make the first game look so small in contrast.
I love the live action segments and the mixture of visuals, specially when playing as Alan. Saga's gameplay feels closer to how Alan played in the first game, with the very welcoming dodge button and weapon upgrade system to it.
I love how you can just explore the area around Bright Falls too, and the small fetch quests of finding the lunchboxes, nursery rhymes and stashes hidden around the map.
Welp, if I have to deduct half a star over anything... is just how this just won't run on a low-end laptop at ALL. I can see why it doesn't run, this motherfucker has a fuckton of post-processing happening in your face almost 24/7. If this ever releases on game pass or if I get a console in the near future, I am definitely replaying it.
Overall, the madmen at Remedy know how to make a high quality game that's absolutely weird from beginning to end. I am definitely replaying their stuff in the coming weeks as well. :)
Been forever since I played a Remedy Game, and it's been a couple years since my first playthrough of Alan Wake 1 as well. Decided to try this one out to see what I would get and...
Yeah, if there's a high-quality Twin Peaks ripoff out there, this one is absolutely that one. And boy I'm glad it exists, because the concepts and ideas this game has make the first game look so small in contrast.
I love the live action segments and the mixture of visuals, specially when playing as Alan. Saga's gameplay feels closer to how Alan played in the first game, with the very welcoming dodge button and weapon upgrade system to it.
I love how you can just explore the area around Bright Falls too, and the small fetch quests of finding the lunchboxes, nursery rhymes and stashes hidden around the map.
Welp, if I have to deduct half a star over anything... is just how this just won't run on a low-end laptop at ALL. I can see why it doesn't run, this motherfucker has a fuckton of post-processing happening in your face almost 24/7. If this ever releases on game pass or if I get a console in the near future, I am definitely replaying it.
Overall, the madmen at Remedy know how to make a high quality game that's absolutely weird from beginning to end. I am definitely replaying their stuff in the coming weeks as well. :)
Definetly one of the best video game stories I’ve experienced. The soundtrack, atmosphere, cast of characters, gameplay and story all have been improved from its predecessor. Only minor issues I had with the game were the gameplay variety and that the game ended on a cliffhanger (again) but it’s still an amazing experience especially if you have played Control and Alan Wake 1.
Sam Lake's got the kind of ego that would be the stuff of Greek myths lmao
I've hated games for a lot less than what this game did to me but I can't help but adore it. It's so up my alley as someone who has come to love horror and who recently watched the entirety of Twin Peaks. It's so clearly influenced by David Lynch's style of abstract, stiff presentation but with this B-movie earnestness I can't help but love.
Narrative, visuals, art direction, acting, music, and ambience are all pitch perfect. So beautifully dialled in to be juuuuuuust camp and cliche enough to feel familiar but intense and professional enough to be deeply enthralling. The use of live action video here is actually great and meshes really well given how incredible the in-engine material looks. The way the game changes stuff on the fly is also insanely impressive.
Gameplay is kind of a mess. It can broadly be described as survival-horror with its focus on resource management and third-person action against evil monsters. But the game also borders on being a bit walking simulator-esque in places, a bit puzzle in other places, and almost like a AAA visual novel in the Writer's Room and Mind Place. It feels way too hand-holdy in narrative sections and way too difficult in combat with how fast and powerful some enemies are. I could tear this game apart for its gameplay but I mostly enjoyed my time (except for combat in Alan's sections, which often got way too difficult) and I was too wrapped up in the narrative to care.
The game also is buggy. Not unplayable, but sometimes you'll get caught in terrain, or a button won't work, or the map won't load correctly. Definitely in need of some fixes.
I've never cared much for Remedy's work until now. It's always felt like they were aiming way too high above their level and while AWII definitely feels that way at points, it feels like they've now gotten to a point where they're capable of punching far above their weight.
With some mechanical refinement and deepening of player interaction, I believe Remedy have it in them to deliver an absolutely devastating third installment.
Highest recommend FFO: Twin Peaks, third person survival horror, arthouse cinema and video games
I've hated games for a lot less than what this game did to me but I can't help but adore it. It's so up my alley as someone who has come to love horror and who recently watched the entirety of Twin Peaks. It's so clearly influenced by David Lynch's style of abstract, stiff presentation but with this B-movie earnestness I can't help but love.
Narrative, visuals, art direction, acting, music, and ambience are all pitch perfect. So beautifully dialled in to be juuuuuuust camp and cliche enough to feel familiar but intense and professional enough to be deeply enthralling. The use of live action video here is actually great and meshes really well given how incredible the in-engine material looks. The way the game changes stuff on the fly is also insanely impressive.
Gameplay is kind of a mess. It can broadly be described as survival-horror with its focus on resource management and third-person action against evil monsters. But the game also borders on being a bit walking simulator-esque in places, a bit puzzle in other places, and almost like a AAA visual novel in the Writer's Room and Mind Place. It feels way too hand-holdy in narrative sections and way too difficult in combat with how fast and powerful some enemies are. I could tear this game apart for its gameplay but I mostly enjoyed my time (except for combat in Alan's sections, which often got way too difficult) and I was too wrapped up in the narrative to care.
The game also is buggy. Not unplayable, but sometimes you'll get caught in terrain, or a button won't work, or the map won't load correctly. Definitely in need of some fixes.
I've never cared much for Remedy's work until now. It's always felt like they were aiming way too high above their level and while AWII definitely feels that way at points, it feels like they've now gotten to a point where they're capable of punching far above their weight.
With some mechanical refinement and deepening of player interaction, I believe Remedy have it in them to deliver an absolutely devastating third installment.
Highest recommend FFO: Twin Peaks, third person survival horror, arthouse cinema and video games
"And some say that loops forever this road
That i lose you on every time"
META, esse jogo brinca em ser meta, dá aula em como fazer uma narrativa imersiva q coexiste com sua gameplay e atrela ela a história de forma espetacular.
Absolute cinema.
That i lose you on every time"
META, esse jogo brinca em ser meta, dá aula em como fazer uma narrativa imersiva q coexiste com sua gameplay e atrela ela a história de forma espetacular.
Absolute cinema.
Remedy straight up has a stranglehold on my final straw being lost on modern games.
Está bueno. Está muy bueno. Lo que más destacó del juego es la atmósfera, los escenarios, la intriga y lo inmersivo que es. Los gráficos son hermosos y estuve constantemente mirando los diferentes escenarios y explorando todo porque disfrutaba estando ahí en ese mundo. El juego es muy creativo y la idea del Mind Place o el Case Board están buenísimos para ayudarte a ir hilando (literalmente) la historia e ir sacando conclusiones. La historia está buena, un poco rebuscada y medio repetida del anterior aunque con más giros y más capas pero igual esta muy buena, aunque le falta un algo que me haga conectar más con los personajes o con la emotividad en general. El final es raro, pero me gustó. Overall una experiencia muy muy sólida, me gustó jugarlo y me gustan mucho los juegos de Remedy, más que nada por su estética y dirección artística.
Personal 2023 GOTY
— Я снимал самый дорогой артхаус в истории кино. — сказал Дени Вильнёв.
— А мы сделали самый дорогой артхаус в истории видеоигр. — ловко парировал Сэм Лейк.
Это не фестиваль в честь Дня оленя, это фестиваль постмодернизма!
Remedy Entertainment и Сэм Лейк в частности, работая над долгожданным продолжением истории знаменитого писателя, оторвались на полную катушку, создав похожий одновременно на всё и ни на что проект, попросту не способный оставить вас равнодушным. Меня он таким не оставил, но, к сожалению, не всегда по хорошему поводу.
Даже на момент написания публикации отзыва игра не окупилась, при этом являясь лучшим стартом в истории Remedy. Надеюсь, что у продаж будет так называемый длинный хвост, что позволит выйти проекту хотя бы в ноль. Финны определённо знают толк в сюжетно-ориентированных видеоиграх и имеют свой стиль, который ни с чем не спутаешь, а потому я желаю им успехов в дальнейшем и жду Condor с Control 2.
Начну с плюсов. Игра непростительно кинематографичная. Выражается это не только в графике, анимациях, но и освещении, цветовой палитре, которые также имеют огромное влияние на общее восприятие движущегося изображения. Движок Northlight в этом плане ничуть не хуже того же Unreal Engine 5. А с оптимизацией в этот раз проблем ещё меньше, чем с Quantum Break и Control, которые также были разработаны на Northlight.
Режиссура играет одну из ключевых ролей. Будучи одной из фишек студии, симбиоз с кинематографическими элементами повествования рождает ни с чем не сравнимое ощущение единения с развивающейся на экране историей.
Арт-дизайн. Художники создали нечто неописуемо завораживающе красивое, что так и побуждает нажимать на кнопку скриншота без устали. Более того, окружение богатое на виды. Вот вам неоновый ночной дождливый город, вот вам небольшой городок Брайт Фоллс, а вот особняк "Валгалла", стоящий в лесу.
Сюжет, нарратив умело играются с восприятием игрока, путая и впечатляя его. Ненадёжный рассказчик, метапроза, интертекст, самореференции, связь с другими проектами Remedy — всё это создаёт винегрет с сверхординарным вкусом. Сами Антеро Ярви, взявший псевдоним Сэм Лейк, играет в игре самого себя и агента Алекса Кейси, воплощающего в себе образ Макса Пейна, права на которого студия лишилась ещё в нулевых, и при этом он же является сценаристом и креативным директором игры, что будоражит сознание при прохождении. Такой набор вызывает необычные ощущения и притягивает к экрану. А для тех, кто играл в другие проекты студии, не считая Alan Wake, видеть отсылки, которые переросли в нечто большее, чем отсылки, и пытаться находить взаимосвязи — отдельное удовольствие.
За счёт микса разных приёмов повествования, намеренной путаницы, недосказанностей, символизма Alan Wake 2 ни на шутку увлекает. Хочется распутать этот клубок и понять, что же на самом деле произошло в Брайт Фоллс и как это нужно трактовать. Да даже без этого просто интересно наблюдать за происходящим и являться непосредственным участником происходящего.
Саундтрек снова сыграл огромную роль в повествовании. Как и в первой части, немалое содействие оказали Poets of the Fall, которые не только написали некоторые композиции к проекту, но и опять воплотили образ группы Old Gods of Asgard с на этот раз двумя музыкальными номерами. Плюс ко всему, под конец глав игры воспроизводятся песни, написанные разными исполнителями специально для Alan Wake 2.
Геймплей стал сильно походить на Resident Evil 2 образца 2019-го года. Камера поместилась ближе к герою, сократив область обзора, инвентарь ограничился, врагов стало меньше, как и патронов с аптечками и батареями, что, в свою очередь, повысило градус напряжения во время ведения боя. Для сохранений теперь используются свои хорошо освещённые комнаты с термосами и коробками для хранения предметов. Хоррор-элементов стало значительно больше. Чего стоят стильные скримеры, демонстрирующие жуткие лица под громкий всепоглощающий звук.
Однако одними заимствованиями у легенды survival horror'ов игра не ограничилась. Она предложила новые механики, не забыв о таких старых, как, к примеру, фонарик и теневая броня у врагов, требующая интенсивного освещения. Помимо этого, теперь можно, играя за Алана, находить идеи для переписывания истории и менять эпизоды, что будет приводить к изменению области, в которой находится игрок, ежесекундно буквально по щелчку пальца. Действительно впечатляюще!
И как раз с геймплея начинаются все минусы игры, которые сильно испортили мне настроение и вынудили забросить проект на целых полгода. Из-за проблем с ним и ещё одним важным аспектом игры я был готов поставить три звезды вместо четырёх. Настолько фрустрировало.
С балансом геймплея проблем нет. Проблемы скорее с тем, как разработчики обходятся с желающими обследовать все окрестности с целью найти все секреты и прокачать персонажей на максимум. Если в Control я с удовольствием занимался бектрекингом и справлялся с заново возродившимися врагами, то в Alan Wake 2 меня это начинало жутко выбешивать. В начале игры снаряжения мало, а потому каждый дополнительный необязательный исследованный отрезок карты давался с трудом ввиду частых смертей и перезагрузок контрольных точек, находящихся далеко. Если пропустил что-то в уже изученной области и возвращаешься в неё спустя 10 минут (да даже если просто возвращаешься в неё), то будь готов встретиться с новой партией врагов.
Зачем давать зайти в помещение и исследовать его целиком, отыскать в нём сюжетный предмет и не давать его использовать, потому что игрок по сюжету ещё не дошёл до момента, когда ему нужно найденный предмет использовать? В итоге приходится второй раз бежать в область, где был подобран предмет, и применять его. Плюс бегать приходится иногда длинными путями, потому что шорткаты закрыты. А разблокировать их дают в конце главы, когда тебе они уже не нужны. Пропустил одну секретку? Молодец — теперь ты другую не сможешь решить.
Следующая проблема бьёт ещё сильнее. Это половина слитого сюжета. Если точнее, то интеграция в него повестки, что значительно испортило всё повествование и вызвало бурю отрицательных эмоций. Сам факт сотрудничества с sweet baby inc убивает во мне всё то доброе человеческое, что взращивалось всю жизнь. Зубы начинают скрипеть от одного упоминанию этой мизантропической расистской компании, заявляющей, что она делает игры лучше, на самом деле безжалостно уродуя их так, как не смог бы даже самый отпетый серийный маньяк.
Не важен цвет кожи персонажа, не важен его пол. Важно то, насколько интересен, глубок и ярок персонаж. Ведь от этого напрямую зависит эмоциональный отклик игрока и степень его погружения в произведение. А впихивание — ощущается сие именно как впихивание — чёрного сильного женского персонажа с покер-фейсом и монотонным голосом на протяжении 95% игры просто-напросто рушит всё это погружение. Опустим то, что показанная в предыдущих играх Remedy в качестве пасхалки Сага Андерсон была белой. Опустим, что игра называется Alan Wake II, а половину её мы проходим за совершенно другого персонажа. Давайте посмотрим, что вообще представляет из себя Сага.
А представляет она из себя бревно. Натуральное. Одно выражение лица, один тон голоса практически на всю игру. Пока Илкка Вилли, играющий Алана Уэйка, плачет, кричит, боится, смеётся, что мы видим в многочисленных катсценах и слышим в аудиодорожках, мелани либёрд, сыгравшая сагу андерсон, смотрит в пустоту и просто читает свои реплики. Как можно сопереживать персонажу, которому, кажется, особо нет дела до происходящего? При этом самой Саге Андерсон есть дело только до её дочери Логан, о чём она напоминает на протяжении игры не раз и не два.
Алан Уэйк сидит 13 лет в Тёмной Обители? А наша Мэри Сью... ой, я хотел сказать Сага Андерсон, выбирается оттуда за считанные минуты. Ещё она провидица и находит ответы на многие вопросы не благодаря дедукции, а своим "видениям", напрямую озвучивающим мысли тех или иных персонажей. Какая, однако, у нас увлекательная всемогущая героиня появилась. Не то что Алан, один из "белых ублюдков", который сам теперь ничего не может сделать. В самой игре напрямую одного человека Сага называет "белым ублюдком". Стрелочка же не поворачивается, верно. Мать Саги белая, при этом дочка не выглядит как метис. Уууупс.
Сага Андерсон украла у меня больше половины игры. Она испортила её и очернила (можете считать это каламбуром) своим присутствием. Персонаж, использованный для повестки, не вызывающий никакого переживания, а лишь ненависть к себе и своим создателям за свою нераскрытую личность, безэмоциональность и всесильность, уничтожающие все зачатки хоть какого-либо интереса.
Подводя итог, могу посоветовать сиквел Alan Wake любителям очаровательной картинки, артхауса, кинематографа, настоящим фанатам Remedy, более терпеливым и прогрессивным игрокам, идущим в ногу со временем, а не таким старым "ворчунам", как я, которые устали от бесчинств повестки, портящей искусство.
— А мы сделали самый дорогой артхаус в истории видеоигр. — ловко парировал Сэм Лейк.
Это не фестиваль в честь Дня оленя, это фестиваль постмодернизма!
Remedy Entertainment и Сэм Лейк в частности, работая над долгожданным продолжением истории знаменитого писателя, оторвались на полную катушку, создав похожий одновременно на всё и ни на что проект, попросту не способный оставить вас равнодушным. Меня он таким не оставил, но, к сожалению, не всегда по хорошему поводу.
Даже на момент написания публикации отзыва игра не окупилась, при этом являясь лучшим стартом в истории Remedy. Надеюсь, что у продаж будет так называемый длинный хвост, что позволит выйти проекту хотя бы в ноль. Финны определённо знают толк в сюжетно-ориентированных видеоиграх и имеют свой стиль, который ни с чем не спутаешь, а потому я желаю им успехов в дальнейшем и жду Condor с Control 2.
Начну с плюсов. Игра непростительно кинематографичная. Выражается это не только в графике, анимациях, но и освещении, цветовой палитре, которые также имеют огромное влияние на общее восприятие движущегося изображения. Движок Northlight в этом плане ничуть не хуже того же Unreal Engine 5. А с оптимизацией в этот раз проблем ещё меньше, чем с Quantum Break и Control, которые также были разработаны на Northlight.
Режиссура играет одну из ключевых ролей. Будучи одной из фишек студии, симбиоз с кинематографическими элементами повествования рождает ни с чем не сравнимое ощущение единения с развивающейся на экране историей.
Арт-дизайн. Художники создали нечто неописуемо завораживающе красивое, что так и побуждает нажимать на кнопку скриншота без устали. Более того, окружение богатое на виды. Вот вам неоновый ночной дождливый город, вот вам небольшой городок Брайт Фоллс, а вот особняк "Валгалла", стоящий в лесу.
Сюжет, нарратив умело играются с восприятием игрока, путая и впечатляя его. Ненадёжный рассказчик, метапроза, интертекст, самореференции, связь с другими проектами Remedy — всё это создаёт винегрет с сверхординарным вкусом. Сами Антеро Ярви, взявший псевдоним Сэм Лейк, играет в игре самого себя и агента Алекса Кейси, воплощающего в себе образ Макса Пейна, права на которого студия лишилась ещё в нулевых, и при этом он же является сценаристом и креативным директором игры, что будоражит сознание при прохождении. Такой набор вызывает необычные ощущения и притягивает к экрану. А для тех, кто играл в другие проекты студии, не считая Alan Wake, видеть отсылки, которые переросли в нечто большее, чем отсылки, и пытаться находить взаимосвязи — отдельное удовольствие.
За счёт микса разных приёмов повествования, намеренной путаницы, недосказанностей, символизма Alan Wake 2 ни на шутку увлекает. Хочется распутать этот клубок и понять, что же на самом деле произошло в Брайт Фоллс и как это нужно трактовать. Да даже без этого просто интересно наблюдать за происходящим и являться непосредственным участником происходящего.
Саундтрек снова сыграл огромную роль в повествовании. Как и в первой части, немалое содействие оказали Poets of the Fall, которые не только написали некоторые композиции к проекту, но и опять воплотили образ группы Old Gods of Asgard с на этот раз двумя музыкальными номерами. Плюс ко всему, под конец глав игры воспроизводятся песни, написанные разными исполнителями специально для Alan Wake 2.
Геймплей стал сильно походить на Resident Evil 2 образца 2019-го года. Камера поместилась ближе к герою, сократив область обзора, инвентарь ограничился, врагов стало меньше, как и патронов с аптечками и батареями, что, в свою очередь, повысило градус напряжения во время ведения боя. Для сохранений теперь используются свои хорошо освещённые комнаты с термосами и коробками для хранения предметов. Хоррор-элементов стало значительно больше. Чего стоят стильные скримеры, демонстрирующие жуткие лица под громкий всепоглощающий звук.
Однако одними заимствованиями у легенды survival horror'ов игра не ограничилась. Она предложила новые механики, не забыв о таких старых, как, к примеру, фонарик и теневая броня у врагов, требующая интенсивного освещения. Помимо этого, теперь можно, играя за Алана, находить идеи для переписывания истории и менять эпизоды, что будет приводить к изменению области, в которой находится игрок, ежесекундно буквально по щелчку пальца. Действительно впечатляюще!
И как раз с геймплея начинаются все минусы игры, которые сильно испортили мне настроение и вынудили забросить проект на целых полгода. Из-за проблем с ним и ещё одним важным аспектом игры я был готов поставить три звезды вместо четырёх. Настолько фрустрировало.
С балансом геймплея проблем нет. Проблемы скорее с тем, как разработчики обходятся с желающими обследовать все окрестности с целью найти все секреты и прокачать персонажей на максимум. Если в Control я с удовольствием занимался бектрекингом и справлялся с заново возродившимися врагами, то в Alan Wake 2 меня это начинало жутко выбешивать. В начале игры снаряжения мало, а потому каждый дополнительный необязательный исследованный отрезок карты давался с трудом ввиду частых смертей и перезагрузок контрольных точек, находящихся далеко. Если пропустил что-то в уже изученной области и возвращаешься в неё спустя 10 минут (да даже если просто возвращаешься в неё), то будь готов встретиться с новой партией врагов.
Зачем давать зайти в помещение и исследовать его целиком, отыскать в нём сюжетный предмет и не давать его использовать, потому что игрок по сюжету ещё не дошёл до момента, когда ему нужно найденный предмет использовать? В итоге приходится второй раз бежать в область, где был подобран предмет, и применять его. Плюс бегать приходится иногда длинными путями, потому что шорткаты закрыты. А разблокировать их дают в конце главы, когда тебе они уже не нужны. Пропустил одну секретку? Молодец — теперь ты другую не сможешь решить.
Следующая проблема бьёт ещё сильнее. Это половина слитого сюжета. Если точнее, то интеграция в него повестки, что значительно испортило всё повествование и вызвало бурю отрицательных эмоций. Сам факт сотрудничества с sweet baby inc убивает во мне всё то доброе человеческое, что взращивалось всю жизнь. Зубы начинают скрипеть от одного упоминанию этой мизантропической расистской компании, заявляющей, что она делает игры лучше, на самом деле безжалостно уродуя их так, как не смог бы даже самый отпетый серийный маньяк.
Не важен цвет кожи персонажа, не важен его пол. Важно то, насколько интересен, глубок и ярок персонаж. Ведь от этого напрямую зависит эмоциональный отклик игрока и степень его погружения в произведение. А впихивание — ощущается сие именно как впихивание — чёрного сильного женского персонажа с покер-фейсом и монотонным голосом на протяжении 95% игры просто-напросто рушит всё это погружение. Опустим то, что показанная в предыдущих играх Remedy в качестве пасхалки Сага Андерсон была белой. Опустим, что игра называется Alan Wake II, а половину её мы проходим за совершенно другого персонажа. Давайте посмотрим, что вообще представляет из себя Сага.
А представляет она из себя бревно. Натуральное. Одно выражение лица, один тон голоса практически на всю игру. Пока Илкка Вилли, играющий Алана Уэйка, плачет, кричит, боится, смеётся, что мы видим в многочисленных катсценах и слышим в аудиодорожках, мелани либёрд, сыгравшая сагу андерсон, смотрит в пустоту и просто читает свои реплики. Как можно сопереживать персонажу, которому, кажется, особо нет дела до происходящего? При этом самой Саге Андерсон есть дело только до её дочери Логан, о чём она напоминает на протяжении игры не раз и не два.
Алан Уэйк сидит 13 лет в Тёмной Обители? А наша Мэри Сью... ой, я хотел сказать Сага Андерсон, выбирается оттуда за считанные минуты. Ещё она провидица и находит ответы на многие вопросы не благодаря дедукции, а своим "видениям", напрямую озвучивающим мысли тех или иных персонажей. Какая, однако, у нас увлекательная всемогущая героиня появилась. Не то что Алан, один из "белых ублюдков", который сам теперь ничего не может сделать. В самой игре напрямую одного человека Сага называет "белым ублюдком". Стрелочка же не поворачивается, верно. Мать Саги белая, при этом дочка не выглядит как метис. Уууупс.
Сага Андерсон украла у меня больше половины игры. Она испортила её и очернила (можете считать это каламбуром) своим присутствием. Персонаж, использованный для повестки, не вызывающий никакого переживания, а лишь ненависть к себе и своим создателям за свою нераскрытую личность, безэмоциональность и всесильность, уничтожающие все зачатки хоть какого-либо интереса.
Подводя итог, могу посоветовать сиквел Alan Wake любителям очаровательной картинки, артхауса, кинематографа, настоящим фанатам Remedy, более терпеливым и прогрессивным игрокам, идущим в ногу со временем, а не таким старым "ворчунам", как я, которые устали от бесчинств повестки, портящей искусство.
Exériência espetacular, fazia tempo que eu me emocionava com um jogo. O jogo tem muitas qualidades que merecem ser reverenciadas, mas a direção de arte e a narrativa envolvente são o que fazem esse jogo brilhar mais forte. A atmosfera tensa e genuinamente assustadora que se vê aqui eu ainda não vi em nenhum outro jogo, ou até mesmo em filmes e séries. Dá pra perceber o capricho em cada cor escolhida pra compor o cenário, cores que deixam o ambiente lindo, mas que eu ao mesmo tempo dão a sensação de algo de muito errado está acontecendo naquela cidade. Toda a montagem narrativa foi muito bem trabalhada, e era muito harmônica com os outros elementos do jogo, tudo encaixou muito bem.
O capitulo de dança do Alan foi genuinamente emocionante pra mim, pois foi lindo ver artistas terem a liberdade de fazer algo arriscado e diferente em uma obra tão grande, e não apenas isso, conseguirem fazer isso de forma brilhante, trazendo algo artístico e conceitual mas que não descaracteriza ou empobrece a obra, foi lindo ver tudo isso.
Outro momento extremamente emocionante foi a batalha mental da saga. Um momento dolorido, mas ao mesmo tempo inspirador e comovente.
É muito gratificante saber que ainda existem criadores que se arriscam, e que fazem obras que visam lucrar (claro), mas que também tentam transmitir sensações, reflexões e valor artístico com elas. 5 estrelas!
O capitulo de dança do Alan foi genuinamente emocionante pra mim, pois foi lindo ver artistas terem a liberdade de fazer algo arriscado e diferente em uma obra tão grande, e não apenas isso, conseguirem fazer isso de forma brilhante, trazendo algo artístico e conceitual mas que não descaracteriza ou empobrece a obra, foi lindo ver tudo isso.
Outro momento extremamente emocionante foi a batalha mental da saga. Um momento dolorido, mas ao mesmo tempo inspirador e comovente.
É muito gratificante saber que ainda existem criadores que se arriscam, e que fazem obras que visam lucrar (claro), mas que também tentam transmitir sensações, reflexões e valor artístico com elas. 5 estrelas!
This review contains spoilers
A sequel 13 years in the making, or rather like, 8-10 years in wishing it could happen and 3-5 in the making, Alan Wake 2 is the long awaited sequel to Remedy's cult classic, Alan Wake.
I'm not going to go into the history of why the game couldn't happen, or the first game's struggles, but I will mention that it's beautiful to finally see this game come out, and be not only the best game Remedy has released ever, but probably my favorite game that released last year.
I was writing a synopsis that leads into the review, but it's a bit lengthy and wordy, and this is a spoiler tagged review anyhow, so I'll just jump into this, contextless spoilers may be ahead, and I'm going to be more negative than positive just because I can note the negative things a lot better.
I loved the story for the game, I loved all the twists, and how predictable they were if you paid attention to everything that goes on in all of their games.
Where Alan Wake 1 was a loveable B-movie horror experience, (even if I'm not sure they intended it to be) Alan Wake 2 is the real blockbuster deal, with writing and gameplay actually taking notes from horror media, with such creative ideas like, tension and setpieces, instead of walking through empty forests for 12 hours.
Starting off with Saga's campaign, from the get go she's an interesting perspective, and a good one to start with, it puts you in the shoes of someone unfamiliar with the town and lets you ease into the world of the game, and she makes a great partner with her buddy cop Max Pa-I mean, Alex Casey.
Writing wise she's interesting, a bit down to earth (surprising, for an FBI agent) and generally quite likeable, there's not really much to say about her as she's not much of a dynamic character in premise, the most interesting thing you can say about her is said to you directly by an NPC in one of the final chapters, that she's a statement for the difficulty of a work life balance or something like that.
I do have a fair few criticisms for how her character was handled though.
One, she's a fucking terrible detective, I get that the story acknowledges this at the end in a way, but it just makes parts of the story feel like a sluggish idiot plot as Saga refuses to entertain the thought of "hey maybe this isn't Wake out of the dark place and its just Scratch" or "if the cult failed a ritual on Nightingale, and he became a Taken anyways, maybe they want to stop the Taken and not create them, which would clear up all the confusing evidence"
Sure, the Scratch thing isn't true, but the story sets Saga up in a position to be doubtful, but the only reason she DOESN'T give Alan the clicker is because he gets possessed by Scratch and kicks up a fit right before she can hand it to him, all she said was "make sure logan is ok :)"
Two, the whole distressed mother thing started to get a bit grating, she's an FBI agent, and for fucks sake, she's clearly dealing with forces of unknown magnitude, and she's the most held up about her daughter maybe or maybe not being okay, I get it, a parent would be hurt and it's a strong story point, but they push too hard on it and it doesn't reflect the stakes properly.
Three, Why is she supposed to be this protagonist who doesn't know much about the area she's in, and has her story written around not knowing how the Taken work (the cultists powered by darkness raving about shit are Taken, not cultists, this is obvious to anyone who played AW1!) when the game in general not only expects you to have played AW1, but also to have played Control, she doesn't even have any questions when the FBC rolls up, nothing like "Who the fuck are you guys?" or "I thought the FBI were the higher authority?" She just rolls up like she's just a local town cop, and they're the FBI, it's as if the FBC to them was just used as an excuse to do a "FBI, we'll take it for here" on a FBI agent.
You could make the claim that "oh well in this world the FBC is a known thing" when even if that was true, it's never deeply explained WHAT they do, and instead is just left in the air, the only question she ever asks the FBC is "wtf is a parautilitarian?"
Four, For her major twist of the story, the Cult not being bad, it's done badly because unlike the other major twists, even though the game gives you plenty of resources to figure it out, it just enforces an idiot plot to make it unclear to the protagonist until it happens, with the most egregious example being right before Scratch attacks Saga for the first time, where you have the Koskela brothers in jail wasting their time saying "Grr fuck u police bitch" instead of "HEY WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS YOU MADE A MISTAKE DO NOT GIVE SCRATCH THE CLICKER"
Writing for Alan is a lot better, you're dealing with the twisted areas of the Dark Place, and you get to deal with Mr. Door, a mysterious fellow, Thomas Zane who while answering a bunch of things, still leaves you with more questions than answers (is he a filmmaker or a poet?) and generally indulges you heavily in Alan's place in the story, as well as referencing the first game a TON.
Gameplay in general is a blessing, Remedy has finally done it, for the first time since Max Payne 2, Remedy has made a game that is fun to play, there's still a few snags like guns being a little bit less precise than they should be, or the dodge not being as responsive when it comes to dodging projectiles or the very stabby Shadows/Taken, but the issues have gone from miserable to ignorable, If it wasn't for the fact that the puzzles were almost nonexistent or really easy, this would go toe to toe with some of the modern Resident Evil games.
For the one thing that's totally unique to the game compared to most other survival horror games though, the Flashlight, it's still not much better than it was in AW1, it's just a weird sidegrade, flashlight boosts are a weird system that just adds another resource to manage, while being a buggy system that's imprecise, requires you to use 1 whole charge at a time when an enemy only gets stunned if you use 100% of a charge, constantly making you waste a second, and for some reason you can cancel using a charge? This would be fixed heavily if aiming in with the flashlight did some small damage to shields overtime, kind of like in the first game.
That and the boss fights all suck, like they're really bad, I don't know why Remedy is so bad at making boss fights any fun at all, also shotguns, I don't know why the shotguns in this game are all bad, it shouldn't take 2 shots to the face to kill a guy when 3 revolver shots does the same thing.
Oh yeah, and the jump-scares are terrible, they don't add any tension they're just a sudden loud noise covering your screen and it's annoying as hell, it's good that you can turn them down but you should honestly be able to turn them off entirely, they add nothing of value even when they're just sudden -POP- transitions for things or characters appearing or disappearing.
Gameplay wise Saga is by far the worse out of the two, she has a terrible pistol, taking twice as many shots to the head to kill as Alan's revolver, but with a similar ammo economy and reload time, and also instead of having a flare gun, she has the shitty rocket flares, and she generally has more enemies, and more enemy types (particularly the annoying and/or tank-y ones)
Also she's the one that has ALL boss battles, so.
Mind palace is whatever, the case board kind of doesn't do anything useful outside of the final chapter, so the place is kind of just a cop-out stuffed with exposition so that Alan wasn't the only one with the impressive SSD utilizing swap feature.
Dark Ocean Summoning was neat, but not as cool as We Sing, it's more of a Anderson Farm type affair from AW1, where We Sing is more of an Ashtray Maze.
Alan's gameplay on the other hand, is pretty fun, and by fun I mean tense, you're constantly moving past Shadows that may or may not turn out to be real Shadows that will beat the fuck out of you, using his revolver and flare gun feel even better than they did in the first game, and while the plot swapping thing and light bulb thing is a bit of a shallow gimmick for linear progression, it is admittedly really cool seeing all the different areas and things just -POP-ing in and out of existence.
We Sing was fun as hell too, what a great one of a kind experience.
This game is a love-letter to both Alan Wake, the game that while being a bit of a cult classic, just wasn't meant to be for the longest time, and Remedy games in general, indulging heavily in Control, a bit of Quantum Break, Alan Wake 1, and even Max Payne (R.I.P James, the night opened to let you in.)
It's a blessing to survival horror, and a work of art for the video game medium, managing to be cinematic but not sacrificing gameplay, their use of FMVs and special effects to set these scenes and transitions and all the effects of the enemies and all of their incredibly beautiful sets are just master class, and I'm so excited to see what the future holds for the developers, I will 100% be pre-ordering Control 2, and I really hope this time around they can even figure out a way to make Control fun to play that time around.
Play this damn game, Play all of Remedy's games, experience the biggest boon for video game storytelling in the AAA space in years, their entire studio bleeds with passion from their developers, to their directors, to their actors.
I'm not going to go into the history of why the game couldn't happen, or the first game's struggles, but I will mention that it's beautiful to finally see this game come out, and be not only the best game Remedy has released ever, but probably my favorite game that released last year.
I was writing a synopsis that leads into the review, but it's a bit lengthy and wordy, and this is a spoiler tagged review anyhow, so I'll just jump into this, contextless spoilers may be ahead, and I'm going to be more negative than positive just because I can note the negative things a lot better.
I loved the story for the game, I loved all the twists, and how predictable they were if you paid attention to everything that goes on in all of their games.
Where Alan Wake 1 was a loveable B-movie horror experience, (even if I'm not sure they intended it to be) Alan Wake 2 is the real blockbuster deal, with writing and gameplay actually taking notes from horror media, with such creative ideas like, tension and setpieces, instead of walking through empty forests for 12 hours.
Starting off with Saga's campaign, from the get go she's an interesting perspective, and a good one to start with, it puts you in the shoes of someone unfamiliar with the town and lets you ease into the world of the game, and she makes a great partner with her buddy cop Max Pa-I mean, Alex Casey.
Writing wise she's interesting, a bit down to earth (surprising, for an FBI agent) and generally quite likeable, there's not really much to say about her as she's not much of a dynamic character in premise, the most interesting thing you can say about her is said to you directly by an NPC in one of the final chapters, that she's a statement for the difficulty of a work life balance or something like that.
I do have a fair few criticisms for how her character was handled though.
One, she's a fucking terrible detective, I get that the story acknowledges this at the end in a way, but it just makes parts of the story feel like a sluggish idiot plot as Saga refuses to entertain the thought of "hey maybe this isn't Wake out of the dark place and its just Scratch" or "if the cult failed a ritual on Nightingale, and he became a Taken anyways, maybe they want to stop the Taken and not create them, which would clear up all the confusing evidence"
Sure, the Scratch thing isn't true, but the story sets Saga up in a position to be doubtful, but the only reason she DOESN'T give Alan the clicker is because he gets possessed by Scratch and kicks up a fit right before she can hand it to him, all she said was "make sure logan is ok :)"
Two, the whole distressed mother thing started to get a bit grating, she's an FBI agent, and for fucks sake, she's clearly dealing with forces of unknown magnitude, and she's the most held up about her daughter maybe or maybe not being okay, I get it, a parent would be hurt and it's a strong story point, but they push too hard on it and it doesn't reflect the stakes properly.
Three, Why is she supposed to be this protagonist who doesn't know much about the area she's in, and has her story written around not knowing how the Taken work (the cultists powered by darkness raving about shit are Taken, not cultists, this is obvious to anyone who played AW1!) when the game in general not only expects you to have played AW1, but also to have played Control, she doesn't even have any questions when the FBC rolls up, nothing like "Who the fuck are you guys?" or "I thought the FBI were the higher authority?" She just rolls up like she's just a local town cop, and they're the FBI, it's as if the FBC to them was just used as an excuse to do a "FBI, we'll take it for here" on a FBI agent.
You could make the claim that "oh well in this world the FBC is a known thing" when even if that was true, it's never deeply explained WHAT they do, and instead is just left in the air, the only question she ever asks the FBC is "wtf is a parautilitarian?"
Four, For her major twist of the story, the Cult not being bad, it's done badly because unlike the other major twists, even though the game gives you plenty of resources to figure it out, it just enforces an idiot plot to make it unclear to the protagonist until it happens, with the most egregious example being right before Scratch attacks Saga for the first time, where you have the Koskela brothers in jail wasting their time saying "Grr fuck u police bitch" instead of "HEY WE ARE THE GOOD GUYS YOU MADE A MISTAKE DO NOT GIVE SCRATCH THE CLICKER"
Writing for Alan is a lot better, you're dealing with the twisted areas of the Dark Place, and you get to deal with Mr. Door, a mysterious fellow, Thomas Zane who while answering a bunch of things, still leaves you with more questions than answers (is he a filmmaker or a poet?) and generally indulges you heavily in Alan's place in the story, as well as referencing the first game a TON.
Gameplay in general is a blessing, Remedy has finally done it, for the first time since Max Payne 2, Remedy has made a game that is fun to play, there's still a few snags like guns being a little bit less precise than they should be, or the dodge not being as responsive when it comes to dodging projectiles or the very stabby Shadows/Taken, but the issues have gone from miserable to ignorable, If it wasn't for the fact that the puzzles were almost nonexistent or really easy, this would go toe to toe with some of the modern Resident Evil games.
For the one thing that's totally unique to the game compared to most other survival horror games though, the Flashlight, it's still not much better than it was in AW1, it's just a weird sidegrade, flashlight boosts are a weird system that just adds another resource to manage, while being a buggy system that's imprecise, requires you to use 1 whole charge at a time when an enemy only gets stunned if you use 100% of a charge, constantly making you waste a second, and for some reason you can cancel using a charge? This would be fixed heavily if aiming in with the flashlight did some small damage to shields overtime, kind of like in the first game.
That and the boss fights all suck, like they're really bad, I don't know why Remedy is so bad at making boss fights any fun at all, also shotguns, I don't know why the shotguns in this game are all bad, it shouldn't take 2 shots to the face to kill a guy when 3 revolver shots does the same thing.
Oh yeah, and the jump-scares are terrible, they don't add any tension they're just a sudden loud noise covering your screen and it's annoying as hell, it's good that you can turn them down but you should honestly be able to turn them off entirely, they add nothing of value even when they're just sudden -POP- transitions for things or characters appearing or disappearing.
Gameplay wise Saga is by far the worse out of the two, she has a terrible pistol, taking twice as many shots to the head to kill as Alan's revolver, but with a similar ammo economy and reload time, and also instead of having a flare gun, she has the shitty rocket flares, and she generally has more enemies, and more enemy types (particularly the annoying and/or tank-y ones)
Also she's the one that has ALL boss battles, so.
Mind palace is whatever, the case board kind of doesn't do anything useful outside of the final chapter, so the place is kind of just a cop-out stuffed with exposition so that Alan wasn't the only one with the impressive SSD utilizing swap feature.
Dark Ocean Summoning was neat, but not as cool as We Sing, it's more of a Anderson Farm type affair from AW1, where We Sing is more of an Ashtray Maze.
Alan's gameplay on the other hand, is pretty fun, and by fun I mean tense, you're constantly moving past Shadows that may or may not turn out to be real Shadows that will beat the fuck out of you, using his revolver and flare gun feel even better than they did in the first game, and while the plot swapping thing and light bulb thing is a bit of a shallow gimmick for linear progression, it is admittedly really cool seeing all the different areas and things just -POP-ing in and out of existence.
We Sing was fun as hell too, what a great one of a kind experience.
This game is a love-letter to both Alan Wake, the game that while being a bit of a cult classic, just wasn't meant to be for the longest time, and Remedy games in general, indulging heavily in Control, a bit of Quantum Break, Alan Wake 1, and even Max Payne (R.I.P James, the night opened to let you in.)
It's a blessing to survival horror, and a work of art for the video game medium, managing to be cinematic but not sacrificing gameplay, their use of FMVs and special effects to set these scenes and transitions and all the effects of the enemies and all of their incredibly beautiful sets are just master class, and I'm so excited to see what the future holds for the developers, I will 100% be pre-ordering Control 2, and I really hope this time around they can even figure out a way to make Control fun to play that time around.
Play this damn game, Play all of Remedy's games, experience the biggest boon for video game storytelling in the AAA space in years, their entire studio bleeds with passion from their developers, to their directors, to their actors.
Pure style and ease....... stease.
I appreciate it's bold direction.
I appreciate it's bold direction.
Alan Wake II é uma das melhores experiências que já tive no mundo dos jogos, é uma obra de arte, principalmente a campanha de Alan, maravilhosa do começo ao fim, com elementos nunca vistos em qualquer videogame, com uma história magnifica de boa, e principalmente suas musicas, as musicas desse jogo são incríveis, tudo muito incrível, seus gráficos, exploração, puzzles, com certeza um dos melhores jogos que já joguei.
There are pages upon pages that I could write about this game, how it makes me feel, what it makes me think, and I knew that I would have difficulty putting the pen to paper even before getting halfway through the game. Every turn left me with something to ruminate on, every session leaving me with more spiraling thoughts than the last. I want to keep this as spoiler-free as I can, since I think that this is an experience best had blind as possible, so it may not seem as long or as thorough as I'd like. Maybe I'll make an extended version with spoilers galore, who knows. To make it easier, let me just start with the big statement:
Alan Wake II is a monumental achievement in video games. It is the magnum opus of a team of developers that have worked tirelessly for 20 years to push, expand, bend, and break the boundaries of what the medium of video games can do, before the idea of "the medium of video games" was even a concept in the public consciousness. It carries with it the weight of decades-old Chekhov's guns that have slowly had their hammers pulled back further and further with every new game or expansion under the Remedy name, all firing at the player throughout the story; some of those guns are 9-millimiters, others are 12-gauges. It may seem odd to fixate on the 13 years spent letting this game come to life, but there is an undeniable weight to the fact that it is the culmination of years of buildup, put together piecemeal with every new game in the Remedy catalog, every passing year making it shift and evolve and mutate into a supernova, a point of no return for both Remedy and for AAA games as a whole.
Alan Wake II is a game that needs to exist. It feels like a thunderous wake-up call to every game developer, large and small, to see what can be done with the technology that we're able to create with at this point in time. I'm sure we've all groaned at numerous hardware manufacturers' insistence on "the power and capability of the X" and "the new era of DLSS RTX FSR AA" leaving us with nothing much to think other than "huh, that sure is a game with good graphics", but I must stress that this is not the case when I praise this game's technological feats. The game uses every tool that modern hardware seems capable of to create visually stunning images that sear themselves into your brain, to shift realities with the press of a button, and to blur the line between full-motion video, pre-rendered CGI, and real-time cutscenes; a sleight of hand that could only be achieved if the graphics were clean enough and the transitions smooth enough to make you believe that it was all one continuous story flowing through multiple avenues. Not only does it do all this, but it succeeds in doing this by having exceptional art direction, not one scene or environment feeling generic, with even the most miniscule of details given a touch of love from the game's artists. This is the point that needs to be focused on; it uses this technology to express a clear, but sprawling artistic vision, not the inverse-- that being funneling a vision through the lens of parading technical ability.
The game has been referred to, quite frequently in fact, as the closest video game equivalent to Danielewski's House of Leaves, and I feel as though that is an apt description. As mentioned, I'm avoiding all spoilers in this review, but the way the narrative constantly folds in on itself with deeply postmodern meta references to both in-universe and external details, combined with the overall premise of "a horror story becoming reality", I feel like the comparison is a given. That being said, I wanted to bring it up to succinctly describe how extremely impressive the story is, not just for a video game, but as writing in general. As much as people might like to be reductive ("it's confusing, so people think it's smart!"), it's painfully obvious that creating something like this takes mental power that I, nor most people playing it, could even imagine having. Were it not for this magnificent, expansive, recursive, twisting narrative, then Alan Wake II would indeed be what the detractors call it; a tech demo. However, the art direction being used to bring this story to life is what, in my opinion, completely nullifies any chance at those arguments holding water.
For now, I think I'll leave it here. This is one of the greatest artistic experiences I've ever had the immense pleasure of bearing witness to, and one that I hope will be remembered as this generation's Half-Life 2 in terms of being a high watermark of what can be achieved with the technology that great creative minds can channel their visions through. I firmly believe that if this does not cause a titanic sea change in the field of AAA gaming within the next 5 years, then gaming as a medium will be showing itself to have grown stagnant and comfortable in the expected, in the norm. Every generation needs a game like this to remind us of the power and magnitude that exists within our favorite medium, one that inspires us to follow in its footsteps and create something great ourselves.
Alan Wake II is a monumental achievement in video games. It is the magnum opus of a team of developers that have worked tirelessly for 20 years to push, expand, bend, and break the boundaries of what the medium of video games can do, before the idea of "the medium of video games" was even a concept in the public consciousness. It carries with it the weight of decades-old Chekhov's guns that have slowly had their hammers pulled back further and further with every new game or expansion under the Remedy name, all firing at the player throughout the story; some of those guns are 9-millimiters, others are 12-gauges. It may seem odd to fixate on the 13 years spent letting this game come to life, but there is an undeniable weight to the fact that it is the culmination of years of buildup, put together piecemeal with every new game in the Remedy catalog, every passing year making it shift and evolve and mutate into a supernova, a point of no return for both Remedy and for AAA games as a whole.
Alan Wake II is a game that needs to exist. It feels like a thunderous wake-up call to every game developer, large and small, to see what can be done with the technology that we're able to create with at this point in time. I'm sure we've all groaned at numerous hardware manufacturers' insistence on "the power and capability of the X" and "the new era of DLSS RTX FSR AA" leaving us with nothing much to think other than "huh, that sure is a game with good graphics", but I must stress that this is not the case when I praise this game's technological feats. The game uses every tool that modern hardware seems capable of to create visually stunning images that sear themselves into your brain, to shift realities with the press of a button, and to blur the line between full-motion video, pre-rendered CGI, and real-time cutscenes; a sleight of hand that could only be achieved if the graphics were clean enough and the transitions smooth enough to make you believe that it was all one continuous story flowing through multiple avenues. Not only does it do all this, but it succeeds in doing this by having exceptional art direction, not one scene or environment feeling generic, with even the most miniscule of details given a touch of love from the game's artists. This is the point that needs to be focused on; it uses this technology to express a clear, but sprawling artistic vision, not the inverse-- that being funneling a vision through the lens of parading technical ability.
The game has been referred to, quite frequently in fact, as the closest video game equivalent to Danielewski's House of Leaves, and I feel as though that is an apt description. As mentioned, I'm avoiding all spoilers in this review, but the way the narrative constantly folds in on itself with deeply postmodern meta references to both in-universe and external details, combined with the overall premise of "a horror story becoming reality", I feel like the comparison is a given. That being said, I wanted to bring it up to succinctly describe how extremely impressive the story is, not just for a video game, but as writing in general. As much as people might like to be reductive ("it's confusing, so people think it's smart!"), it's painfully obvious that creating something like this takes mental power that I, nor most people playing it, could even imagine having. Were it not for this magnificent, expansive, recursive, twisting narrative, then Alan Wake II would indeed be what the detractors call it; a tech demo. However, the art direction being used to bring this story to life is what, in my opinion, completely nullifies any chance at those arguments holding water.
For now, I think I'll leave it here. This is one of the greatest artistic experiences I've ever had the immense pleasure of bearing witness to, and one that I hope will be remembered as this generation's Half-Life 2 in terms of being a high watermark of what can be achieved with the technology that great creative minds can channel their visions through. I firmly believe that if this does not cause a titanic sea change in the field of AAA gaming within the next 5 years, then gaming as a medium will be showing itself to have grown stagnant and comfortable in the expected, in the norm. Every generation needs a game like this to remind us of the power and magnitude that exists within our favorite medium, one that inspires us to follow in its footsteps and create something great ourselves.
9.5/10
Alan Wake 2 is what happens if you take the premise of Alan Wake 1 (duh), and actually put it into a good game with today's, and even tomorrow's technology which is amazing. Everything from the 1st AW is improved to the point where it feels insane the difference were, which makes sense as this game isn't a direct sequel from AW1 to AW2, but instead a combination of every Remedy title and creating AW2 from those games, and while I haven't played Control, the improved gameplay makes this game actually fun to play instead of fun to watch like in AW1
Story
Easily, Easily, EASILY the best part of this game... again. While previous AW1 had ONLY story, this game boasts a really interesting story inside a game that is actually good. The main premise of AW2 is that Alan's book that he has been attempting to write for the last 13 years has formed into a horror story thanks to the dark presence. It is mainly split into 2 stories with Saga Anderson's side Initiation and Alan Wake's side Return. The game mainly focuses on Saga's side first, then Alan's side first, then allows you to pick and choose the order you want to play, which depending on the order you take, can give context for the other's chapter which can be really intriguing. Now, that is the simple part of this story, as AW2's story is... really damn confusing at times while still making a ton of sense once you step back and take the story as a whole. This story is easily not the type of story you can breeze past, as you need to take some time to understand plot points and such... or just wave your hands around saying "so alan wake killed a character written by alan wake who is played by the actor of alan wake who tried to kill alan wake...". Throughout the game it is pretty common to have your mind just fucked, especially when it came to Alan's story and nearing the endings for Saga. Both of their sections had really great story beats, which was a surprise as I fully went in expecting me to love alan's story and dislike Saga's story, but instead they both had really great segments, even if they play a bit different, as while Saga plays more as a detective story as she tries to piece clues together in her mind place, Alan plays more like a survival horror that focuses more on Alan's struggle to find his way out of the dark place, while struggling to accept the fate of Alice. A major theme throughout this game is easily what lengths people will go through just to save their loved ones, even if it means going to hell and back. Another theme I noticed is how much we can beat ourselves in the head, with even the simplest goals can be thrown into a overthinking spiral as we try to solve for solutions that didn't need solving in the first place, complicating the pretty simple conclusion. Explaining AW2's story can be a bit simple in premise, Dark vs Light, but my god take that shallow surface level analysis out and trying to explain the story of AW2's story is too much, even if I were to do a 30 to 1 hour long video essay. Time loops is a common theme in the remedy titles specifically with alan and what happened with american nightmares, but the realization of Alan's "its not a loop, its a spiral", which is the cousin of AW1's "its not a lake, its an ocean", but actually makes sense this time, as while Alan goes through the same events again and again, a spiral at least leads to a conclusion even if it looks the same. If I had ANY critique, some pacing issues specifically with Saga can happen as with the puzzle focus nature, there are times where I can be stuck for a bit longer than I would had liked, and near the end the usual Remedy cliffhanger happens, and the only way to get the TRUE ending would be to complete ng+, which I didn't and just watched the ending video of it, which is easily pretty satisfying and makes the wait for an AW3 pretty easy to wait for compared to what I would imagine the AW1 to AW2 was, as AW1's ending was just SO DAMN CONFUSING. There is So much to this game that even with just brushing past a TON of the story beats, like Alice's struggles in the dark place, Saga's story of her child being rewritten as the game goes on, Alan's true reality with Scratch, I have written too much that at some point I HAVE to stop or this entire review would just be a ramble of me flaring my arms around talking about this super dense and pretty convoluted story. At LEAST we have good writers behind the story cause if not, this story would had easily collapsed onto itself.
Characters
AW2 has WAY better written characters compared to AW1, which had 2 characters that were good of Alan (duh), and Barry. AW2 has Alan (duh), Saga Anderson who is the 2nd main character and is a really well written character, Alex Casey who is split between Alan's version of Casey, actual Casey, and Casey voiced by Sam Lake. There is also Thomas Zane, Mr. Door, and so many characters who were just a treat to talk to in this game. Even Alice in this game is WAY better of a character compared to her in AW1, who was pretty bland, as she talks about her struggles as of losing Alan Wake, wanting to push her passion only to realize it doesn't make enough money to be viable, and being pushed by Alan's celebrity status. Alan and Saga's struggles were easily the best character developments throughout the entire game, but Alice's development was a surprise as well. The written characters by Alan like Thomas Zane, Scratch, Alex Casey were also really well done. Some characters from AW1 were either killed off early on, or were written as important, but don't show up in the game like Barry, who mainly shows up in the emails and scripts. With how much happens with the game, some character's developement stopped a bit early than I would had hoped, which I assume is for a DLC in this game and a future title, maybe control 2. Other than that, the side characters like the cult members were very interesting of a twist, and other side characters like the old poops from AW1 were a huge joy in this game as they play as Saga's Grandparents thanks to the story changes as the game goes on.
Gameplay
Now that I have written Essays on just the character and story itself, I can FINALLY talk about the gameplay in this game, which were GREATLY IMMENSELY made better... as well, it copies Resident Evil 2 Remake basically. They still made pretty great changes with the RE2 combat formula, as dodging returns from AW1 and is no longer a slow motion fest thank god. The whole burn enemies shoot loop were made WAY more fun in this game, as while you still need to burn the enemies do to the big damage, it is no longer an infinite but slow resource, but now a limited but much quicker process. This game's gore and stagger mechanic makes the combat actually really fun to play through, and the more unique gameplay differences between Alan and Saga with their different guns and enemy types, which thank god it makes the game actually fun to play through. Apart from the gun mechanic, the mind place of saga as you piece everything together, and Alan's light mechanic where you have to write specific key points into rituals to change the environment, which is a really impressive mechanic with the seamless change between environment. While some issues arise particularly with the resource management, as the game LOVES to throw a ton of healing supplies at you, a bit too much at times as I had a chest full of medkits at the end of the game, and realizing that the game's obvious ammo scaling, as when you have a ton of ammo, finding a chest with just 1 bullet was hilarious.
Music
So damn good, especially with the songs from old gods of Asgard with herald of darkness especially, and of course Dark Ocean Summoning. Even outside of their songs with banged again, the chapter songs seemed to be actual original songs this time around compared to the AW1 chapter ending songs which were mainly licensed songs. I don't even have to mention if I would listen to this song outside the game, as herald of darkness was so damn good they played it at the game awards, which should say enough on the quality of that song and the ost as a whole.
Last Positives/ Nitpicks
- Performance issues were common even with a RTX 4070 super, which maybe due to playing on everything maxed, and performance did improve by lowering Path tracing so makes sense. Even so this game's high demand and some frame drops in specific sections of the game is easily noticeable.
- I do wish some of the characters got more development, as their short screentime made me desire them more, especially with Mr. Door who has great scenes, but is not put into this game enough.
- Obvious cliffhanger for DLC and Sequel for another game.
- Game's graphics are so damn pretty holy, even if it takes a titan of a computer to run.
-The game's horror aspect worked so well in its favor, making the gameplay 10x better. However the jumpscares worked at some points, but some other points they overused it the point where it would happen and I would just want them to stop spamming them so often in certain chapters.
Conclusion
Alan Wake 2 is the type of game that you can not describe in a simple sentence or 2. Hell, I spent an essay's worth and I still can't explain what is going on. While at some points it is way too big for the story it wants to describe, I appreciate how well done this story and game as a whole was done. The story is top notch with how convoluted and loose threads it has, the characters were done 10000x better compared to AW1, the gameplay's obvious RE2 style is done pretty well in this game with the new mechanics, and of course the obvious tongue twisters of killing an alan wake character that alan wake wrote who is acted by alan wake... will never not be funny to me.
9.5/10
Alan Wake 2 is what happens if you take the premise of Alan Wake 1 (duh), and actually put it into a good game with today's, and even tomorrow's technology which is amazing. Everything from the 1st AW is improved to the point where it feels insane the difference were, which makes sense as this game isn't a direct sequel from AW1 to AW2, but instead a combination of every Remedy title and creating AW2 from those games, and while I haven't played Control, the improved gameplay makes this game actually fun to play instead of fun to watch like in AW1
Story
Easily, Easily, EASILY the best part of this game... again. While previous AW1 had ONLY story, this game boasts a really interesting story inside a game that is actually good. The main premise of AW2 is that Alan's book that he has been attempting to write for the last 13 years has formed into a horror story thanks to the dark presence. It is mainly split into 2 stories with Saga Anderson's side Initiation and Alan Wake's side Return. The game mainly focuses on Saga's side first, then Alan's side first, then allows you to pick and choose the order you want to play, which depending on the order you take, can give context for the other's chapter which can be really intriguing. Now, that is the simple part of this story, as AW2's story is... really damn confusing at times while still making a ton of sense once you step back and take the story as a whole. This story is easily not the type of story you can breeze past, as you need to take some time to understand plot points and such... or just wave your hands around saying "so alan wake killed a character written by alan wake who is played by the actor of alan wake who tried to kill alan wake...". Throughout the game it is pretty common to have your mind just fucked, especially when it came to Alan's story and nearing the endings for Saga. Both of their sections had really great story beats, which was a surprise as I fully went in expecting me to love alan's story and dislike Saga's story, but instead they both had really great segments, even if they play a bit different, as while Saga plays more as a detective story as she tries to piece clues together in her mind place, Alan plays more like a survival horror that focuses more on Alan's struggle to find his way out of the dark place, while struggling to accept the fate of Alice. A major theme throughout this game is easily what lengths people will go through just to save their loved ones, even if it means going to hell and back. Another theme I noticed is how much we can beat ourselves in the head, with even the simplest goals can be thrown into a overthinking spiral as we try to solve for solutions that didn't need solving in the first place, complicating the pretty simple conclusion. Explaining AW2's story can be a bit simple in premise, Dark vs Light, but my god take that shallow surface level analysis out and trying to explain the story of AW2's story is too much, even if I were to do a 30 to 1 hour long video essay. Time loops is a common theme in the remedy titles specifically with alan and what happened with american nightmares, but the realization of Alan's "its not a loop, its a spiral", which is the cousin of AW1's "its not a lake, its an ocean", but actually makes sense this time, as while Alan goes through the same events again and again, a spiral at least leads to a conclusion even if it looks the same. If I had ANY critique, some pacing issues specifically with Saga can happen as with the puzzle focus nature, there are times where I can be stuck for a bit longer than I would had liked, and near the end the usual Remedy cliffhanger happens, and the only way to get the TRUE ending would be to complete ng+, which I didn't and just watched the ending video of it, which is easily pretty satisfying and makes the wait for an AW3 pretty easy to wait for compared to what I would imagine the AW1 to AW2 was, as AW1's ending was just SO DAMN CONFUSING. There is So much to this game that even with just brushing past a TON of the story beats, like Alice's struggles in the dark place, Saga's story of her child being rewritten as the game goes on, Alan's true reality with Scratch, I have written too much that at some point I HAVE to stop or this entire review would just be a ramble of me flaring my arms around talking about this super dense and pretty convoluted story. At LEAST we have good writers behind the story cause if not, this story would had easily collapsed onto itself.
Characters
AW2 has WAY better written characters compared to AW1, which had 2 characters that were good of Alan (duh), and Barry. AW2 has Alan (duh), Saga Anderson who is the 2nd main character and is a really well written character, Alex Casey who is split between Alan's version of Casey, actual Casey, and Casey voiced by Sam Lake. There is also Thomas Zane, Mr. Door, and so many characters who were just a treat to talk to in this game. Even Alice in this game is WAY better of a character compared to her in AW1, who was pretty bland, as she talks about her struggles as of losing Alan Wake, wanting to push her passion only to realize it doesn't make enough money to be viable, and being pushed by Alan's celebrity status. Alan and Saga's struggles were easily the best character developments throughout the entire game, but Alice's development was a surprise as well. The written characters by Alan like Thomas Zane, Scratch, Alex Casey were also really well done. Some characters from AW1 were either killed off early on, or were written as important, but don't show up in the game like Barry, who mainly shows up in the emails and scripts. With how much happens with the game, some character's developement stopped a bit early than I would had hoped, which I assume is for a DLC in this game and a future title, maybe control 2. Other than that, the side characters like the cult members were very interesting of a twist, and other side characters like the old poops from AW1 were a huge joy in this game as they play as Saga's Grandparents thanks to the story changes as the game goes on.
Gameplay
Now that I have written Essays on just the character and story itself, I can FINALLY talk about the gameplay in this game, which were GREATLY IMMENSELY made better... as well, it copies Resident Evil 2 Remake basically. They still made pretty great changes with the RE2 combat formula, as dodging returns from AW1 and is no longer a slow motion fest thank god. The whole burn enemies shoot loop were made WAY more fun in this game, as while you still need to burn the enemies do to the big damage, it is no longer an infinite but slow resource, but now a limited but much quicker process. This game's gore and stagger mechanic makes the combat actually really fun to play through, and the more unique gameplay differences between Alan and Saga with their different guns and enemy types, which thank god it makes the game actually fun to play through. Apart from the gun mechanic, the mind place of saga as you piece everything together, and Alan's light mechanic where you have to write specific key points into rituals to change the environment, which is a really impressive mechanic with the seamless change between environment. While some issues arise particularly with the resource management, as the game LOVES to throw a ton of healing supplies at you, a bit too much at times as I had a chest full of medkits at the end of the game, and realizing that the game's obvious ammo scaling, as when you have a ton of ammo, finding a chest with just 1 bullet was hilarious.
Music
So damn good, especially with the songs from old gods of Asgard with herald of darkness especially, and of course Dark Ocean Summoning. Even outside of their songs with banged again, the chapter songs seemed to be actual original songs this time around compared to the AW1 chapter ending songs which were mainly licensed songs. I don't even have to mention if I would listen to this song outside the game, as herald of darkness was so damn good they played it at the game awards, which should say enough on the quality of that song and the ost as a whole.
Last Positives/ Nitpicks
- Performance issues were common even with a RTX 4070 super, which maybe due to playing on everything maxed, and performance did improve by lowering Path tracing so makes sense. Even so this game's high demand and some frame drops in specific sections of the game is easily noticeable.
- I do wish some of the characters got more development, as their short screentime made me desire them more, especially with Mr. Door who has great scenes, but is not put into this game enough.
- Obvious cliffhanger for DLC and Sequel for another game.
- Game's graphics are so damn pretty holy, even if it takes a titan of a computer to run.
-The game's horror aspect worked so well in its favor, making the gameplay 10x better. However the jumpscares worked at some points, but some other points they overused it the point where it would happen and I would just want them to stop spamming them so often in certain chapters.
Conclusion
Alan Wake 2 is the type of game that you can not describe in a simple sentence or 2. Hell, I spent an essay's worth and I still can't explain what is going on. While at some points it is way too big for the story it wants to describe, I appreciate how well done this story and game as a whole was done. The story is top notch with how convoluted and loose threads it has, the characters were done 10000x better compared to AW1, the gameplay's obvious RE2 style is done pretty well in this game with the new mechanics, and of course the obvious tongue twisters of killing an alan wake character that alan wake wrote who is acted by alan wake... will never not be funny to me.
9.5/10
Acabei de zerar o jogo e caramba que jogão, queria deletar da minha mente e jogar tudo de novo.
A forma que conta a história intercalando o Alan no lugar obscuro e a Saga no mundo real, o mundo se moldando de acordo com a história que o Scratch modificou.
O esquema do Alan poder mudar as cenas para poder procurar novas pistas é muito legal e principalmente é foda essa mistura de live action com jogo, combinou pra caramba!
A forma que conta a história intercalando o Alan no lugar obscuro e a Saga no mundo real, o mundo se moldando de acordo com a história que o Scratch modificou.
O esquema do Alan poder mudar as cenas para poder procurar novas pistas é muito legal e principalmente é foda essa mistura de live action com jogo, combinou pra caramba!