There are a lot of cool things about Alan Wake despite so much of its design being indicative of video games in the 2010s. What sets it a part from other games of the time is its very unconventional narrative. Easily the best part of the game is how it piece mails the story through collectibles in a non chronological way. It's fun to collect pages of the story and have it spoil to you what would happen later in game whether it be spoiling a boss fight or critical plot points. The narrative and writing also has an obvious Twin Peaks veneer with quirky characters, small town vibes and intangible evil presence.

The actual gameplay of the game is just ok. If you've played games from this era you know what to expect. Clunky controls, repetitive set pieces and hundreds of useless collectibles to waste your time with. There is something oddly comforting about all these negative features as I grew up on games like this. To someone who is not acclimated to these design decisions you might find it a bit of a slog

My main motivation for continuing to play was just seeing what sort of interesting spin on the narrative they would pull off. Once that wore off I was just kind of going through the motions for the remainder of my time. I enjoyed this game but I think if I played it back when it came out it would have blown my mind. While it's meta narrative is interesting, its not as revolutionary as it was over a decade ago.