Games like ALAN WAKE II aren't supposed to exist. Fraught development cycles, builds and ideas scrapped and started over and over. Stuck in a development loop. It's a recipe for disaster, no? The perfect storm to create a rushed, poorly executed mess that is a shadow of what the developers intended.

Remedy wasn't having any of that.

I always talk about how what I love most of all in art is when the artist takes a big swing. Leaves it all on the table. Remedy would settle for nothing less with the sequel to Alan Wake, telegraphing the swing like Babe Ruth stepping up to the plate and pointing beyond the outfield with 2019's Control. And I'm thrilled to say that they knocked it out of the park, just like they said they would.

ALAN WAKE II is an experience that requires all caps just to show how big it is. It is Remedy at its best, often over-the-top nonsensical but methodical and purposeful at the same time. There is gratuitous FMV, multiple soundtracks of original songs, a full Finnish short film that you can watch in the game, and probably more that I didn't even discover.

So few video games are confident enough to refuse to elaborate. There are bits of possible explanations as to what exactly is going on in Bright Falls and the Dark Place but nothing is ever definitive and is often contradictory. Thankfully Saga Anderson is here to keep us grounded and to provide the emotional core of the story. She quickly endears herself and I can't wait to see more of where her story goes. Saga is the perfect foil for the titular Alan Wake's absolutely unhinged side of the story. It goes to some delightfully bizarre places that you would never expect in such a dark tale as this.

The switch from action shooter to survival horror is perfect for the Alan Wake series. There are still the larger action setpieces you'd expect from Remedy but the quieter moments where you don't know what is around the next corner really amp up the tension more than the constant firefights of the first game. Those quiet exploratory parts are especially welcome because this game is absolutely gorgeous. There are so many stunning, offbeat locations in this game that had me wearing out the screenshot button on my controller. ALAN WAKE II has some of the best dramatic lighting I've ever seen in a game like this, fitting for the themes of the franchise. The first "overlap" section of the game in particular will be seared into my memory for a long time.

One of the central questions at the heart of ALAN WAKE II is this: is creating art worth it? With what it takes from us, what it gives, how it affects others? With the dark parts of us that it brings to light? "Don't write" say the walls, signs, and posters of the Dark Place. Thankfully Alan, and Remedy, and ourselves choose not to listen again and again.