It's crazy how well it still works.

This was really my first survival horror. It was a revelation to me, as someone who didn't understand the lineage and what they were building on.

These sort of remakes feel so fresh now because they literally do not make them like they used to. This is a linear single player game, which actually has pacing. I played for 9 hours and every minute was fun.

No one else makes games like Remedy. They are AAA but with the sensibility of a B game from 2002.

The highs here are amazing, combining visuals, narrative and mechanics to create some of the most memorable gaming moments in recent memory.

And the lows aren't too bad. The combat is fine, and only really irks when it is too hard. Some of the exploration can feel weak, but largely i was happy to be in the world.

My two main takeaways are that this isn't quite the game I want it to be and that the ending is slightly bungled.

Alan Wake I was Twin Peaks seasons 1 and 2 the video game. In the same way they took the tropes and visuals of soap operas in the 1980/1990s, Alan Wake relies on 2000's era third person shooter mechanics to tell a meta story about narrative.

Taking the forward, Alan Wake II should have been what Twin Peaks season 3 was, a response to the growth of the medium, and an attempt to show an alternative path. But here I feel Alan Wake instead feels of a piece with modern gaming rather than aware of it.

In terms of the ending, I think all the components are great. Alan being back in the real world and experiencing deer fest. Saga having to face her demons within the mind palace. But the Alan bit feels preemptive before the Saga bit. And the Saga bit is dragged on with some unnecessary New York stuff. So by the time its all over, I was a bit deflated.

Also the boss on the lake shore is shit and ruins a cool set up.

Its not a loop, its a spiral. I'll see you again in 25 years Alan.

Perfect length.

In terms of difficulty, it wasn't interested in creating challenges thatade you engage with the systems too deeply. You could tell a sim version of the game existed earlier, but they ended up sawing off those edges. It works but i definitely think they could have pushed it a bit further.

Its presentation of climate change is interesting. It isn't really directly about the climate emergency, it is about how the environment shapes culture, and vice versa.

The key message is one of symbiosis and sustainability. Its all a bit gaia, in that the whole game is a rain dance, but it works because it doesn't feel played out. They created a unique world where it feels earned.

I almost can't tell what they were going for.

The set up is as you would expect, you pick up quests and go somewhere and do them.

They managed to get servicable gun play, so it doesn't feel like too much of a hassle to get through combat.

But they didn't actually build any missions and they removed exploration.

What if you were playing oblivion and every quest was a fetch quest where you could instantly teleport to the location. That is Starfield in a nutshell.