I need to preface this review with the fact I ADORE Alan Wake 2, as well as the first game and Control, but this DLC pack was absolutely middle of the road, totally fine but nothing greater. Thematically and symbolically it’s doing what Alan Wake always does and that’s all pretty good. Each one is better than the last with the 3rd being a standout concept with presentation that was genuinely fun to explore and allows greater context to the Remedy Universe and the previous episodes. But one episode being pretty good doesn’t make up for the others being pretty throwaway scenarios. None of it is as meaningful or insightful as their other stuff, especially the base game of AW2, but not bad by any means and allows for a reassessment of what these games are doing. The use of particularly characters for particular theming, especially in the context of Alan Wake is great and like I said the concept explored by Episode 3 is particularly tantalising.

However, it’s mechanically dull, just shy of 2 hours in total and amounts to shooting stuff with no sense of tension because all your weapons and gear is super over powered, and level design that’s ultimately boring and shallow in areas we’ve visited before in the base game. There’s just nothing about it that makes it significantly worth playing as opposed to just watching online or reading about. With AW2, the experience was the thing, it was tense, thrilling, mind bending and beautiful. And that’s not even to mention the challenge of solving puzzles whilst surviving. These DLC chapters are just stuff happening, interesting concepts with tasks that are the most basic and amount to walking with pressing buttons with little thought, it’s incredibly passive, and while the stuff happening does have narrative merit, it’s not deep enough and, with design this shallow, it’s really not worth playing at all to be totally honest. Which is a shame.

Pretty nice fun game. If you liked Dark Souls and have also played every other souls game that exists, then this one is cool and fun and has a lot going for it despite the obvious drawbacks compared to the other souls titles. I can't say this is one I'd recommend anyone jump on unless you've played every other fromsoft game and are looking for another one. It has a lot of thematic value and I think that makes it worth it but a lot of the areas become a little forgettable compared to DS1 and it can often rely on really really unfair gimmicks during level design to trip you up that were unavoidable unless you knew it was there. I don't mean mimics or the exploding crystal lizards, more when 5 enemies will gank you at once, or a guy behind a wall that you didnt know was there will pull a lever spawning 4 tough enemies, or a ghost in a wall that'll hit you from a ladder that you can't avoid, or enemies that explode but are hidden in cells that you couldn't have known were there and will kill you with an explosion through a wall. The game has some unfair elements and some really forgettable bosses and levels, but despite that, despite it all, it's fun, I enjoyed my time with it and I'm glad I played it, even if just because it's a part of the history of one of the most famous game companies there is.