A game heavily inspired by Twin Peaks, of which there aren't many of. It's dripping in atmosphere, especially in those beautiful rendered dense forests. Has a great narrative with a good cast of characters. One of the narrative devices used is a rather unique way of conveying parts of the story, this being manuscript pages scattered around the world, which foreshadow a lot of events. All of this makes sense in the narrative context and creates its own sort of twisted, gripping suspension. I would not classify Alan Wake as a horror game, but I love its unique thriller atmosphere. Another thing I love about it and remedy games in general is their incorporation of other media forms, the highlight being the TV show Night Springs, of which the player can watch multiple episodes of. This TV show of course being a homage to Twilight Zone is often really odd and adds a lot to the unique ambiance I like about Alan Wake.
What kind of brings the game down unfortunately, is the gameplay side of things. The combat system in theory has interesting ideas, with a heavy focus on light as an offensive and defensive mechanism. But the combat really falters under the game's 10-15h runtime, with too few enemy types to fight and not nearly enough variety for the player to approach fights differently.
I also thought, that the last Episode felt rushed, which got remedied through the DLC Episodes though.
But even with the at best serviceable gameplay, I still think this is a unique experience, which earned its cult status and should be experienced.