📜Alan Wake.. Wake.. I remember that name.. Cauldron lake.. Alice.. after 13 years, the Dark Pressence found funding, oh No.. it broke free again,
It`s apostle is Sam Lake, ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶ director of the Finnish studio Remedy, his mind was helpless,
"Control" - his sixth work, has finally gained long-awaited recognition,
The writer couldn`t even imagine how addictive this is:
Complete creative freedom, several famous world franchises, tons of invisible gratitude from readers, he just couldn’t stop...
He had to overcome the boundaries of reason, there will never be enough lore.. fans will always need theories, no one will be satisfied with the story visible on the surface, the original put him in a trap.. His secret trigger clicked.. The Dark Presence needed his art-house elements,
Who else is capable of adding this to a high-budget product? There are no such entities in the industry.. the japanese was too self-sufficient, he isn`t suitable..
The bottomless ocean has achieved its goal, the accomplices of the interactive world will not receive all the answers, but thanks to them it will live,
They will play again and again, even after completing all the sequences,
They will wait for the trilogy, they will let the infection spread.. ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶d̶.. the endless cycle of their mortal life will bring new subjects, even if the author delays development, ̶b̶o̶o̶k̶?̶

Walking in a loop you can get lost, failure after failure, misunderstanding of mismatched criteria, injustice of the business world,
However, the warrior of light (pelattavuus) will not give the nightmare complete Control,
subjects ̶R̶e̶m̶e̶d̶y̶ have already tried, but sometimes it`s useful to turn the page, the setting is the key, find something that fits perfectly..
Who would have thought.. it will be difficult for readers to accept the gift of a warrior, but those who persist will be rewarded.. are they ready for their role? An easy walk will become a heavy burden, the intrigues of the story will seem incredibly distant, the lack of usual dynamiсs can break even long-time admirers,
The warrior didn`t achieve perfectionism, but the totality of competent ideas was enough to amaze, the famous classics had to be mixed with ideas of light, the usual formula doesn`t look hackneyed with proper professionalism of the performer, The Forest - is an excellent sandbox for the designer: atmospheric work of artists and a branching paths for the character, the danger of spending source charges, stylish screamers, crazy puzzles, dangerous encounters, and suddenly difficult at first, but varied bosses.
But one guide is not enough, Mies for those who have already been with the Presence, and Saga Anderson, with its story, it`s closer to reality, but not as far as it was originally written, and the necessary excursion is provided by the simple ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶p̶l̶a̶y̶ elements of a detective story,
The other half of the ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶ significantly changes the formula, relying on an even denser atmosphere of an open location, an abundance of resources, and the absence of bosses, rewriting action scenes and a tricky trap system.
The flexibility of the story allows you to choose the sequence yourself, leaving only the epilogue inaccessible for both actors, which masterfully interwined everything together, leaves no shortage of plot twists, it`s replete with pleasant references to the original, and rob the audience of a clear ending, shoots right in the heart before the credits.
The game will not leave the reader indifferent, The Dark Presence was able to complete its task, the average number of impressions of the subject exceeds any comparisons, the actors of the musical art also contributed to the creation, original compositions with lyrics complementing the narrative, one of the many unique manifestations of "Alan Wake II", the apogee-culmination of it`s creative energy can be credited to the interactive musical number "Herald of Darkness" from the middle of the game.
̶.̶.̶.̶.̶.̶.̶.̶.̶.̶
Perhaps you will find something new by re-reading the review from the beginning, because we know that this is not a loop, this is a spi... ̶ ̶S̶C̶R̶A̶T̶C̶H̶...

//
📜Алан Вейк.. Вейк.. Я помню это имя.. Озеро Колдрон.. Эллис.. спустя 13 лет, тёмная обитель нашла финансирование, о Нет.. она снова вырвалась на свободу,
Её апостол - Сэм Лейк, геймдиректор финской студии Remedy, его разум был бесспомощен,
"Control" - его шестое произведение, наконец-то обрело долгожданное признание,
Писатель не мог и представить, насколько сильно это затягивает:
Полная творческая свобода, несколько известных мировых франшиз, тонны незримых благодарностей от читателей, он просто не мог остановиться..
Он должен был преодолеть границы разумного, лора никогда не будет достаточно.. фанатам всегда будут нужны теории, никого не устроит видная на поверхности история, оригинал поставил его в ловушку.. Щёлкнул его потаённый триггер, тёмной обители были нужны его элементы арт-хауса,
Кто ещё способен добавить такое в высокобюджетный продукт, в индустрии нет таких сущностей.. японец был слишком самодостаточен, он не подходит..
Бездонный океан добился своей цели, пособники интерактивного мира не получат всех ответов, но благодаря ним он будет жить, Они будут играть снова и снова, даже завершив заданную для них последовательность,
Они будут ждать трилогию, они дадут заражению распостраниться.. ̶д̶а̶л̶и̶.. бесконечный цикл их бренной жизни принесёт новых субъектов, даже если писатель промедлит с разработкой, ̶к̶н̶и̶г̶а̶?̶

Шагая по петле можно заплутать, неудача за неудачей, непонимание несовпадения критериев, несправедливость мира в бизнесе,
Однако воин света (pelattavuus) не даст кошмару полного Контроля,
субъекты ̶R̶e̶m̶e̶d̶y̶ уже пытались, однако иногда бывает полезно перевернуть страницу, найти ключ поможет сеттинг, найти то, что идеально впишется..
кто бы мог подумать.. ̶г̶е̶й̶м̶е̶р̶а̶м̶ читателям будет сложно принять дар воина, но упорствующие будут вознаграждены, готовы ли они к своей роли?
Лёгкая прогулка станет тяжеловесной ношей, интриги повествования будут казаться невероятно далёкими, отсутствие привычной динамичности cможет сломить даже давних почитателей,
Воин не достиг перфекционизма, но совокупности грамотных идей достаточно, чтобы поразить, известную классику предстояло смешать с идеями света, привычная формула не выглядит заезженной при должном профессионализме исполнителя, Лес - прекрасная песочница для ̶г̶е̶й̶м̶дизайнера: атмосферная работа художников и разветвлённость пути для персонажа, опасность расходования зарядов источника, стильные скримеры, безумные головоломки, опасные энкаунтеры, и, внезапно сложные по началу, но разнообразные боссы.
Но одного проводника недостаточно, Mies для тех, кто уже был с обителью, и, Сага Андерсон, со своей историей, она ближе к реальности, но не так далека, как было написано изначально, а необходимый экскурс обеспечивают ̶г̶е̶й̶м̶п̶л̶е̶й̶н̶о̶ простые элементы детектива,
Другая половина ̶и̶г̶р̶ы̶?̶ значительно меняет формулу, делает ставку на ещё более густую атмосферу открытой локации, избыток ресурсов, и отсутствие боссов, переписывание сцен действия и хитрую систему ловушек.
Гибкость истории позволяет выбирать последовательность самому, оставив недоступным лишь эпилог для обоих акторов, мастерски перереплетающий ̶s̶i̶l̶m̶u̶k̶k̶a̶ всё воедино, не оставляющий дефицита сюжетных поворотов, изобилуя приятными отсылками к оригиналу, и, лишая зрителей ̶к̶и̶н̶о̶?̶ ясной концовки, стреляя прямо в сердце перед титрами.
Игра не сможет оставить равнодушным, тёмной обители удаётся выполнить свою задачу, среднее количество впечатлений субъекта превышает любые сравнения, акторы музыкального искусства также содействовали в создании, оригинальные композиции с дополняющим повествование текстами, одно из многих уникальных проявлений "Alan Wake II", апогеем-кульминацией творческой энергии которого можно считать интерактивный музыкальный номер "Herald of Darkness" из середины игры.
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Возможно, вы найдёте что-то новое, перечитав обзор сначала, ведь мы знаем, что это не петля, это ̶с̶п̶и̶.. ̶ ̶S̶C̶R̶A̶T̶C̶H̶...

Over the weekend I played the free DLC for God of War Ragnarok which is the Valhalla mode. Finally, I went in with no expectations other than it's just more God of War for free with a roguelike mode (that I was curious how that would work with the gameplay). Still, I left with a fantastic conclusion to Kratos' journey and growth as a character.

Valhalla isn't very narrative-heavy in terms of plot. The overall story is just Kratos coming to terms with who he was as a person back in Greece compared to who he is now and each "run" he does in Valhalla is Kratos facing different aspects of his past and how he views his past self isn't as black and white as he thinks it is.

Valhalla being a roguelike works wonderfully for the introspective journey Kratos takes in Valhalla. Gameplay-wise, while Kratos is in Valhalla, he can unlock temporary perks, weapon enchantments, stats, HP and rage recovery, etc to make a "run" easier. Upon death, Kratos is sent back to the shore and must restart the run until he completes a run after battling randomized enemies and bosses across all the areas seen in the base game.

A huge emphasis on Valhalla is that Kratos is always making progress towards "mastery" regardless of whether the run is successful or not. Since at the shore, you can make permanent stat and Valhalla upgrades Kratos can have those at the start of every run thanks to mastery seals and later on spirit seals he gets to keep to use on those upgrades.

However, what really impressed me was the self-reflection Kratos was doing. As someone that been into the God of War series for over a decade now and played every game in the series, it's rather very satisfying to see Kratos' evolution from an angry vengeful violent person to someone who only wants to fight to protect who he cares for and to freed others from tyrant gods.

There are a lot of references from past God of War games that just make Valhalla more satisfying to play if you have been following Kratos over the years. And not only Kratos reflects on the major events that happen in the first three mainline games. But also he takes a look back on his actions in the lesser-known God of War games such as Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta, and Ascension.

Overall, as one of the biggest unexpected surprises that have appeared towards the end of the year, God of War Valhalla stands tall as one of the finest pieces of gaming this year. By serving as an extended complimentary epilogue to the already masterful Ragnarok and finally giving the closure Kratos deserves as a character. Considering Valhalla is completely free of charge, if you have completed Ragnarok, then I can't recommend it enough to play the DLC ASAP.

Infinitely interesting to discuss and think about. Alan Wake 2 perfectly expands on all the concepts that its predecessor tackled while also adding so much more to its themes. The way Remedy uses the idea of a shared universe is one of the only times I've seen it be pulled off in a way that fully promotes creative storytelling. Every character fits so perfectly within the scope of the narrative in a way that is able to feel meticulous yet so human. I think the only thing close to a misstep is that the combat is still not as amazing as the rest of it, but I could play RE2R forever so more of its gameplay is not a big deal (half a joke). Remedy's mastery of blocking both in real life and virtually is unmatched in the Triple-A scene and the fact they could not only pull off the musical level but make it as good as it was is worthy of a 10 alone.

PS: I realized I forgot to mention that this is probably the most beautiful and impressive-looking game I have ever played

so in love with movies, TV, music, Max Payne, Twin Peaks, Stephen King, survival horror, but most of all, so in love with itself.

Remedy's finally done it, this game essentially feels like what Sam Lake's been envisioning since 2005. It's no secret that Remedy loves this character, this world, this series in general, I'm so glad they finally got to go all out with it. I'm so glad THIS is the Alan Wake they have finally managed to make.

I didn't get into Remedy until i played Max Payne 1 back in 2021, and I didn't fully understood what they were about until i finally peeped the second Max Payne and the first Alan Wake last year. It became instantly so clear to me that there is a clear vision, love, passion in all of their games that they loved showing to their audience and I love that about em. Everything about their storytelling, their way of making games, their way of blending mediums together, it's like they're specifically trying to appeal to me.

What can I even say about a game that has possibly the best sequence I've ever experienced in a videogame not being even the best part about it. Does this make sense? It does to me. This game is special, go play it. (or wait if you're on pc, i can't fully recommend playing this through the pc port, still worth it though).



It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop
It's (not) a loop



It's a spiral

Finished Super Mario RPG at 15 hours. It was way shorter than I thought even for SNES RPG standards but also after playing a bunch of complex and deep RPGs lately, something so simple, fun, and lighthearted as Super Mario RPG was such a refreshing change of pace. This was a game I wanted to play for years but I never got around to it, so I'm going into the game as a newcomer.

The overall story is quite simple. it's just Mario with friends embarking on a journey to find the seven stars to restore the Star Road that grants wishes and defeats Smithy who has taken over Boswer's Keep to start an invasion with weapons. While the grand scheme of things is your run-of-the-mill Mario adventure, it's the whole journey to find the seven stars that are the whole highlight of the adventure.

I honestly found the game much more enjoyable than expected because it just doesn't take itself seriously at all. Throughout the game, Super Mario RPG is filled with silly slapstick humor, over-the-top exaggerations, and villains with pretty selfish but goofy motivations. Such as Booster kidnapping and wanting to marry Peach for whatever reason. And he isn't exactly the brightest bulb in the shed, so his shortcomings were entertaining to watch, to say the least.

Super Mario RPG is just a game filled with so much fun, color, and charm, from the various settings and characters featured in the Mario series to the soundtrack composed by Yoko Shimomura to compliment the mood. However, what gives the game its identity is the fusion between the turn-based combat and the platforming, puzzling, and minigames known in Mario during exploration.

Minigames were fairly common in RPGs for its time period but Super Mario RPG uses its strengths from the series' history to create brief challenges for Mario to overcome such as navigating a mine tunnel with controls similar to Mario Kart or hopping over barrels and avoiding enemies that pay homage to its Donkey Kong origins. Personally, I wasn't a fan of the platforming at all, I just find the controls too slippy and it doesn't work as well because of the isometric perspective. But considering the original game serves as the bridge between 2D and 3D Mario, perhaps I could be a bit forgiving.

However, for much of the game, the gameplay lies within the turn-based combat every time you encounter an enemy.
Super Mario RPG takes much of the RPG elements from known Square RPGs from the SNES era such as Final Fantasy IV-VI and Chrono Trigger. Attacks, spells, and item management are all present. But what is unique in Super Mario RPG is the timing-based input for attacks and special abilities. If the input is timed correctly, the potency of the attack or special ability will increase. It's such a kinetic mechanic that it's single-handedly the one thing that prevents the otherwise very easy and simple combat from being stale and boring.

Overall, I don't have many complaints about Super Mario RPG. Besides the iffy platforming and while much of the game's narrative has aged wonderfully compared to its contemporaries thanks to having a simple approach to the story. There are still minor gaps in the story that I have noticed that were unexplained and Geno in particular was oddly silent compared to the other playable characters (I don't know if he is written that way on purpose or not).

Otherwise, it's a game filled with so much color and charm and it does not overstay its welcome at all. Mario is usually at its best when it just wants to show a player a fun and good time without taking a long time to do so and Super Mario RPG does that very well. I understand why this game is very belove

In a world where AAA gaming is dominated by C-suite mandates to create premium products made strictly by and for continuous consumption, it is a miracle we've gotten a game like Alan Wake II, with Sam Lake taking an even harder swing into the realm of the confident auteur. No concept is too obtuse, no idea too far-fetched, no mechanic too weird to attempt. To say it came together is to minimize the calculated post-modern approach to this gripping and looping narrative that Remedy Entertainment has accomplished. We are lucky to get a project like this that pushes the medium far beyond what many others are even attempting to do in this space. Alan Wake II has seriously restored my faith in what prestigious AAA gaming can and should be. Masterpiece.

...𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦...

Fucking christ man

Absolutely incredible experience, just insanely engaging and cool in every way that matters. Remedy really knows how to make their presentations work, this might just be the most visually striking game I've ever seen

I already brought it up when talked about Alan Wake but considering how prevalent of an inspiration it is, I think these games perfectly capture my favorite aspects of Twin Peaks' core meaning
In both series there are extremely powerful parannatural beings at work and the audience is never expected to fully comprehend them, and I personally always found that to be just super engaging. I think stories like this giving you room to speculate just makes the experience that much more memorable

"I don't think I'll ever understand. I don't think I need to"

Really, really love these games

What the fuck?/What a fucking game/Holy fuck

Addendum a day later:
While not a perfect game, Alan Wake 2 is without a doubt one of the most interesting pieces of media of any kind in recent years. Once again, Sam Lake's Twin Peaks influence is on full display here, with all the vague, obscure and oftentimes convoluted intertwining plot threads, mystical alternate reality imagery, and of course, lovably offbeat humour all over this thing.

Do I wish the combat had a bit more variety and challenge? Yes, definitely. I played on the hardest difficulty and only died 4-5 times throughout my 25ish hours. Do I wish Saga's voice actor could keep a consistent accent instead of sometimes letting the British soak through and distractingly ignoring the letter R? Yeah, probably. But the fact that I'm grasping at a straw like that so early when thinking about AW2's flaws is pretty telling isn't it? The fact is, this is an incredibly inventive, terrifically gorgeous looking (other than those wonky mirrors) and just flat out ridiculously compelling video game. Not to mention that fucking sound design, I mean god damn this might actually be the best sounding game I've ever played in my life.

It's more than a game though, really. Much like the original's notorious final line; "it's not a lake, it's an ocean", there's much more to this thing than just what you see on the surface. It's all walks of art come together to create something truly special, perhaps the foremost example of what a multimedia experience can and should be. Gameplay. Music. Film. Literature. Photography. joined together in a chorus of beauty and intrigue unlike anything else.

WE SING.

"The Hero Turns To Look Inside, Is Destroyed By What He Sees, And Is Redeemed."

Finished Alan Wake 2 last night and oh my, I absolutely get the praise for Alan Wake 2 now. It's an experience like no other game and not only does it greatly improve from the first game in every single aspect, but this is easily Redemy Entertainment's magnum opus with its unique multimedia method of storytelling and immersion.

The graphics are just astonishing, especially with how carefully Redemy has been crafting thier usage of lighting to the point there are many scenes when you could easily mistake the game for live-action. The audio design is one of the best I have experienced and it's incredibly immersive to hear sounds from all directions and angels from pouring rain, ringing phones, a conversation between people, and eerie monstrous sounds. From an aesthetic viewpoint, Alan Wake 2 does an excellent job of sending the message that this is a survival horror story.

Speaking of survival horror, Alan Wake 2 makes a drastic change in gameplay from the first game. No longer an action-adventure game shooting down dozens of Taken and dealing with frustrating combat sections. The gameplay emphasizes less action and more on slowly walking through nerve-wracking uncertainly.

While the survival horror combat itself is nothing groundbreaking, what helps make Alan Wake 2 stand out is how the duel protagonists, the titular character himself Alan Wake, and FBI agent Saga Anderson, solve their obstacles to resolve the issue at hand.

With Saga's mind place to help put together pieces she finds throughout the game to solve the surrounding mysteries and interrogate suspects. As well as Alan's plot board changes the surrounding environment around him as if he's rewriting "plot elements" for a story. It's a fresh and creative layer to prevent the gameplay from ever being stale.

The shining gem of Alan Wake 2 is the story and narrative and while it's very difficult to talk about its story without going into spoilers and details. What I can say is it masterfully presents its story like no other game I've played.

You have live-action segments of a short film, an operatic rock musical, video autobiographies, commercials, etc. As well as songs that play during and at the end of each chapter and scattered pages of incomplete manuscripts, all complimentary to the spiraling complex narrative that explores the psychological descent of the duel protagonists.

While each unique segment of Alan Wake 2 does sound disjointed and nonsensical on paper, it all comes together flawlessly in a meta manner of speaking to tell a story about a story and how these characters are trapped in a horror story coming to life.

Not to mention, the worldbuilding and easter eggs that Remedy have set up with thier previous games Quantum Break and Control help sell the overall dark surrealism and atmosphere that extends beyond the main focus and scope of Alan Wake 2. So it's very rewarding to play Redemy's previous games to appreciate these finer details that would be harder to pick up.

Truthfully, Alan Wake 2 is a near-flawless game. While I do think some of the enemies are a bit too health spongey and the checkpoint system could be more forgiving, those are just nothing more but minor nitpicks. It's otherwise masterfully executed in game design, narrative, and presentation with its creative multimedia approach.

I'm not a huge horror fan so I can't say with confidence it's one of the greatest horror stories of all time. But what I can say is it's a hallmark of visual and audio entertainment and sets a new standard of story presentation and game design. As far as I know, Alan Wake 2 is easily one of the greatest games of all time and that is something I do not say lightly.

Game of the year.

This is kind of hard to explain, but around the time I played Control, I was really craving a new Resident Evil game. I didn't feel like replaying any of the ones I knew, and none of the others called to me, so I was left with this weird itch. Control, oddly enough, scratched it somewhat. Whatever my brain was craving from Resident Evil, Control delivered on it. So when Alan Wake II was then announced as a full survival horror game, I was immediately invested. It was a Game For Me.

I didn't love Alan Wake, the first. The combat felt clunky and most of the characters annoyed me, but there was enough Remedy DNA to pull me through. This sequel completely fixes all of that.

The gameplay loop of this is so intriguing, and far from what I had expected. It took me maybe two hours before my first combat encounter, because there's so much to this game beyond fighting Taken. I loved uncovering clues and solving riddles with Saga, and then developing and uncovering a story with Alan. The combat is much tighter and more focused, opting for smaller, more intermittent encounters that better suit the game's style. And many encounters are ones you can simply ignore and run through if you're low on resources or patience.

The story and atmosphere of this game is where it completely blows every other game this year out of the water for me. It's engaging, mind-bending and told with such style and flair that I was chomping at the bit for more.

I also have to shout-out the sound design of this game, which isn't something I'm too knowledgeable about or ever pay much attention to in games. But this game was consistently terrifying me because of the sound design. Little stings and ambient noises had me whipping my flashlight around trying to figure out what's lurking in the shadows. It's brilliant.

This feels like more than a game. It's a movie. It's a novel. It's a musical. It's an interactive multimedia experience. It's the most Remedy game that Remedy ever Remedied. It seems as if the technology or the team's skills and confidence, or maybe some combination, are finally catching up with their creative vision, and I hope they keep at it.

It is the ritual that will lead them on.

(Also the soundtrack is banger after banger!)

Alan Wake 2 is inventive, ambitious, and as fully realized as you can get from a gaming experience. A masterclass in creative, immersive story telling only possible through the medium of video games. Sam Lake is an absolute auteur; a savant comparable to the likes of Kojima. This is one of those titles that’s going to stick with me forever.

Yes, it's a video game, but it's also so much more in how it incorporates elements of film and music creating a wholly unique multimedia experience.

PS: I’d be remiss if I failed to at least mention “We Sing”: the single greatest moment in gaming from 2023 (and one of the single greatest levels in any video game I've ever played).