82 hours in and I finally mastered one character 😎

But in all seriousness, this game is so fun. I'm not fighting games fan generally, but I happened to try this out and quickly got addicted. The combat is very fluid and the hits feel incredibly satisfying. Yes there's a learning curve, but its much easier than I thought it would be.

The community around this has also been very friendly and welcoming for a newbie like me!

All the parts that are faithfully re-created are incredible. I got teary-eyed during a bunch of different moments. However, the story changes (especially to a pivotal scene) and some really tedious gameplay elements sprinkled in at some parts make this far from perfect.

And yet, its still the best FF since FFX (2001). Yikes.

As I was playing this game, I kept a running note of thoughts I had about the game. I'm pasting them here:

Pros:
- Solid gameplay, has increasing depth as the game goes on. Combat is really fun and engaging throughout.
- Retains the spirit of the original: Its lighthearted and goofy, while still balancing the tone of the rest of the story.
- Most side quests are worth it for the character interactions or the reward (summon battles become easier, new materia).
- Music is fantastic. There’s so much effort put into making sure every character, every region, and every scenario has an accompanying soundtrack. Nobuo Uematsu still got it.
- Mini games are abundant and fun, once again staying true to the original
- The way they've recreated all the areas and their traversal options (buggy, bronco) is incredible and done exactly right. I am in awe of what the environments look like.
- There’s just generally so much love and care put into recreating this world and its characters, and it shows.

Cons:
- Some parts are REALLY tedious. There’s sections where you have to slowly move through corridors, or perform boring tasks to progress through the level. A glaring example of this is Chapter 11 that has a 2 hour section that is extremely boring and should not be mandatory.
- Writing for all new content is bad. There’s also generally a bunch of unnecessary exposition.
- Chadley is a really annoying character, and his Battle Simulator for summons is unnecessary (Summons should be fought in the wild)
- Ending is unnecessarily convoluted and antithetical to the ethos of the story. The emotional impact is lost and does an injustice to the most important character in the story. All the “multiverse” stuff hurts this game significantly. Ending aside, all the other multiverse content (Zack, all of Chapter 14) is incredibly stupid, and also just has no real impact on the core story beats.

I feel insane because I don't understand how this game was nominated for GOTY, and why its rated so highly.

I'm a big Remedy fan, having played all their games (except Quantum Break...). I loved the original Alan Wake and was looking forward to this, but I just couldn't get into it.

I was hooked at the start, with the atmosphere and the premise and the visuals, but I ended up losing interest a few hours in and then started to realize just how boring the gameplay loop is.

Overall,
+ Amazing visuals. I played on PS5 and it looked amazing, I can only imagine what it looks like on a beefed-up PC
+ Incredible sound design. Felt great playing this with a 5.1 surround system
+ Unique, compelling atmosphere. The "vibe" of this game, of Bright Falls, of the Dark Place, is impeccable.

All that being said, the game itself is SO INCREDIBLY BORING. Its a walking simulator 90% of the time, and the combat (whatever little there is) feels like a chore every single time. I dreaded playing this game for more than 30 minutes at a time. It's just not fun.

I'm all for cinematic games, but they have to be games at the end of the day. They need to have engaging gameplay elements and give players some agency in their actions. There was none of that here. Even the really cool Mind Place concept is nothing more than the illusion of control - the game doesn't let you actually deduce anything, you just point and click at all the options until something sticks.

I'll watch any movie or tv show directed by Sam Lake, but please stop trying to turn video games into something they're not. Blending things together is great (see recent Naughty Dog games for example), but not like this.

Alan Wake 2 could have been a fantastic 2 hour movie instead of a tedious 20 hour game.

I replayed this in anticipation for Rebirth, and my opinion has slightly changed but I still overall think this is a bad game. I hate the story changes, and I think Nomura needs to be fired ASAP (or at the very least not allowed to write anymore), but I've made my peace with it.

Story aside though, this game still has so many problems. The biggest issue is that its artificially lengthened. Half the game is just filler that does nothing for the story or the main cast.

Off the top of my head, here's all the parts of the game that could have been cut:
- Jessie's storyline
- Leslie's storyline
- Train graveyard
- Hojo's lab
- Underground lab in Sector 7
- Lighting sector 5
- Climbing up to the plate

These are 7 chapters (out of 18) that are just bullshit. Its just walking down corridors, fighting enemies, encountering a low-effort boss and doing absolutely nothing for the story or characters. Its so obvious they just wanted to add to the playtime to justify the $60 price tag. I would honestly rather pay more money to not have these chapters in the game at all. I don't mind 15 hours of tight gameplay and story, instead of an additional 15 hours of boredom.

Ugh, I told myself I wouldn't rant about the story again, but the whole pseudo-sequel bs is just Nomura and his ego. Its a stupid concept and I blame Marvel and their storytelling for this kind of stuff seeping into media. On top of that, they completely ruined Sephiroth as a character. Gone is the intrigue and mystery surrounding him.

So yeah, if there wasn't SO MUCH filler, and if the story wasn't dogshit, this would be an incredible game. Everything else is perfect.

And yes I have pre-ordered Rebirth. I'm a slut for FFVII.