Alan Wake II is a game that only Remedy could make. It is more than just a sequel to Alan Wake, and more than just a continuation of the interconnected universe brought together with the advent of Control. The Remedyverse finally is brought together in an amalgam of Alan Wake, Control, Quantum Break?!, and Alex Casey, AKA Max Payne.
While not having direct links to the latter two series, there is still a fair share of blink and you miss it references and nods. When the Mr. Door DLC releases then we'll get our Quantum Break sequel we never asked for.
Anywho....
Alan Wake II feels like a game made expressly for...
...Well for me.
It combines the storytelling Remedy is famous for and finally sticks it in a world that doesn't bombard you with cannon fodder enemies to mow down. The amount of Taken killed by both Saga and Alan in this game feels a lot more grounded than Alan Wake 1's kill count. I swear Alan killed the entire population of Bright Falls in the last game alone!
So, I'd argue, for the first time Remedy has finally told a story and given it a gameplay experience to match it. Control, however great it was, suffers from MAJOR ludonarrative dissonance. Jesse walks into a random building and mows down a bunch of red, extra-dimensional aliens? I love these game but they've always lacked in the gameplay side for me.
Back to the game at hand. Alan Wake II speaks to all my creative eccentricities. By the time I beat the first Saga chapter, I had this insatiable itch to go and make a short film. This game is so good it inspires me to make my own stories in similar veins. I picked up Control when it came out and never got around to actually finishing it until earlier this year when I picked up Alan Wake 1 for the second time and actually beat it. I did all my homework for this game series and I was blessed with everything I could ever ask for.
Is this game a masterpiece?
I'd have to wait until the whole story is out. The way this ends leaves a lot of things open. Remedy usually never misses with their DLC output though.
In a year full of incredible games, this might just be my personal favorite. Baldur's Gate III might be the actual best game to have released in my lifetime, but Alan Wake II just speaks to me on a level that honestly no other game has. This narrative based, survival-horror video game took me 23 hours to complete. That's almost ten more hours it took for me to complete Spider-Man 2. A lot of games I just feel like beelining in order to get an experience but Alan Wake 2 slowed me down. There wasn't a second, a corner, or a pixel of this game I did not want to fully experience and explore. I had the three free roam small open world maps downloaded into my brain by the end. I'm like 6 trophies away from the Platinum and I almost don't want to complete them just so I have an excuse to come back later.
My experience with the Remedy games has really made me change the way I thought about Alan Wake 1 and Control. I couldn't even finish those games the first time I picked them up. Now I wish I could go back and experience all of this from the start again.
Alan Wake II is a game that I know will only get better with time. Once Remedy makes the next Control, or Quantum Break due to all the Warlin Door/Martin Hatch references in this game, I know that this experience will only become more beloved.
I cannot praise this game enough. I will literally explode if Baldur's Gate III does not win game of the year, but I'd be lying if I said that Alan Wake II was not my favorite game of the year.
Objective choice: Baldur's Gate III
Subjective Choice: Alan Wake II
(I spent literally like 45 hours this year playing through the Remedyverse and watching lore videos in prep for this game. It was worth the time spent and like I said, I wish I could do it all over again.)
While not having direct links to the latter two series, there is still a fair share of blink and you miss it references and nods. When the Mr. Door DLC releases then we'll get our Quantum Break sequel we never asked for.
Anywho....
Alan Wake II feels like a game made expressly for...
...Well for me.
It combines the storytelling Remedy is famous for and finally sticks it in a world that doesn't bombard you with cannon fodder enemies to mow down. The amount of Taken killed by both Saga and Alan in this game feels a lot more grounded than Alan Wake 1's kill count. I swear Alan killed the entire population of Bright Falls in the last game alone!
So, I'd argue, for the first time Remedy has finally told a story and given it a gameplay experience to match it. Control, however great it was, suffers from MAJOR ludonarrative dissonance. Jesse walks into a random building and mows down a bunch of red, extra-dimensional aliens? I love these game but they've always lacked in the gameplay side for me.
Back to the game at hand. Alan Wake II speaks to all my creative eccentricities. By the time I beat the first Saga chapter, I had this insatiable itch to go and make a short film. This game is so good it inspires me to make my own stories in similar veins. I picked up Control when it came out and never got around to actually finishing it until earlier this year when I picked up Alan Wake 1 for the second time and actually beat it. I did all my homework for this game series and I was blessed with everything I could ever ask for.
Is this game a masterpiece?
I'd have to wait until the whole story is out. The way this ends leaves a lot of things open. Remedy usually never misses with their DLC output though.
In a year full of incredible games, this might just be my personal favorite. Baldur's Gate III might be the actual best game to have released in my lifetime, but Alan Wake II just speaks to me on a level that honestly no other game has. This narrative based, survival-horror video game took me 23 hours to complete. That's almost ten more hours it took for me to complete Spider-Man 2. A lot of games I just feel like beelining in order to get an experience but Alan Wake 2 slowed me down. There wasn't a second, a corner, or a pixel of this game I did not want to fully experience and explore. I had the three free roam small open world maps downloaded into my brain by the end. I'm like 6 trophies away from the Platinum and I almost don't want to complete them just so I have an excuse to come back later.
My experience with the Remedy games has really made me change the way I thought about Alan Wake 1 and Control. I couldn't even finish those games the first time I picked them up. Now I wish I could go back and experience all of this from the start again.
Alan Wake II is a game that I know will only get better with time. Once Remedy makes the next Control, or Quantum Break due to all the Warlin Door/Martin Hatch references in this game, I know that this experience will only become more beloved.
I cannot praise this game enough. I will literally explode if Baldur's Gate III does not win game of the year, but I'd be lying if I said that Alan Wake II was not my favorite game of the year.
Objective choice: Baldur's Gate III
Subjective Choice: Alan Wake II
(I spent literally like 45 hours this year playing through the Remedyverse and watching lore videos in prep for this game. It was worth the time spent and like I said, I wish I could do it all over again.)